Viewpoint by Giovanni Roverso
Wrenched
“Wrenched” tells the story of how the first eco-warriors began working against the system and those that would exploit and defile nature in the name of business and short-term profit. Special attention was given to Edward Paul Abbey, poet and philosopher, whose outspoken writing helped catalyze the environmental movement. Recordings of his words accompanied a large part of the film.
Known as “Cactus Ed” due to his passion for the wilderness of the Four Corners desert region, where Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona and Utah meet. He was involved with the Earth First! movement in its early days which was founded in 1979.
In Abbey’s 1975 novel, “The Monkey Wrench Gang,” he wrote of a fictional group of eco-activists who plotted against the systems guilty of compromising the environment of the American West. The characters of the book sought to destroy the dam responsible for the 1962 drowning of the mystical Glen Canyon, through which the Colorado River used to run freely.
At every twist and turn of the river was treasure to behold for those who dared explore it as Abbey did, be it raw nature, or ancient Anasazi ruins and rock art.
In 1981, Earth First! organized a stunt at Glen Canyon Dam which consisted of rolling an imitation plastic crack down the side of the dam while Abbey delivered one of his most memorable speeches.
The film made a point to remind the audience that despite the victories had by the last generation of eco-activists, the wilderness is in as much danger now as it has ever been, if not more.
By the end of “Wrenched”, a profound sense of nostalgia for Abbey permeated the Peter Simpson Free Theater. He died in 1989 at age 62. One of eco-activism’s brightest beacons, and Mother Nature’s advocate, he continues to inspire the world into action. Once the credits began to roll, it was as though Cactus Ed’s spirit had filled the room as the crowd clappedwith heartfelt emotion.
Outside the building, the morning mist still lingered. People got in line for the next film and patiently edged their way forwards. “Return of the River” officially premiered on Friday evening at the Rose Theatre, in the presence of members of the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe, including Ben Charles, the tribe’s spiritual leader. Nonetheless, there were still those who had yet to see the documentary.
By the time people began filing into the building again around noon, 15 minutes until show time, the mist had grown brighter, warmer from the rising sun’s energy, and had begun to lift. “Wrenched” had left its viewers with a sense of hope, but although kept alive by the bravery of a new generation, it also had with it some bitterness, the sadness of unrealized dreams.
As “Return of the River” drew closer, the bitterness seemed to fade away with the mist to be replaced by something sweeter: a proud sense of accomplishment.
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