Troubling spaces: Ecological risk, narrative framing, and emotional engagement in The Age of Stupid

Franny Armstrong’s The Age of Stupid (2009) presents itself as a documentary about ecological risk and environmental injustice in different geographical regions, while at the same time appealing strongly to our emotions by showing us something we are not yet able to see: the possibly catastrophic future consequences of our present behavior. Through the use of spatial and temporal framing, Armstrong creates a strong cognitive and affective link between the documentation of current social and environmental practices and the imagination of future ecological devastation. Drawing on the pioneering work of cognitive film theorists and other scholars interested in the emotional appeal of non-fiction film, I investigate how The Age of Stupid mediates threatened ecological spaces and associated environmental risks in order to provoke strong affective and cognitive responses from viewers and, ideally, move them to action.