Comments on: Tribeca Review: The Unflinching ‘Oxyana’ Soberly Charts An Insidious Drug Epidemic In West Virginia

By: viewer from CA

viewer from CA — Fri, 13 May 2016 10:04:52 +0000

Callie, maybe Oxyana is like any other town but for a town of that size to have a DOA every day in the ER is not typical, nor is the number of prescriptions written for a population of that size. In addition where is the pharmacy that will fill a prescrAdn who is the doctor in Wash DC who wrote that prescriptions? Why wasn\’t that explored? Sad state of affairs.

By: Oceana

Oceana — Fri, 13 May 2016 10:04:52 +0000

This documentary is naive and one sided. Whoever created this is not at all concerned with the town as a whole.

By: Oscar

Oscar — Fri, 13 May 2016 10:04:52 +0000

There is a great podcast with Sean Dunne on the Rocks Off site.

By: Callie Daniels

Callie Daniels — Fri, 13 May 2016 10:04:52 +0000

I live in Oceana and I just have to say, the people that were actually in the documentary were chosen very well and for a reason. He only chose people that portrayed the image he was trying to put out there. He didn't talk to your normal, everyday townspeople. The people he talked to are the people behind the scenes that you rarely actually have to interact with when you live in this town. They are a part of the town, but not the whole town. I have lived all over the country and the drug problem here is no worse than it is anywhere else. My family founded this town, and it really irritates me that he only chose to show one side of it. A documentary about an entire town should show the whole picture of that town, not just one little piece of it. I also was irritated with the statement about the police. I have family and friends that are police officers. It's not that they have given up trying to fight drugs, the problem is that the laws aren't on the side of the police. It's not against the law to abuse your own drugs. As long as the prescription is in your name, you can take it in any way that you want to and there isn't anything the police can do about it. It doesn't matter if the police know you are a druggie, if they don't see you themselves in the act of buying or using drugs and have proof of it, they can't do anything about it. These laws affect the entire state, not just our town. I think someone needs to come in here and do a documentary and do it right by looking at the whole town. Not to mention, he completely ripped off the name "Oxyana". MTV did a documentary years ago that had Oceana in it they called us Oxyana. Wouldn't have killed him to be a little original.

By: Michael Stein

Michael Stein — Fri, 13 May 2016 10:04:52 +0000

I thought your comment about talking heads being frequently boring was interesting (even though you say that this film uses them very well). I never know why film people say this. In documentary, people with stories are the whole reason we make films. We want to hear from these people and hearing them allows us to emotionally connect with them. I know there is a movement away from using talking heads, but that seems to be only in the service of breaking a convention. What we're losing when we don't connect with real, live people on camera is frequently the emotional heart of the story. This film is a great example why talking heads are not just "talking." They're sharing the depths of their souls.