I Am Greta: A review of the Hulu documentary “I Am Greta”

Goosebumps. If you haven’t watched the Hulu documentary, “I Am Greta” you’re denying yourself of a truly eye-opening story of heartbreak, passion and resilience. It warrants a recommendation purely based on Greta Thunberg’s character, whose passion and conviction shines through the whole hour-and-37-minute story. 

The film opens with scenes of wildfires, hurricanes and other environmental travesties due to global warming overlaid with the voices of world leaders as they deny the climate crisis. 

Due to the disregard from politicians, whose job it is to tackle these problems, the job has fallen on the shoulders of 17-year-old Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg. 

The documentary depicts the aftermath of the moment Thunberg learned global warming’s impact on the world, she developed severe anxiety and depression and stayed home from school for a year. She barely ate or spoke for three years and eventually decided to take it upon herself to take action against the crisis.

It’s obvious in Thunberg’s occasionally tearful and “harsh but true” speeches that she cares deeply about the effect of rising emissions on the planet, but in watching this documentary, I gained a much deeper appreciation of how it’s ravaged her mental and physical health. 

Thunberg began with the #FridaysForFuture protests where she’d walk out of school every Friday and protest outside Swedish Parliament. At first, Greta is shown alone in front of the ominous stone building, but shortly after, fellow activists joined her and now thousands of walkouts occur all over the world. 

When she first began protesting alone I lost hope, there was nothing but criticism from onlookers and it felt as if her movement would never gain momentum, but once others began to join her and the initiative spread on social media, it was the most immense sigh of relief.

I appreciated how Nathan Grossman, director of “I Am Greta,” arranged the documentary in chronological order which made it easy to follow along with her journey. Grossman was also sure not to bombard the viewer with multiple downfalls in a row, there was a fairly balanced ratio of joy and loss.  

The film features home videos from her childhood where her family’s high-consuming lifestyle is depicted — they ate meat, flew all over the world and bought more than they needed unconscious to how their lifestyle impacted the planet. But once she educated herself on the threats facing the climate, she was sure to reconstruct her and her family’s lifestyle such as the elimination of meat and dairy from their diet and travel by boat instead of plane.

“I don’t want to be the kind of person who says something and then does something else,” Thunberg said in the documentary.

She has received praise from prominent public figures such as Arnold Schwartzeneger, Pope Francis and French president Emmanuel Macron. But she’s had her fair share of criticism too — Thunberg suffers from Aspergers and has been described as a “mentally ill hyperbolic brat” by world leaders like President of Brazil Jair Bolsonaro.

“It’d be good if everyone had a bit more Aspergers when it comes to the climate,” Thunberg said in the documentary. 

She’s received death threats and has been encouraged not to leave the house, but she’s too scared of what’ll happen if she doesn’t go out and protest. The documentary showed her father learning CPR in case he ever had to save Greta’s life — something a father shouldn’t have to worry about. 

But whenever she receives threatening or hateful remarks, she’ll get up and dance to relieve her stress. She’ll scan Twitter for all the heinous attacks on her and laugh hysterically or set her phone down and spin around the room as an escape. 

Many aspects of this documentary broke my heart, but there were so many moments of pure joy captured as well. There was a lot of footage of Thunberg traveling with her father and of her spending time with her family, which I found reassuring since so much of the film is of her stressed and working 24/7.

Thunberg has been invited to speak at multiple conferences including the United Nations Climate Conference. She describes this feeling as if her microphone is turned off since politicians only invite her to make it look like they care but have no concern for what she has to say. As a young woman, I can bitterly relate to having my opinions dismissed by others and being written off as hysterical when making perfectly valid points. 

I was inspired by her persistence as she spends hours meticulously writing speeches and scolds political leaders for their shortcomings. 

“Since our leaders are behaving like children, we will have to take the responsibility they should have taken long ago,” Thunberg said in the documentary. 

What sets Thunberg apart from other activists is that, not only does she preach for a sustainable lifestyle, but she act’s upon it. She refuses to fly because of all the carbon emissions, so traveling by boat highlights what great lengths those who care have to go to in order to live sustainably today. She doesn’t want to be a person who advocates for lowering emissions and living sustainably and then hops on an airplane because it’s “easier.” 

It’s absolutely criminal that the massive responsibility of saving the planet has been bestowed upon a child. She speaks on how her childhood has been stolen from her, how she should be in school, but instead she’s traveling all over the world, cleaning up the mess that shouldn’t be hers to clean.

This was one of the most exceptionally powerful films I’ve seen in a long time. It made me so incredibly angry — the immense amount of pressure the world has put on Thunberg and how she has been used as a stepstool for politicians to make it look as if they care, but then disregard all she has to say. 

Simultaneously, it made me feel very guilty since she and others my age, or even younger, are protesting and contacting their elected officials striving for climate justice. Meanwhile, I’m sitting here with my individually-packaged Goldfish and going on aimless drives, burning fuel for no good reason. The only good thing I’ve done for the planet is using a metal straw to drink out of my plastic Starbucks cup — which is just two steps forward one step back. 

Regardless of your level of knowledge on the topic, everyone should see this educational and motivational documentary. It’s given me such a great appreciation for Greta Thunberg and has encouraged me to think more in-depth about how the seemingly insignificant choices I make on a daily basis impact the planet.