First and foremost hats off to the Sun City Woodchucks, who were featured on a segment of WGN news the other night. It showed the guys making wooden toys for little children, a worthwhile Christmastime charitable effort. Congratulations to all of you, and by the way you looked pretty good on TV.
Dark Waters is a true story. In 1978 a lone farmer outside of Parkersburg W. Virginia, took the first step in a journey that literally turned into an odyssey lasting almost forty years. He had lost 190 of his cattle, and he blamed the drinking water in the creek running through his property. He was downstream from a major Dupont manufacturing facility, and said the runoff was poisoning his cows. Dupont management and the city fathers of Parkersburg ignored his pleas for help, and in desperation he turned to a large law firm in nearby Cincinnati. He manages to corner attorney Rober Bilott, played by Mark Ruffalo. Bilott, very reluctantly, agrees to stop by the farm and take a look, and the story mushrooms from there. He is won over by the farmer’s story, and begins the arduous task of taking on a giant corporation by himself.
This is a “David v Goliath” story and after a multi decade battle, we discover that DuPont knew all along that their product Teflon, contained cancer causing chemicals. After years attorney Bilott finally gets his chance to depose the CEO of Dupont. He “nails him to the wall,” and the end result is satisfying, at least to the viewer. Those who suffered through liver, testicular, and kidney cancer, ulcerative colitis, thyroid disease, pregnancy induced hypertension, elevated cholesterol and birth deformities might not agree. This is a depressing story, and the film’s editors added to it by using “color grading” to cast a gloomy pall over the whole film.
Dark Waters
Entertainment Rating: ★★★★
Rating: PG-13: a disturbing story line
Possible Oscar Nominations: Best Actor, Mark Ruffalo
I close with some important facts. If you have any Teflon product purchased before 2014, it contains the PFA’s associated with the various diseases mentioned above, get rid of them. And, after watching this story, we will never buy any product from DuPont again. Also, I have in my possession an article written by David Michaels who has a very long pedigree in this arena. It goes into far more detail than I can possibly give you in this column. Anyone who would like a copy, email me at the address below, and I will arrange to get a copy to you.
On a lighter note, I wanted to comment briefly on a couple of Netflix series that are absolutely worth your time. I know from talking to people that many of you are already watching these shows, but if you haven’t gotten around to them yet, they beat the pants off of the Hallmark Christmas movies. The first is The Crown, now in its third season. Who would of thought the life of (modern day) Queen Elizabeth could be so fascinating. Superb acting and stunning sets only enhance an already great story. Then there is Longmire, probably my favorite show ever. I’ve talked to a lot of folks who have seen this and the reaction is always the same, an unbelievable show, and Walt Longmire is now their favorite TV character as well. The six season series is complete, so we’re watching two or three episodes a day to catch up. Walt is a modern day sheriff in rural Wyoming, and the characters he deals with and the mysteries he solves, beats anything the network police shows can come up with. Don’t miss it!!
