Sunday Matinee: Flint: The Poisoning of an American City [Film]

“Flint: The Poisoning of an American City traces the timeline of the city’ s interaction with the Flint River – from the continued abuse and neglect of both city infrastructure and environmental regulations, to subsequent population decline, through to Michigan’s 2013 appointing of outside emergency managers. This poisonous mix of factors created a crisis which has gone on for five years, resulting in record high levels of lead in the drinking water of the city.” – October Coast PR

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As many regular readers here know, we are huge fans of the world of horror around here. There is something incredible cathartic in getting the shit scared out of you by visual elements that you know can’t actually hurt you, but it’s hard not to relate to the threat of physical violence. Now, that’s all just fiction, Folks. It’s stuff that we should be able to decide if it is frightening or horrific or not. But the film we are showcasing today is about a subject that is NOT up for debate. This is fucking horrible. Plain and simple. It’s tragic, frightening, and completely unacceptable really. Flint: The Poisoning of an American City is a highly informative and down right aggravating film. And the awareness that this film enlightens it’s viewers to is the type that needs to be brought into our public schools, ASAP. I would have thought that I understood what was happening in Flint, and that eventually the powers that be will take care of the situation. I was wrong. So damn wrong. First of all I had no idea just how drastic the circumstances have been for residents of Flint. Most of all, I didn’t realize that NOBODY is doing ANYTHING about it. Our government does not care about what they did, and they are refusing to take any blame. The state of Michigan is essentially causing domestic terrorism against its residents, and it needs to stop.

The best thing I can say about this film is that, it’s actually pretty simple. Filmmaker David Barnhardt does an amazing job of taking the very complex situation that is happening in Flint, and making it as clear as the water in Flint isn’t. With a great mix of knowledgable experts on the matter and the people who are being directly affected by the problem, go ahead and forget what you thought you knew. This film is 100% going to knock you on your ass, and possibly leave you in tears of frustration. The mass hysteria and preventative maintenance that is currently occurring due to the coronavirus should serve as a prime example. Everybody is losing their shit over this pandemic. Meanwhile, we are about to be pushing a decade long wait for close to 100,000 people to be able to use the water in their city without making themselves sick. Oh and by the way, they STILL HAVE TO PAY FOR IT! That’s right, the corrupt and shameful politicians have managed to make this happen. Seriously Folks, and I would never normally say this, but you really should be obligated to see this film. And to tell your friends. We may not all individually be able to stop what is happening, but if enough noise is made, maybe something can happen. And a project like this is a wonderful step forward, and should be watched with full sincerity.

Flint: The Poisoning of an American City is available now on Digital platforms from Upstream Flix.