TV Show review
April 5, 2019 · TV-PG · Ended
Woke Score
Lower is better
Breakdown
These are the editorial factors and ratings behind our score for Our Planet.
Woke representation / casting
No human casting, performers, or roles exist. Content consists of real wildlife and habitat footage plus Attenborough narration. No audience-visible diversity signaling, identity emphasis, or representation priorities in prominent positions.
Woke political dialogue
Attenborough narration repeatedly states human responsibility for destroying forests, driving climate change, and endangering species, while urging protection and responsible citizenship. Messaging is consistent across seasons and tied to observed ecological facts and conservation needs rather than partisan, identity-based, or activist jargon.
Identity-driven story themes
Stories focus on animal survival, migrations, mating, and ecosystem links under pressures like climate and habitat loss. No themes, arcs, or messaging center on human racial, gender, sexual, or other identity categories. Humans appear only as a collective source of environmental pressure.
Review
Our Planet is a two-season Netflix nature documentary series narrated by Sir David Attenborough. Season 1 surveys major global habitats while Season 2 follows animal migrations, using spectacular wildlife footage to show ecosystems under pressure. Climate change and human activities such as overfishing, deforestation, and habitat loss are presented as direct threats throughout the narration and episode structures. The series and its marketing, including a WWF partnership and action website, center on the need for conservation and behavioral change to protect nature.
Western institutional / cultural critique
Damage is attributed to human practices including overfishing, deforestation, carbon emissions, and habitat conversion, with calls for global action and changed behavior. Framing stays general and practice-oriented; it does not target Western institutions, capitalism as ideology, patriarchy, traditional norms, or cultural identities in activist style.
Woke character or canon changes
Not relevant. This is original documentary material on current wildlife and environments, not adaptations or reinterpretations of established characters, source material, or historical figures involving identity or DEI-driven changes.
Anti-woke backlash and complaints
Climate skeptics criticized the walrus sequence and overall climate emphasis as misleading or propagandistic to push alarmism. Some social media users called Attenborough segments preachy on global warming. Complaints are niche, focus on scientific tone and accuracy rather than woke/DEI/identity politics, and did not produce major organized backlash or widespread "too woke" coverage.
Creator track record context
Silverback Films and Keith Scholey built reputations on traditional high-end natural history series. Recent work, including this project, places stronger emphasis on climate change and human impacts, often with WWF-style conservation partners. The company added formal DEI staffing later. Key directors and the producer show no public pattern of identity politics, representation-first work, queer activism, or DEI-driven projects; output centers on environmental filmmaking.
Production
