a good fracking story

Have I mentioned how much I LOVE stories?

Let me give you an example: Jason Bourne Matt Damon and Jim Halpert John Krasinski have written and are starring in what looks to be a really solid story about fracking called PROMISED LAND. Now, chances are good that as a concerned citizen, you know what fracking is and a fairly pissed off about it - as you should be. But for The Masses, it's an issue that only concerns other people, who live in God-forsaken places like, say, Pennsylvania.

So their animals are dying? So they can light their tap-water with a match? So their children are getting cancer?

So what?

None of this really concerns us, because these aren't people - they're statistics. And the only way to turn statistics into people is through relationship... which isn't likely, since only Amish people and pig farmers live in Pennsylvania, right? Well, wrong, but that's besides the point.

The point is that you can't care about an issue unless you can connect to it on an emotional level by being in relationship with a person who's affected by it. And since we can't all have Amish farmers for friends, sometimes we need the next best thing... a story.

So, here's hoping that this story is a really, really good one; because while emotional engagement isn't a guarantee of change (how many of you rich fillies out there really checked to see where that BLOOD DIAMOND on your finger came from?), it certainly forces folks to sit up and take notice... and perhaps, even, to make a decision.

With the genius Gus Van Sant at the helm, and Jason Bourne Matt Damon in the lead, it seems likely.