By Noah Dawson
I recently watched the HBO miniseries “Chernobyl”. It's a great show, with superb writing, cinematography, and acting. The characters, mostly directly based on either real people, are compelling.
But, even with all of that put aside, the story is highly relevant to Amarillo politics. (At this point, it's worth mentioning that this column will have some very minor spoilers for the show.) At its core, it is a story of the dangers of lies from those in power.
One element of the show in particular resonated with me. In the fourth episode, "The Happiness of All Mankind," Ulana Khomyuk, a composite character representing several scientists who helped to uncover what caused the disaster, searches through government archives in Moscow. She requests a list of documents, but is told she can only view one, and the one she is given is heavily redacted. This is virtually identical to what many here have experienced when requesting public records. Let me make this clear: There should not be that close of a parallel between Amarillo and the Soviet Union.
Another area that the show demonstrates exceptionally well is the way that political figures twist the truth. They talk down to people, even those more qualified than them, simply because they are in power. Additionally, when they twist the truth, they do so casually. It doesn't require a massive conspiracy to create a narrative, just a few politicians who have a distaste for truth. And, when they spin their narratives, they often tell stories tangent enough to the truth that they can avoid outright lying, though no sane person would call their narrative honest.
Again, there should not be such close parallels between Amarillo and the Soviet Union.
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