Jen Muranetz’s Fairy Creek immediately brought to mind something Kurt Vonnegut once wrote: “We’ll go down in history as the first society that wouldn’t save itself because it wasn’t cost-effective.” For it will ultimately be the ever-looming specter of big business, which will finally turn the last of the precious bio-spherical elements that sustain life into cash. By that point, we’ll be using all that money to buy cans of Perri-air, and Earth will suffer the same environmental issues as planet Spaceball.
But the battle waged over the preservation and prosperity of the old-growth forest lands and the First Nation’s sacred places, as well as protecting one of the remaining pockets of an untouched ecosystem is no comedy. While the protestors are peaceful in their methods and pure in their pursuits, forming a human wall against those who worship the almighty dollar is a fight, and all fighting hurts.
But the wealth of support to the cause documented in Fairy Creek, the valiant army of hundreds upon hundreds of people concerned with the rape of the natural world and the defense of this pristine valley on Vancouver Island, is profound and unwavering. What befalls the activists is a barrage of attacks and removals from police and loggers, with their primary aim to restore logging operations. Muranetz shows the mark of a seasoned documentarian in showing both sides of the coin. While the bulk of the story takes place at the barricades of Fairy Creek, the flip side of those who make a living by tearing down nature does not go ignored. Yes, the trees will probably grow back in a few hundred years, but what will life be like by then?
“…the battle waged over the preservation and prosperity of the old-growth forest lands and the First Nation’s sacred places…”
As compelling as the subject of this picture is, like any good story told, if the characters aren’t people you care about, then you lose interest and stop caring if they succeed. Another point of praise for this movie is found in the conviction, courage, and character of the myriads of participants who literally put their bodies and indeed lives on the line to stop this magnificent wilderness from becoming a landscape of wood chips and debris. Some even ascend to the heights, being members of the moment known as “tree sitters,” who literally haul hammocks and makeshift habitats hundreds of feet above the forest floor and perch in order to stop a toppling.
While there are wins and losses on both sides, what Fairy Creek cries louder than all the other messages contained within its running time is that we cannot sit by idly any longer and watch the systematic annihilation of the environmental wonders of this small planet we inhabit. Those with all the profits reaped from the earth want to send mankind to Mars. To survive there, we’ll need to create artificial biospheres. Seems counterproductive when we couldn’t even save the one we come from. But there’s hope, and this stands as a fine example to which we all should aspire and lend our support.
"…there’s hope, and this stands as a fine example..."
