Netflix produced a movie entitled “White Noise” in East Palestine, Ohio. The movie, directed by Noah Baumbach is an adaptation of a novel by Don DeLillo, which was published in 1985. “White Noise” follows a fictional family, The Gladney’s. They are fleeing their town to avoid toxic airborne pathogens when the town encounters a chemical leak. The family, two parents, and four children, then return home, attempting to regain some sense of normalcy.
Ohio’s Famed Filming
While the movie itself encompasses a little comedy, for the actual residents of East Palestine, Ohio, the oddities they’re experiencing are anything but funny. The movie began filming in 2021 and was released in 2022. Less than a year after the movie’s release, residents of where the film was shot, have been seeing some eerie similarities between the movie’s outlandish events, and their own recent events.
The cast, including Don Cheadle, Adam Driver, and Greta Gerwig, made the movie, filmed in Ohio, a must-see for many viewers. When 37-year-old Ben Ratner and his family signed up to be extras it seemed like a fun, family activity to do together. Plus, they were already actual residents of East Palestine, Ohio so it seemed like a perfect and convenient fit.
In the movie, Ratner takes part in a scene where a freight train collides with a tanker truck. The collision causes an explosion, filling the air with toxic chemicals. He sat with his family a few days ago to watch the movie. However, they stopped part way through because it seemed all too reminiscent of the family’s recent experiences. “All of a sudden, it hit too close to home,” he said. “The first half of the movie is all almost exactly what’s going on here.”
Resident’s Face Danger
The Ohio family was ordered to evacuate their home a day after a Norfolk Southern train derailed and caught fire. Due to the content of the train, carrying 20 cars of hazardous materials, officials were concerned it might explode after catching fire. According to Mayor Trent Conaway, there was a controlled release, draining vinyl chloride. Scott Deutsch of Norfolk Southern explained, “small, shaped charges would be used to blow a small hole in each rail car. The vinyl chloride would then spill into a trench where flares would ignite and burn it away.” As a result, it would be nearly a week before the people of East Palestine, Ohio would be allowed to return to their homes.
At first, the Ohio village was given a 2-mile radius for evacuation. As a result, Ben’s wife, Lindsay, and children went to her parent’s house to await further instructions. However, the next morning, it seemed things were no closer to being resolved. “There was a lot of commotion. Helicopters and people hightailing it out of town, and it was it was a little intense,” he said. By that afternoon, the evacuation parameters had expanded. Nearly half of the village’s 4,800 residents had been forced to leave their homes. Eventually, the evacuation parameters expanded again, this time across state lines, causing panic and confusion for the residents of Ohio and Pennsylvania.
Economic Difficulties
Ratner also explained that East Palestine isn’t a particularly wealthy area. Although, the village was working toward a better economic standing. “That’s where we’ve been raising our kids, finishing college, buying a business, and that’s been our place,” he said. “In the future, are we going to have to sell the house? Is it worth any money at this point?” It’s unclear as of now, what economic impact this accident will have on the village and its surrounding communities.
Ratner stated, “You can just about drive yourself crazy thinking about how uncanny the similarities are between what’s happening now and in that movie.” Residents have now been allowed to return home and experts believe the air quality has improved significantly since the odd Ohio accident, mirroring the movie that was filmed there.
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Sources
- “There’s a super bizarre coincidence surrounding the Ohio train disaster.” Futurism. Noor Al-Sibai. February, 2023.
- “After a train derailment, Ohio residents are living the plot of a movie they helped make.” CNN. Brenda Goodman and Kyla Russell. February 13, 2023.
- “Netflix disaster movie is ‘almost exactly what’s going on’ in the town they filmed it in. UNILAD.
Rhiannon Ingle. February 15, 2023.