What the HELL??!!!

[aadler]

 
I just watched a new episode of Rizzoli & Isles, the first in weeks. I love Rizzoli & Isles, and had been looking forward to the end of the latest hiatus.

Unfortunately, tonight’s episode centered around fracking. And the writers were wrong in just about everything they presented.

One: Fracking is not illegal. It’s a mature technology, the foundation of most of the new petroleum extraction in the United States. (And around the world, probably, but I’m not concerned with that.) You don’t have to do it on the sly, or kill anybody who finds out about it.

Two: Fracking does not contaminate groundwater (one of the principal points of the story). It doesn’t. The case most widely-cited by anti-fracking activists involved a particular company being held ‘liable’ when it was found that the local water table was contaminated by one particular chemical that had NOT BEEN USED in the fracking process. In other words, the contaminant was there, and it had clearly come from somewhere, but not from the company being sued; they were just a handy target.

Three: Fracking is not something that can be done on a small scale. Or in concealment. Even if it were in fact dangerous and illegal, you can’t hide such an operation, keep it secret behind the camouflage of a yoga retreat, and use mercenaries to hunt down anyone who might reveal the secret. It simply isn’t possible. Specialized equipment is necessary, trained crews, dedicated transport … This is not a meth lab, this is a major undertaking that requires a sophisticated support structure and evinces an extremely prominent footprint, and can’t be profitable (which is the whole point of such a thing) unless done on a massive scale.

The whole business was ridiculous. It wasn’t even an ideological polemic, it was just some careless hacks pulling out a scary-sounding buzz-word, doing a cut-and-paste from some anti-fracking Web site, and using it to turn out a muddled, one-dimensional conspiracy theory plot that was seriously unworthy of what has otherwise been a well-written and delightful show.

Comments

[mymatedave.livejournal.com]

TV shows are almost universally terrible at science, and movies are even worse.

But most of it really is laziness, because there is actually an organisation of scientists called The Science & Entertainment Exchange who exist almost solely to help make sure these simple mistakes don't happen.

[aadler]

I’ve seen plenty of that, and not just in scientific matters. My wife hates medical shows because of the sloppiness where accuracy is concerned; I myself hate seeing the presentation of military matters screwed up; and, when we’re watching any episode of Army Wives (which we both like) that’s centered inside the base hospital, well, it’s open season for “They don’t DO it that way!”

Laziness in anything is annoying. Laziness from people whose income is anywhere from five to a hundred times mine … for that, I have no tolerance at all.