Patagonia‘s latest film The Shitthropocene offers an anthropological exploration of humanity’s consumption habits, fixing a satirical lens on how everything is turning to crap—and why buying more of it could destroy us all.
The amount of cheaply made and inessential junk on store shelves, Amazon carts, and in our homes is totally unprecedented. This film isn’t about all the crappy stuff humanity is addicted to—that would be too lengthy. But it is about consumption, which is both a cause and a symptom of the crap tornado we find ourselves caught up in. For reasons discussed in the film, humanity is making and buying far too much stuff and unfortunately, we’re evolutionarily programmed to want it.
What was once an advantage to our cave-dwelling ancestors (more: always better!) is now contributing to the destruction of our planetary home. The Shitthropocene is a journey from the genetic origins of our lack of impulse control to the wholesale hack of our central nervous system undertaken by capitalism—particularly over the last 50 years.
The film is also about how we might begin to save ourselves from our crappy impulses. Plus, there are dancing cave people.
“While it might seem unnatural, unusual or inauthentic for a brand to tell its community only to buy what they need and not more, that’s been a core message at Patagonia since the start,” said Patagonia’s Corey Simpson. “Over 50 years ago, our founders knew that the gear they made had to be of the highest quality or someone might get hurt. And then, another evolution: If what we sold wasn’t of the highest quality, it was just more crap that no one needed.
Soon, this turned into a commitment to using business as a tool for good and showing how a company can make a profit while operating responsibly. In practice, this meant making items that are functional, repairable and timeless with the lowest environmental impact and done by people being treated and paid fairly. But it’s also making films like The Shitthropocene and asking our community to demand quality products and keep gear in play for longer through resale and repair.
As Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard wrote last year in a New York Times essay, ‘People ask me how [Patagonia] has managed to stick around so long…I tell them it’s been our unrelenting focus on quality, which includes making things that last and that cause the least amount of harm to our planet.'”
If you want to see The Shitthropocene on a big screen—and support Threading Change and enjoy bevies from Persephone Brewing and Nonny Beer—it is showing at Patagonia Vancouver on May 9.
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