Netflix pick for 6/11/13 – ‘Windfall’

“Windfall” is a documentary about what happened to a small town after the locals, hurting for money, decided to sign the dotted line to the big red devil that is know as Big Wind. Man, that doesn’t have the same ring as Big Bank or Big Brother. But apparently no matter the cause, there are always ways to perverse the system, leaving victims in a wake of side effects, health defects and other undisclosed negative possible outcomes of doing business the hard way.

From my original review from the 2011 Florida Film Festival, posted to Examiner:

“Windfall is a pretty good documentary about the dirty secrets of wind turbines and how they have adversely affected one particular community in Delaware County, New York. That community is a struggling farm town called Meredith, once home to many thriving dairy farms, but now economically depressed as most of the farms ended up shutting down. So when a few wind power pushers showed up in their neighborhood waving money around, a few farmers took the bait and – BAM! Windmills started shooting up all over the countryside, providing clean and environmentally friendly electricity to all.

Except that these windmills proved to be a helluva lot more than anyone bargained for, and the negative effects definitely seem to outweigh the positive. These 400-foot tall behemoths are so large that they presented problems that no one anticipated. Most windmill farms are located in large open spaces like the desert, far away from homes and residences; but having one of these things as close as 1000 feet to a house with people trying to live in there? Bad idea. From the steady low frequency whumping sound made by the gigantic blades to the disturbing and disorienting strobe effect produced by the massive shadows cast by the blades, the physical and psychological impact these things have on people is very adverse, and causes problems that range from nausea and tinnitus to insomnia and depression.”

So check out this fascinating documentary right here on the Netflix Instant and next time think twice when someone offers you an easy way to make some cash cash money.