Redwarmin This movie is the proof that the world is becoming a sick and dumb place

Beystiman It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

CrawlerChunky In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

Brooklynn There's a more than satisfactory amount of boom-boom in the movie's trim running time.

Jane O'Sullivan "Mother" is a beautifully crafted, compassionate and uplifting journey through the issue of population growth, what it means for humanity's future prospects and what can be done. It features courageous women in Africa who are standing up to traditional views and who appreciate that family planning means more than their own reproductive rights, it is the key to breaking the cycle of poverty. Interviews with the greatest authorities on the subject are woven into a personal journey of one American mum facing up to her own cultural conditioning, and finding that concern for the next generation does not require parents to be constrained, but to be empowered.

methylisocyanate I had a biological mother, but I've never met her, I'm an adoptee. I was two months old when I was adopted, so my mom is my mom. Nowadays, some people can watch video of themselves being born; not sure if that wouldn't creep me out a bit. Some things should be left in the realm of the mysterious.In the early days of the environmental movement, a key plank in the platform was ZPG, or zero population growth. As I've said on my blog,the Hazard Hot Sheet, we wouldn't have the enviro problems that we do if there weren't just too damn many of us. We're depleting aquifers, energy sources, the soil's capacity to feed us, you name it. The so-called Green Revolution was going to feed everybody (yeah, right)…that's when we had only about half the everybodies we have today.Barry Commoner's book, "The Closing Circle," Paul Ehrlich's "The Population Bomb," and Andrew Goudie's "The Human Impact" pointed out that we don't have an infinite carrying capacity, and the Club of Rome's "Limits to Growth" report, and its two sequels, fleshed it out. Politicians of a different stripe from mine decry and condemn that attitude as negative, and that it's all about economic growth, growth, growth. But, dammit, there are only so many resources to exploit. I know some fatalistic conservatives who figure that humans won't be around much longer, so let's just use up everything we can while we can. That's not my approach, obviously.The nice thing about "Mother" is that it ties in all the old ZPG ideas with the current women's issues and reproductive health ones. AND drags Ehrlich out of mothballs, lol. I wish I had a teaching gig at Stanford. My brother-in-law does.I have no kids, that I'm aware of, anyway, so my impact is low. Chairman Mao tried to impose limits on China's population, with mixed results. (I'm working on a blog post on the pros and cons of Chinese medicine…I'm a fan of the culture, but some of their "remedies" are way toxic, and wiping out endangered species to make "aphrodisiacs" for an overpopulated country isn't a plan I'd write.) What I liked about the film is the message, and how viscerally it was delivered, through fine cinematography and narration. It's visually and aurally arresting, and I think anyone who sees it will GET the message. Great job by all involved.Gaia = Mom.

harrington-rebecca Mother: Caring for 7 Billion is a thoughtful, engaging documentary about the ever increasing consequences of rapid population growth. Through the use of expert interviews, as well as human stories, the film powerfully advocates for access to comprehensive family planning and education for girls and women as the antidote to explosive population growth, which contributes to environmental degradation, maternal and child mortality, and the cycle of poverty facing many in the developing world. It also draws attention to vast over-consumption and a focus on growth, in which some countries, like the United States, account for a relatively small proportion of the global population, but a large proportion of global resource consumption.Mother is factual, and grounded in a thoughtful theoretical framework; it also tells a story that is powerful and emotional, and that highlights that these issues have real world and real life implications.

Tim Siegenbeek van Heukelom A new documentary on population growth is always welcome, since talking about 'population' remains a taboo. I sincerely hoped that Mother: Caring for 7 Billion would add some critical thought to the population debate, but have to admit I came away a bit disappointed.There appear to be two parts to the documentary. The first part started extremely promising with a succinct but clear history of the population explosion, framed in the thought of people like Paul Erlich, Lester Brown, and John Feeney. But then, after a good ten minutes, part two begins, which follow the story of Beth Osnes. The story develops by slowly building the case for the empowerment of women, the 'Girl- Effect', and birth control. To me, this is not a new argument and I question if this truly will solve the population problem. Perhaps, this approach is part of the solution, but I would have liked some more critical thought on the subject, for instance some input from Daniel Quinn, and Timothy Bennett. Still, I was certainly glad to see Professor Albert Bartlett make an appearance, although is was very brief.The bottom-line: the documentary is good at raising awareness, but lacks in terms of adding any new critical thought to the population debate.