January 1, Netflix Pushes Coal Story Hollywood Ignores

Wyatt’s Take

• Netflix releases a film about a transgender coal miner, breaking with Hollywood’s usual anti-coal stance.
• The movie sparks criticism for how it presents women in mining and ignores fossil fuel debates.
• Past Hollywood films pushing climate fear often miss the mark or distort the truth.

Netflix is about to stream a new movie telling the story of a transgender woman who aims to work in a coal mine. Mainstream Hollywood usually paints fossil fuels as the enemy, but this film puts that aside.

Gabriella Hoffman of the Center for Energy and Conservation called the movie “insulting” to women who have worked in the coal industry for decades.

“What they’re doing here is elevating a trans woman, a man essentially, into a kind of paragon of what the ideal woman in coal mining is. It’s counterintuitive. It’s insulting to women – trailblazing women who’ve worked in the coal industry for decades,” Hoffman said.

Women make up 10 to 17 percent of mining workers, and trade schools are encouraging more women to pursue skilled trades like mining. “Queen of Coal” stars Lux Pascal as Carlita Rodriguez, showing her journey in the mines of Argentina’s Patagonia.

Before transitioning, Carlita started work in a coal mine but later faced an old superstition against women entering the mines. The original story comes from Spanish-Argentine miner Carlos Enrique, who became Carla Antonella Rodriguez.

Local legend warns of bad luck for women who enter the mine, leading to an unofficial ban. Still, each December 4, there’s a celebration where women visit and one is crowned coal queen. Whether a man identifying as a woman fits this legend isn’t clear.

While Hollywood usually praises transgender stories, it often attacks fossil fuels in documentaries like “An Inconvenient Truth” and “Gasland.” Both films faced criticism for misleading claims and predictions that didn’t come true, such as scenes blaming fracking for fire in tap water, which were later debunked by Colorado state officials.

Netflix has released previous climate-focused films like “Don’t Look Up,” preaching disaster without real science behind it, and even streaming a movie about activists sabotaging pipelines. This time, the platform presents miners in a new light, but traditional values and women’s achievements get left behind.

If Hollywood wants to be fair, it should show the real risks and hard work behind American energy jobs, not just push political trends.

Wyatt Matters

America’s backbone rests on honest work and respect for those who do tough jobs, no matter the politics. When stories forget the real folks who built the industry, it’s Middle America that gets written out.

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