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Experimenting with Consequences

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March 14, 2022 by toccof

These two clips from The Inextinguishable Fire answer a question found throughout the film; who is to blame? These clips are reenactments of scientists working at the Dow Chemical Company. In the first clip, the two scientists read a statement from the state that Napalm does not stick to the skin and will, at most, create second-degree burns. This is not true because thousands of innocent Vietnamese people suffered from Napalm through death, congenital disabilities, and injuries alike. This clip represents how scientists at Dow explored the effects of Naplam in a vacuum. They tested on rodents and insects, not fully knowing its impact on human beings. The state, or the U.S. government, is at fault as well, for releasing these untrue statements to give citizens peace of mind and to protect them from criticism and liability. In the second clip, the scientists discuss how what occurs in an experiment is not always accurate in practice. Napalm is a perfect example of this fact. No matter how long the scientists experimented with Napalm, they would never know its impacts until used on people. The state and the scientists understood this and still chose to use it in the Vietnamese War, making them both at fault. These clips both symbolize how the Dow Chemical Company and the U.S. government did not fully account for the drastic consequences of Naplam and still used it in warfare against civilians. 


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