BY: Miguel Ernesto Yusty

TAPPED

Year: 2009

Address: Stephanie Soechtig, Jason Lindsey

TAPPED is a documentary released in 2009 that analyzes problems such as the privatization of natural water sources, the bottled water crisis, pollution from the plastic bottles used to package it, and the health effects of using petroleum derivatives to manufacture plastic food containers. These are all crucial issues, but difficult to address due to their density and complexity. TAPPED manages to combine them, starting with cases and examples that initially seem insignificant and from everyday situations, to then guide the study to a context in which the life of each citizen is intertwined with the fate of the entire planet.

The themes interwoven in TAPPED are like two sides of the same coin, ultimately held together by the conflict between private interests and the well-being of the majority. Thus, the viewer is constantly confronted with unease about the role of the state and governments as protectors of the common good, only to discover their evident fragility and how the battle leaves them at the mercy of large multinational corporations and their intricate machinations. The clash between these opposing forces evokes a sense of senselessness, where people do everything possible to harm themselves, convinced of the opposite, disregarding the common sense that cries out to be heeded but only continues to be ignored. This is the horror that runs throughout the documentary: the water tragedy occurs because people are confused and don't mind being so; on the contrary, they seem content in this state.

TAPPED focuses on bottled water, but ultimately reveals the tragedy of shared dreams disconnected from national realities. This translates into weak governments, incapable of safeguarding even the most basic values, such as water, and into citizens who are absent and apathetic, even regarding the care of their own lives. TAPPED is a documentary about protecting natural resources, but it is also a mirror in which society as a whole sees itself, revealing that its crisis lies not in the economy, but in its very ideas.