Critical Analysis on FLOW
Jennifer Tasneem
Anthropology Reflection Paper
29th March 2015
Critical Analysis on FLOW: For Love of Water The documentary FLOW: For Love of Water features the industry around the world’s most essential and precious resource that is, water. The documentary looks at how the decisions of people searching for corporate profit affect the everyday lives of hundreds of thousands of people around the world, from the United States, to Africa and to India. Like most natural resources, a lot of people have taken water for granted. However, what they do not realize is that even though about 71% of the Earth’s surface consists of water, this resource is actually finite and scientists have predicted that there could be a critical water shortage in some parts of the world as early as the year 2020. One may think that the primary purpose of the film is to increase public awareness about water, but more specifically, the film emphasizes on the establishment of clean water as a basic human right through its concluding call to action for its viewers to sign the United Nations’ petition to grant formal right to clean water.
Although water is a natural resource, sadly every year thousands of children and adults die due to shortage of clean water and because of water-borne diseases. The lack of clean, accessible drinking water is a major issue and more than billions of people suffer due to this shortage. However, no individual can be blamed for this situation. A big reason for this is that most people do not know where their water comes from. It is due to human abuse itself that the myriad of water related disasters come by – such as water privatization, commodification, corporate accountability, plastic wastes, etc.
One of the biggest questions raised in the film were, “Can anyone really own water?” And if so, then who actually owns it? Water privatization and the treatment of water as a commodity has been a major threat to human health. The concern about water being regarded as
Anthropology Reflection Paper
29th March 2015
Critical Analysis on FLOW: For Love of Water The documentary FLOW: For Love of Water features the industry around the world’s most essential and precious resource that is, water. The documentary looks at how the decisions of people searching for corporate profit affect the everyday lives of hundreds of thousands of people around the world, from the United States, to Africa and to India. Like most natural resources, a lot of people have taken water for granted. However, what they do not realize is that even though about 71% of the Earth’s surface consists of water, this resource is actually finite and scientists have predicted that there could be a critical water shortage in some parts of the world as early as the year 2020. One may think that the primary purpose of the film is to increase public awareness about water, but more specifically, the film emphasizes on the establishment of clean water as a basic human right through its concluding call to action for its viewers to sign the United Nations’ petition to grant formal right to clean water.
Although water is a natural resource, sadly every year thousands of children and adults die due to shortage of clean water and because of water-borne diseases. The lack of clean, accessible drinking water is a major issue and more than billions of people suffer due to this shortage. However, no individual can be blamed for this situation. A big reason for this is that most people do not know where their water comes from. It is due to human abuse itself that the myriad of water related disasters come by – such as water privatization, commodification, corporate accountability, plastic wastes, etc.
One of the biggest questions raised in the film were, “Can anyone really own water?” And if so, then who actually owns it? Water privatization and the treatment of water as a commodity has been a major threat to human health. The concern about water being regarded as