I’ve read some tweets today that annoyed me with people’s attitudes to farmers & the environment, rather than subtweet about them I’m gonna do something pointless but fun : a thread about my favourite movie - John B Keane’s The Field, & why the Bull was a true environmentalist 1/

So no.1 #TheField is all about the Irish complicated connection with “the land” a concept of both farming and land ownership steeped in history, colonialism & social and economic inequality, that’s not a Hot Take & better people than me have done analysis of it 2/

But what’s often missing is the environmental aspect and the complicated relationship of farmers with it in the face of industrial destruction and economic inequality & power dynamic, so let’s start there: The Bull made the field by hauling seaweed & fertilising it 3/

Now you might say: isn’t that intensification which is “bad”. Well no. Landscape diversity is good, the land around it hasn’t been modified, mean this grasslands would likely be a diverse place for other species to thrive along with benefiting overall diversity 4/

This is what’s referred to as high nature value farming now (HNV). A mixture of land types & habitats give rise to better outcomes, eg Hen Harrier nest in trees but need open landscapes to hunt etc. The Field would be classed as a low intensity semi-improved grassland 5/

So that’s the obvious value of this agricultural asset you might not have considered: but that doesn’t make The Bull an environmentalist, right? No, but the American proves he is.
Now there’s a whole lot else going on with The Bull that is an interesting study in mental health 6/

But that too is for another day (and maybe the best depiction of mental health and how it was handled in older men in rural Ireland for decades).
So let’s look at the American, “The Outsider” and his plans next instead. The archetype industrialist trying to bring “progress” 7/

Now it’s easy to see The American as the villain, he arrives in with his flash car & tries to push the struggling small farmer off the land he had hoped to buy? True. But is that evil intent or ignorance? It’s clearly ignorance in my view, he cannot see why anyone would object 8/

Because what he offers is what “The American Dream” stereotype is built on. He would bring economic development to this area. He would create jobs & maybe help lift people out of poverty. How would he do it? By mining the hills and pouring concrete all over the field 9/

In short he would OBLITERATE the habitat. Potentially his plans for a hydroelectric dam would also damage water habitats etc too. Does The Bull day about these rare species? About habitat destruction? No of course not. He simply says he 10/

“Do you know what he intends to do Father? He intends to poor concrete on the green grass. Now thats a mortal sin”
Using religion to explain how offensive but abstractly offensive he find this idea.
This is the fundamental struggle in the movie: between preservation & history 11/

and “progress”. It’s so well written by demonstrating the power dynamics too. The Bull’s obsession leads to Tadgh’s treatment of the widow, something he finds revolting, turning all three into tragic figures really. And there’s a lot tided up in that concept of life both the 12/

death of his son & mother. But fundamentally it comes back to stewardship. The Bull is linked to that field in a way no outsider could ever grasp. Something no one could ever overcome. It captures perfectly the feeling of land by many farmers. The strive to protect & care for 13/

something that’s spans far before us and will last long after us. To degrade it or destroy it is a “mortal sin” even to the non-religious. And the less of it we have the more tightly we will hold on. The more economic inequality, the more farmers will fight for what they have 14/

There is great potential here to work with farmers if people can understand that simple fact. What annoyed me this morning was the arrogance of tweets I read. They could have been spoken by the American yet they were Irish. They had opportunities to speak to us & learn first 15/

But choose not to. These particular people have very different aims than pouring concrete but non the less cannot see that stewardship or connect or a way to harness it for better environmental outcomes. They make us an enemy & make opposition inevitable 16/

Nor are we The Bull anymore brandishing lengths of sticks. Modern farmers are educated, intelligent individuals. Yet we are treated by some as still that “peasant” class (yes I’ve been called that). Other times we’ve even been depicted as interlopers with no right to property 17/

As I mentioned in the power dynamics, the Priest in the film is the one who should be aware of the conflicting views. He could have mediated or tried to explain to the American. Instead he choose not to. The most telling point is the eviction notice is written on church paper 18/

Why does this stand in for various authority figures side against his own partitioner? Because of power struggle between him and The Bull. A rare figure who could hold as much power in his community as the Priest in that time (consider the Church scene) 19/

So finally if you’re looking for an easy “Villian” you won’t find one in #TheField but the only figure with the power to reduce the conflict, the ability to understand the culture but chooses not to, it is the authority figure “whose as foreign here as any Yank” end/