Dark Waters – Swimanög

Where will we get critique and truth if Larry Ellison gets his way?

The Ellison take over is analysed by Forbes. Does he have the money? It seems not. So what is the mega deal all about? Control of free speech for people, news and creative products and outlets.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/phoebeliu/2026/02/27/what-paramount-warner-bros-merger-means-for-larry-ellisons-fortune/

Watching the Meidas Touch coverage Youtube on Larry Ellison’s current take over of so much in Los Angeles film and other communication media I remember reading Exposure and then seeing the film of it Dark Waters and how important it is to have books, news and drama that are brave enough to stand up for truth and bring corporations to account. I was deeply impressed by the book and the film.

Exposure and Dark Waters took on DuPont’s production and sale of teflon, and the pollution of the forever PFAs chemicals used in the industrial process that affects us all. Effectively it meant death to many Americans and their livestock in Ohio and West Virginia as DuPont’s killer chemicals seeped into the rivers and water supplies. The effects were devastating.

As a filmmaker and writer everything I saw and heard in Dark Waters was pitch perfect for me. Is this the point when an already very, very good filmmaker makes something so significant it and he cannot be ignored? On my one viewing I would say definitely yes. So, how did Todd Haynes, and the cast and crew, not receive any Oscar nominations? The answer to that is unfortunately in the film itself.

Mark Ruffalo is exceptional as the initially unsure advocate (should I, shouldn’t I take this case?) the reluctant hero turning crusading lawyer travelling deeper into the lies and cover up world of Du Pont’s immoral practices, as he takes them on in the courts. The journey is long and far from easy.

Based on the New York Times Magazine’s “The Lawyer Who Became DuPont’s Worst Nightmare” by Nathaniel Rich, the story is real, the deaths associated with teflon and the poisoned waters from chemical spill run-off are countable, coupled to another important fact—the film narrative is so well managed and un-histrionic in its style and delivery that it makes watching dramatic and very affecting.

The mantra told often to us by lecturers in JD units: ‘a lawyer reads, that’s what a lawyer does’ hit home as I watched the many boxes of incriminating documents and records being wheeled into Mark Ruffalo’s (Rob Bilott’s) law offices.

How was Bilott not removed from his firm? It’s to my relief and all our benefit that he kept his position and kept on fighting the actions. A roomful of long applause for all involved.