Can the shows we love inspire us to go green?

Unless you’re living off-grid in a far-flung cave, you must have seen it: actress Jenna Ortega and her iconic school dance in the hit Netflix show Wednesday. The scene went viral for its brilliantly awkward goth-inspired moves, instantly recreated by legions of fans on social media, including Lady Gaga.

Although it was the choreography that attracted all the attention, it’s worth noting the surprising theme of the school dance: ‘climate crisis meets extinction event – but in a fun way’, complete with an enormous yeti ice sculpture. The teacher who came up with the theme apparently wanted the event “to feel relevant”. 

Clearly that teacher gets it, because the climate crisis is the story of our time. Which is why it’s so important to see it emerging in all aspects of our lives, including the shows we love to watch. Because aren’t our favorite shows often the ones best able to reflect our experiences? To mirror our own hopes, doubts, fears, questions and passions, through characters and narratives we can relate to? 

More is more

There’s a real audience demand for this. Research shows that 7 in 10 Americans support seeing more climate-related content on screen. It’s why, behind the scenes, there’s an industry coalition set up specifically to bring more climate themes into the limelight. It’s called the Sustainable Entertainment Alliance (SEA).

“A lot of the work that we do is to support both the creators who want to tell these stories, but also the audiences who are clamoring to see more of them,” says the alliance’s executive director, Sam Read, speaking at environmental think tank Futerra’s Solutions House during Climate Week. 

So what does this big, abstract thing known as ‘the climate crisis’ look like on screen? How can it be entertaining? And how can we get screenwriters, showrunners, producers and directors to incorporate these topics in their work? These are all questions to which the alliance is eager to find answers – especially considering the often glaring absence of climate in entertainment. Only 2.8% of scripts include any mention of global warming, USC researchers found, after analyzing almost 38,000 scripted television episodes and films released between 2016 and 2020.

That is changing, with the help of the SEA, and partner organizations like Rewrite the Future, and Reality of Change, which focuses on getting climate into popular reality series like Love Island. There are also special grants for writers wanting to pitch climate stories, plus research into what works from a group of behavioral scientists focusing entirely on the impact of entertainment in driving eco action.

For Read, a successful story about climate is one that “engages authentically with it and thinking about how would this character or this community be navigating climate change or the complexities that come with it”. He points to shows doing it well like Grey’s Anatomy, with an episode last year that featured the effects of a deadly heat wave, plus Emmy award-winning series True Detective: Night Country. Set in Alaska, the series fits the archetypal crime genre, but at the same time deftly introduces topics like climate justice and our relationship with nature.

Small moments, big impact

But there’s a growing realization that it’s not only about injecting climate issues into dedicated story arcs. The cumulative effect of micro moments also shouldn’t be underestimated; whether it’s a throwaway snippet of dialogue or an unexpected theme for a school dance.

Take a recent episode of And Just Like That, the popular Sex and the City reboot, where we see Sarah Jessica Parker, aka Carrie, and the girls laughing about not just being “ladies who brunch”, but being “ladies who brunch vegan”.

Or the scene where Miranda changes her order at a taco bar from beef to plant-based at the last minute. In just a few seconds we see her switch from what is evidently her default favorite to a new, sustainable choice – a moment that’s instantly recognizable to anyone in the midst of a similar dietary shift. It reminds us that we’re all trying to make conscious choices but sometimes veer off course (almost) at the prospect of a tasty beef taco covered in cheese.

Moments like these, when written into a script, can make more of a difference than you might think in normalizing planet-friendly behaviors and propelling the giant cultural and behavioral shifts required to slash carbon emissions. Research backs this up. A recent study analyzed the effects of Miranda’s taco scene on audiences and found that seeing a character on screen order a plant-based option increased viewers’ beliefs that: ordering a plant-based option is normal, “the right thing to do” and is associated with health and environmental benefits. 

The researchers also found that the scene didn’t negatively impact the entertainment value for the audience or how much they liked the characters. But more importantly, it turns out that seeing people making pro-planet choices on screen can actually inspire viewers to make changes themselves, a British study found, with one in three surveyed saying they changed their lifestyle because of content seen on TV. 

“Seeing characters driving an electric vehicle or a cooking show that’s using induction stoves or a home renovation show that’s installing heat pumps… exposing people to the technology that’s better and more efficient and going to lead us into the future, and getting people comfortable with that, is a real opportunity,” Read says.

And in a world where environmental issues are becoming increasingly partisan, being able to reach mainstream audiences across the political spectrum is invaluable. But the reach of mega-hits like these transcends geography too: Wednesday recently broke records with a staggering billion hours’ worth of views globally, and the show’s second season, which premiered this summer, ranked as the top English-language show in 91 countries in its first week. All of those eyeballs add up to a lot of potential impact.

Lights, camera, action!

It’s not just audiences and people behind the scenes who are looking for more climate on screen. Those in front of the camera are just as eager. Like actress Alysia Reiner, who is known for her role as Fig in Orange is the New Black and currently stars in Netflix series The Diplomat. Speaking at Solutions House, she explained how passionate she is about everything environmental: “In my personal life, climate is everything. I am that person who carries around her own coffee mug. I compost at home and recycle, I love thrifting. I love all the fun ways we can serve the climate”.

It’s why she’s happy to see more of this in her scripts. “I just got sent a 30-minute comedy where I would play the head of an oil company. I would love to play it because I would love the opportunity to talk about climate in that way.”

She believes that “as culture makers, we have the ability to educate, illuminate and inspire”, describing what a big impression seeing Meryl Streep talking about pesticides in front of Congress made on her as a child. It was the moment she realized that artists have the cultural clout to influence change. “It’s my hope that when we make art, we help people open their hearts more. We help people think about what’s possible,” she adds.

Viewers can think about their own role too, she urges. And if need be, just adopt one, much like she does when playing a new character. “What if you were to pretend for one day that you were the earthiest woman on the planet? Just imagine, what would she do? See the choices she makes, and then ask, are there any of these choices I’m willing to make?”

Because it works both ways. We’re free to change our own script, any day of the week.