WATCH THE TRAILER HERE
First, the Recap:
A concealment of facts, the whitewashing of truth, the consequences of negligence, the power of exploitation and those who perpetrate it, all enacted for the sake of the almighty dollar–and trying to save face. All of this breathes to life scenarios we would rather not EVER wish to entertain, the notion that people in positions of power would grab the chance at profit at the high and disheartening cost of innocence. Yet, it becomes a reality more often than we desire, and so often at the core we find the ominous giant that is large corporations.
While some may prove to not be the villians, others get exposed for what deeds they engage in to mask harm to others. Some may want to believe it’s all conspiracy theories from unstable minds or perhaps from those who simply want their own time in the spotlight. Try telling this to the residents of Simi Valley and the 20-year cover up of radiological pollution delivered by one site—the Santa Susana Field Laboratory. Listen to their stories, listen to the experts who’ve researched it all, look at the statistics—and discover the destructive force of deception.
Next, my Mind:
As mentioned above, we hear our fair share of wild tales and sagas of subterfuge, especially in this day and age of the internet and social media, where utter falsity can spring to life, catch fire, and poison the thinking of millions if taken at face value. But, there are those instances where the actualities of suffering and injustice against truly faultless people occurs, and that the forces behind it become evident when some who choose to seek the validity of corporate corruption and reveal the very sobering, harsh, even purely shocking events whose ramifications have since continued to drastically and devastatingly affect a community that had the unfortunate circumstance to be built on or around the Santa Susana Field Laboratory, a small Simi Valley-based nuclear testing facility for decades that ended up being a source for disaster to men, women, and children unlucky enough to experience the results of a company’s full knowledge yet poor managing of radioactive materials.
This is the prime gist found in this new documentary feature film from director Stacey Stone and executive producer Diane Mellen, whose concentration on social issues remains potently strong and impactful throughout this 80-minute effort that pulls no punches when aiming to shine an unrelenting light on a thematic core boldly illustrating sheer irresponsibility. What I personally love about this film is that it is NOT by any means some callous “witch hunt”-minded, propaganda laden, needlessly vilifying or vicious agenda-driven cinematic effort, but rather a blunt, candid, research-backed dose of real life as seen through the eyes of those regular citizens and experts in the fields of science involved that have clearly seen, studied, or very sadly directly felt and lived the consequences of companies, such as Atomic International and Rocketdyne, and the SSFL refusing to clean up their messes after multiple occurrences involving everything from nuclear meltdown and illegal dumping to contaminated building materials being sold off undeniably came to pass, but all amidst stringent denials of wrong doing.
Yet, here we are witness to a myriad of Simi Valley residents like Milissa Ospina, Roger Wight, Alysia Deza, Ralph Powell, Kathleen Shapanack, and Casey Ann Guyer, former employees of companies associated with the SSFL like Bonnie Klea and John Pace of Atomic International, or cancer-stricken children like Grace and Elijah, ALL of whom are on record testifying through the interviews or footage presented here about the overt damage that has been and still is caused by a severe lack of accountability for necessary clean-up of the SSFL land, polluted grounds that once took the brunt of a nuclear release 240x more powerful than the Three Mile Island catastrophe. With illnesses ranging across cancer, thyroid, and auto-immune arenas, it’s incontrovertibly and wholly transparent that those struck with, dying from, or already passed from these were or are within specific proximity of the SSFL site in the wake of each incident that manifested yet got dismissed or “bought” away by the corporations in play.
Additionally, the documentary purposefully strays from its SSFL foundational premise to briefly but no less emphatically showcase other locations around the country, including Rocky Flats Colorado, Flint Michigan, Love Canal New York, and Hunters Point San Francisco, all of whom have now had to confront similar situations of corporate malfeasance involving other forms of contamination leading to illness and other effects as well. It’s just downright wrong, maddening, heartrending, and head-shakingly intolerable that this kind of careless dereliction of responsibility even exists, much less knowledgeably, on the part of these large companies who value return on investment over people’s lives. BUT, what the film does also ultimately achieve is a sense of victory that inspires and fervently promotes the realization of what CAN be done when a community of people stand in unity and persevere over this kind of blatant inequity, and that was a VERY gladdening finale to what is arguably yet intentionally heavy film to take in.
It’s thanks to stalwart warriors for justice like retired Director of Program on Environmental & Nuclear Policy-US Santa Cruz Dan Hirsch, Board President -Physicians for Social Responsibility-Los Angeles Dr. Robert Dodge, and regular but deeply impacted Simi Valley citizens like Ospina that have stood tall, made their voices heard, and have seen progress made and triumphs arise. Ultimately, that’s what it does truly come down to–become a champion for making a difference. Also, it’s never a bad thing when your film’s narrator is the incomparable veteran Ed Asner!! Therefore, in total, “The Golden Rule” is a needed documentary project that should absolutely be taken in so that we never tire from encountering bitter realities, for out of that we can only hope that more awareness will be raised, more action will be born, more stories of justice prevailing, more people’s lives being transformed again for the better, and MUCH higher levels of liability and visibility will come about, all to hold large corporations to their word when they say, INSIST, everything is “all safe”.
As always, this is all for your consideration and comment. Until next time, thank you for reading!
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