Writer-performer Claire Parker has the misguided-influencer bit down pat, and she’s chosen to use her powers for good.
In Claire Saves Whales, we meet an upper-middle-class 20-something, hiding out at her parents’ beach getaway not just to relax, but to make a change in our world. You see, she’s worried about a whale that “washed ashore in Thailand with over four tons of plastic in its stomach,†and she’s got a plan to reverse the impact of human carelessness on aquatic life. That plan entails Claire literally eating plastic she finds on the beach, a “protective measure†that’s sure to save the whales. Or, at least, she, like, thinks it will:
“I just feel like if someone sees me eating just one bottle, and that inspires them to eat a couple of bottles, in a few years, climate change wouldn’t be our biggest problem anymore. It would just be a different problem.â€
Spoiler alert: Luckily for her digestive tract, Claire doesn’t have the fortitude to ingest a single polymer. Still, the time we spend with her rooting through trash cans at a public beach she’s pleasantly surprised isn’t as gross as she thought, nearly vomiting while trying to force a water bottle down, and ultimately settling on a fit-fabulous method of consumption? That’s all noble stuff. And when we hear from her beaten-down father — who hired the documentary crew capturing the action at his daughter’s behest — we end up privy to the degree of reasoned, if forlorn, humanity Claire was searching for all along.
Luke is executive producer at Big Breakfast and a watcher of many web videos. Send him yours @LKellyClyne.