


But when we have leaders in the executive branch of the government and the administration of the EPA who adamantly deny climate change and adamantly deny human's role in it, I'm reluctant to shut up and sit down.īut do you ever worry that this stridency could prevent you from reaching people whose opinions differ from yours? I'll stop talking about climate change when we start doing something about climate change. But others have accused you of taking advantage of the political situation to build your own personal brand. You have been lauded for stepping up as the public face of science and a leader for action on climate change. I understand that.īill has carried on the legacy of his mentor Carl Sagan, stepping in as CEO of the Planetary Society-Sagan's nonprofit that promotes space exploration. But a lot of the time, the reason I go into a grocery store is to shop for groceries.īut people, my fans, are my bread and butter. You can't project that energy all day.Īt the same time, if I go into a grocery store, you might presume that I came into a grocery store to sign grocery bags-that's what it may look like to a patron. I can't be "on" like the way the guy in the Science Guy show is "on" all the time. I really am passionate about science and I really am a regular person. The blessing and the curse-the blurse-of Bill Nye is: What you see is what you get. What is one thing you often feel is misunderstood? But this documentary shows how much more there is to know. You've been an integral part of so many children's lives, and because of that, many people think they know you as a person. I decided to trust these guys and gals and I think it was the right decision. And I'm pretty sure if the subject of a documentary doesn't do that, it loses its authenticity and the audience can tell. I signed an agreement that I would have no creative control over this thing. And then the other thing is that there's a part in the middle where my personal life is being addressed and it's just, you know, I want to kill myself. And you know, I'm a serious guy but I'm also deliriously funny and cheerful. What thoughts were going through your head while you watched it? You first saw the documentary at a screening at the SXSW festival in March.

Nye talked to about his thoughts on the upcoming documentary and the controversy that swirls around his emergence as a spokesperson for science. "We hope people who see this film will want to restore science to its rightful place in society," they write in a statement. The film aims to put the criticism in context and give insight into what drives Nye in his tireless outreach efforts. Recently, Nye has been criticized for using the current political situation to further his own personal fame, as well as speaking publicly as an expert outside his fields of expertise. But its guiding theme is his remarkable transition-from "Bill Nye the Science Guy, for kids, to the science statesman,” as Neil DeGrasse Tyson puts it in the film.ĭirected by David Alvarado and Jason Sussberg, the documentary tracks Nye's path to onscreen fame and his recent reemergence as the public-and often political-face of science. As viewers quickly find out, there's far more to know about the "man behind the bowtie, including little-known personal details like the loss of his parents, the genetic disease that saps strength from his brother and sister's muscles, his troubles with dating and decision not to have kids. The scene sets the tone for a film that aims to spotlight more than the life of an entertainer and science communicator.
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Here, the chant is coming from an auditorium of Americans of all ages, who have come not to hear Nye talk about the glory and wonder of basic science, but to expound upon the critical importance of science in society. The scene takes place during one of a national series of talks Nye did recently focusing on science education, space exploration and climate science. In the new documentary Bill Nye: Science Guy, which opens in select theaters this week, things are a bit different. With wild gesticulations and antics, Nye of the ‘90s boiled down complex topics into easy-to-understand terms, and left young audiences eager to learn more. In Bill Nye the Science Guy, that chant meant a zany scientist in a bow tie would soon be arriving onstage to enthusiastically explain the science that surrounds us every day-gravity, thermodynamics, friction, centrifugal force. The new Bill Nye documentary opens the same way as his hit 90's television show did: with the iconic chant.
