Forgetting Chernobyl

By Joseph Prescott

Okay, it’s been a few weeks since the fifth and final episode aired, so by now our American short attention spans are already forgetting who Comrade Legasov even was. And what dogs? Water cooler conversation is moving on, but that doesn’t mean we should. There was a valuable lesson to be learned here that needs to be remembered and applied to our daily lives.

HBO’s Chernobyl miniseries was a dramatized adaptation of the actual catastrophe which took place in 1984 during an explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant and the resulting fallout. Yes, they took a handful of liberties from real life events to enhance the storytelling aspect (looking at you, Ulana) but I am not here to nitpick apart the show for those decisions, instead I am here to dig into what should be the obvious takeaway from this series and hope that by highlighting some of the changes made, we can all learn something important. 
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Chernobyl makes sure to constantly remind us that “we’re not in Kansas anymore” or, more to the point-- this is Not America (Murica) -- this is mid-1980s USSR and we’re going to make sure you don’t forget it. Nearly every time a party member is addressed, it is with the title “Comrade” and while supposedly not too inaccurate for the time, it is an incessant signal to the setting. The moon rovers fail because the scientists who sent them were given a false radiation level because the government would not admit to the extent of the disaster. For the same reason, the civilian public is not evacuated because it would prove something truly bad had occurred. Everyone is threatened with a bullet if they don’t do as commanded. To whatever varying levels of accurate any of those aspects truly are, the show is using those moments and beats to hammer home “not America”. And you watch the civilians blindly believe their government and you feel bad for them. They are going to suffer because their country’s government lied to them. 

The opening and closing lines of the series should make you realize it’s the entire point of the story, as Legasov recorded monologue plays: “The real danger is if we hear enough lies, then we no longer recognize the truth at all.” This, coupled with the final lines of show “Every lie we tell incurs a debt to the truth. Sooner or later that debt is paid.” exemplifies the seeming point of “Lies are bad. Look at the results they can potentially have on us as a society/nation/planet.”

Yeah, we know, we get it, it was heavy handed. But how about the point that this is America -- where we face “fake news,” and some of us blindly believe convenient truths while others fight to uncover the facts, and -- yeah, you’ve also probably already read these arguments in other articles by now, as well. 

This is where I’ll leave you--

Friday, June 21, 2019 -- Philadelphia, Pennsylvania around 4 AM -- Philadelphia Energy Solutions refinery -- A massive explosion, rattles houses houses and colored the surrounding sky in hues of orange as balls of fire ignited in a spectacular display of power. Authorities are assuring us that the air quality is currently not hazardous -- there is no evacuation or shelter-in-place issued, but the air was being tested every 2-3 hours. However, there were some few individuals who took to social media to make sure their voices were heard that we should all stay indoors and keep as much of the outside air outside of our houses as possible. They provided statistics, names of chemicals, and hint at inside sources on the scene to backup their warnings and advisories.

So where is the lie?

See -- that, my dear friends, is what we need to take with us. Not that all governments are lying to us (I mean, they probably are), Not that we’re surrounded by “fake news” (even though we are) -- but that day to day, we are going to run into lies and we have to learn the best way to discern the facts from what we are presented with. I am not trying to say that everyone in Philadelphia is going to have breathing issues or cancer or anything like that because of a refinery fire explosion; I personally believe we’re all going to be fine (the fire was out as of Sunday), but I’m not here to give you some Mr. Wizard answer. Educate yourself as best as you possibly can to be armed with the knowledge necessary to discover what is real. 

The truth is out there.
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Joseph Prescott does not know much about about a lot, but he writes as though he does. Don't read too much between the lines.

(See more of Mr. Prescott's contributions, along with those of our other talented guest writers, here!)

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