The documentary equivalent of a popcorn flick...
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It´s rare that a History (the History Channel is now known simply as History) documentary creates a popular buzz, but for a while last month I couldn´t get through a day without someone mentioning "that documentary about life after people" to me. A little research revealed that the documentary in question was, in fact, called "Life After People," a high concept title so simple it should make a Hollywood marketing rep jealous.
Much like recent films such as "Shoot 'Em Up" and "Young People Fucking," the title tells its own story. Here´s the premise: Everyone dies. Got that? Now what happens to Earth after all humans are gone? The program is divided into multiple time frames beginning with "1 Day After People" and running up to "10,000 Years After People."
Without humans around to maintain generators that use fossil fuel, most power plants would begin to shut down in a matter of days. Nuclear reactors wouldn´t fail but with nobody using the power output, they would automatically shutdown. In just a few weeks, the planet would be nearly as dark as it was before humans mastered fire. There are some exceptions, however. Where do you think one might see the last evidence of electrically generated light on the planet? Answer below.
For me the saddest after-effect of human extinction is the impact on our poor domesticated pets. Those unable to escape their houses would die of starvation; those who make it outside would have to scrabble for survival, and cutesy pets like Chihuahuas and toy poodles would not fare particularly well. Still, some of our animal friends would survive though within a single generation, none of them would have any knowledge of human mastery, and would turn feral. On the plus side, predators that are routinely purged by humans would thrive: those pesky coyotes and mountain lions that occasionally snag unwary suburban Californians would have free reign.
"Life After People" obviously relies on a great deal of speculation, and the show´s producers had no trouble finding experts willing to project a future they would never see. Engineer Gordon Masterson is one of the primary go-to guys; according to him, the Brooklyn Bridge would likely not last much more than a century without people to clean up the corrosion that gradually accretes on the steel cables. In fact, most of our major buildings and monuments would collapse or deteriorate in no more than a few hundred years, and some in a matter of just a few years. On that front, I offer you one more question to think about? What do you think would be the last man-made project (building, monument, etc.) to survive in a recognizable form? Answer below.
With CGI effects (BAM! There goes the Eiffel Tower!) and movie-trailer portentous narration by James Lurie, this is not exactly subtle fare. This is the documentary equivalent of a popcorn flick, exploitative schlock meant for consumption rather than enlightenment. Programs like this are a guilty pleasure of mine; you can have your "Transformers", I´ll take "Life After People" any day. To use a phrase I generally despise, it´s the sort of movie that invites to "turn off your brain" and just kick back for an hour and a half.
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