When we meet Jean Hill, an elderly Concord resident, it
at the 2010 annual town meeting, and she speaks to the council in favor of the
plastic water bottle ban. The ban fails, and we see her again the following
year attempting the same thing. And again, the measure fails to pass. The
film then follows Jean Hill and Jill Appel as they prepare for the 2012 town
meeting. As Jean goes door-to-door to get signatures, she tells us, “I
consider myself a warrior… and warriors have to be prepared for any enemy.”
It’s kind of endearing to hear someone who seems to be a sweet elderly woman
saying that. She and Jill are met with a lot of opposition, and the film does a
good job of interviewing town residents and local merchants on both sides of
the issue.
While it seems more of an emotional issue for Jean, who
admittedly started this project after the death of her husband, when she needed
something to fill her time and some place to direct her energy, some of the
scientific reasoning for the ban is provided by Peter Nichol, a local science
teacher. He gives us some information on the garbage in the ocean, such as the
fact that plastic makes up ninety percent of the trash in the ocean, and that
the plastic breaks down into tiny particles which are consumed by ocean life
and thus introduced into the food chain.
It’s interesting that in Concord any citizen can bring a
measure before the council. He or she only needs ten signatures. And that’s
something else this documentary does well – painting a portrait of a community.
You really get a feel for the town. There is some information on the town’s
history, and footage of the Patriot’s Day reenactments. (And there is even a
bit of footage shot at the Colonial Inn, where I’ve seen some really good folk
concerts. One other music-related note: a Steal Your Face sticker is visible on
the back passenger-side window of a car in one shot.)
Of course, the question that Jean Hill doesn’t seem to
address is, What is the alternative to plastic bottles? There are hydration
stations at the high school, which is cool, and some people are seen carrying
refillable bottles, but Jean doesn’t offer a plan. There is some talk about how
the water in Concord is clean, so residents can drink from the tap, unlike
other areas of the country. (I was excited to hear someone use the word
“bubbler,” a word that no one outside of central Massachusetts seems to know.)
There’s a kind of heart-breaking moment when Jean is on a radio program via telephone
and has trouble getting her point across. But that seems to be a general issue
for her. She never says: “Look, I’m not out to ban water, as my opponents keep
claiming, just the single-size plastic containers which are environmentally
unsound.” But you do get caught up in her battle, in her cause. And regardless
of where you stand on this issue, this film will at the very least get you
thinking about your own consumption of water bottles.
Special Features
The DVD contains quite a lot of bonus footage, including
more of the Patriot’s Day reenactment (one of the participants is interviewed),
and some odd and totally delightful stuff concerning cheese. There is also an
interview with Bill Montague who wrote Little Mouse, about a mouse that
lived with Thoreau at Walden Pond. He takes us to the cemetery in Concord where
Thoreau is buried (by the way, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Louisa May Alcott and
Nathanial Hawthorne are also buried there, all in one section of the cemetery).
There is also more with Tom Blanding, the Thoreau scholar. And there is footage
of Jimmy Mazz and The Last Minute Men performing “Sugar Blues.” We are also
treated to some of the residents’ perspectives on the bottle issue.
Divide In Concord was directed by Kris Kaczor, and
was released on DVD on December 15, 2015 through First Run Features.
No comments:
Post a Comment