Leslie’s Visit & Impressions of Submission

Tuesday I received the Submission DVD in the mail from Swedish director Stefan Jarl. How exciting was that! This is that same documentary that was acclaimed by the United Nations at a May screening and has not yet been distributed in the USA, the film I reported on last week. My fingers shook as I opened the package.

That evening Sven and I had dinner with Leslie, a return guest who has stayed at Chez Sven about five times, usually with husband Mark, unable to get away this year due to work. We had a delicious organic meal. Leslie is a lady I highly respect. She makes the environment her life work. It is her profession and her passion. My kind of person, in other words.

Eager to watch the documentary, I invited Leslie to join us. She was totally psyched. Unfortunately, the DVD, from Europe, turned out to not be compatible with our machine. We pulled out our hair in frustration, placed phone calls for advice from knowledgeable family members, but no go. We were not able to watch the film. And, this is where I can say how grateful I am to community: I reached out, by email to Jeff Zinn at WHAT, and, yesterday morning, in person, to Elaine McIlroy at the Wellfleet Public Library. Both came to my rescue. Elaine made it possible for me to watch the film on an old DVD player. First, let's take a peek at the trailer:

So, here are my impressions: Director Stefan Jarl has created an amazing film that leaves no doubt the synthetic chemicals, set loose in the environment since the 1970s, are wrecking havoc on human life. I like to think of myself as fairly knowledgeable in this field, due to my research, but the film contains information I did not know, including recent interviews with professors in half a dozen countries, who all warn of disaster. Synthetic chemicals, in combination, have effects not evident when only one chemical is present. Also, for years scientists believed a higher dose of a chemical would be more disastrous than a lower dose. Not true. Now scientists are realizing low doses can be very toxic and cause conditions like ADHD, autism, diabetes. The documentary also warns of disruptions to the reproductive system. Certain periods of human development are crucial, including the last few months in utero. But the main thread of the story is body burden, and I will stop there because I want you all to go see the film.

I learned about body burden from Bill Moyers, on PBS. Not everyone can have their body burden calculated because the tests are expensive. I believe Jeffrey Hollander, at Seventh Generation, said it cost $10,000 to test his blood. What he discovered was very upsetting to him.

Did you already know about body burden? Do you worry about it? Will you go see Submission when it comes out? Do you think the subject of this film is something America can embrace after the general outrage at handling of the toxic oil spill in the Gulf?