You can always tell when someone's media literacy is in the gutter. They think far too directly of the things they watch and listen to everyday. For Taylor Sheridan and Billy Bob Thornton's Landman, people think that it's blatant promotion of the oil business. The sheer act of putting it on screen is an endorsement of sorts, that they cosign what's going on.
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Obviously, this isn't how it works. Imagine watching Taxi Driver and thinking Robert de Niro's character Travis Bickle was someone to admire. Anyone with a working brain can identify in the writing when a show is trying to criticize a character or an industry. Unfortunately, not everyone has this discernment and don't look at things with the necessary nuance. So a show like Landman with Billy Bob Thornton gets the hoards of people thinking that the show has an agenda.
Alas, Thornton is shrugging off any notions that the show has some ulterior motive to boost Exxon. I don't really think they need the help anyways. But any gripes about the morality seems to fundamentally misunderstand its purpose, according to the actor.
Billy Bob Thornton Denies Any Agendas Made on Landman
Recently, Thornton spoke on a panel at the ATX TV FEST about the politics of Landman. There, he stresses that what he's making with Taylor Sheridan isn't a piece of conservative propaganda. Instead, he emphasizes how you get a peek into the industry, a full portrait of how it functions, even the bad stuff.
"Here's the thing. First of all, Taylor's written a show that doesn't have an agenda," Billy Bob says. "It shows you what happens. So this is just a peek behind the curtain of an industry that a lot of people don't know anything about. And he's not saying 'Yay oil' or 'Boo oil,' he's just saying, 'Here's how it works.'"
When it comes to the politics, Billy Bob Thornton really can't be bothered. He's averse to picking sides and believes those with logic should have their own subsection. "I think we need a party called the Common Sense Party," he quips.
