Robin L. Murray and Joseph K. Heumann have authored a critical and interesting look at the environment in the genre that is the American Western in their "Gunfight at the Eco-Corral." If you want an introduction to environmental history or are interested in Westerns, this may be the read for you. The book is divided into seven sections, each section taking on issues from water rights to oil to reservations. The introduction, not included in the aforementioned sections, provides an articulate basis for the rest of the analysis in the book. But, do not be discouraged if reading the introduction becomes cumbersome because the following sections will be captivating, given the chance. If you can stomach the academia and think film analysis is anything like a roller coaster, then get ready for the veritable theme park of the American West.
A combination of environmental history and film analysis, some of the books brightest moments come in its latter half which, most notably concerns itself with railroads, reservations and oil. One of the many films of interest for Murray and Heumann is the relatively recent "There Will Be Blood" (2007) starring Daniel Day-Lewis as the avaricious Daniel Plainview. Daniel Plainview is a self-proclaimed oil man whose partner died in an oil well accident. With his partner's orphan son in tow, Plainview departs farther into the American West to make himself rich on the liquid gold he hopes to extract. Murray and Heumann use "There Will Be Blood" to illustrate how the literal spectacle in the film (notably the eruption of an oil well) conceal the environmental implications of Plainview’s exploits. Little room in the movie is left for examining the environment after Plainview finds oil. The grandness of many of the scenes in the movie also cast their shadow on the environmental effect of Plainview’s actions because they are the focus of both the camera, the characters, and as such, the audience.
Murray and Heumann are successful in picking out the nuances in the films they discuss and connecting them to environmental history. Citing notable persons such as Joni Adamson and Donald Worster, Murray and Heumann give an affinity to their argument which may be necessary given the nature of their conclusion. Much of the end of "Gunfight at the Eco-Corral" sets up a critique for so-called mainstream environmentalism and advocates for their idea of a middle ground which, especially in the face of present-day environmental devastation, can be easily perceived as foolhardy.
