arthur_tafero Review of Promised Land

Promised Land (2012)

Potentially Very Good Film Ruined by Hollywood Ending

[6/10 · 12 December 2018]

I like happy endings, but life is not all happy endings. This was a good film, even with the Hollywood Ending, but it would have been a much more better film, if it had a realistic ending. The realistic ending would be a rational, intelligent person sitting down and weighing their options in life. In other words, try putting yourself in the place of these Pennsylvania farmers, who are slowly sinking in the quagmire of debt and increasing losses from unsustainable businesses. At some point, the vast majority of people in this situation cut their losses; they don't make Hollywood stands against fate and bad business environments. And speaking of environments, one statement in the film rang very true. If you are against fracking, then you are for oil and atomic energy. Gas is a much cleaner and safer alternative. We saw what happened in Japan with atomic energy, and we know how oil becomes gasoline and pollutes the air and environment so badly that cities like Los Angeles and Beijing are breathing health hazards on several days a year. So gas fracking sometimes pollutes the water; sometimes it kills the livestock. These are serious risks. These risks must be weighed against current economic conditions and individual needs of the farmers in the region. From what I saw, even the MIT-genius teacher was suffering economically. Is economic ruin worth bearing for a clear conscience? Is making a profit on your previously unprofitable property by taking an environmental risk worth it? I don't pretend to know the answers to these questions. But I do know a little bit about human nature; and that translates into a professional oil or gas man changing sides because his or her conscience bothers them. There is not one record of incidence of that type of event occurring; regardless of any Hollywood fantasy. The real drama, the real tough decision comes from the farmers themselves, not from the gas guy or some environmentalist. The farmer has to weigh what will be gained against what will be lost. We, and Hollywood, have nothing to say about it.