White Noise - A Documentary?

I was saddened and a bit shocked to read about this train derailment in Ohio. What makes it more terrible is this billowing toxic cloud of vinyl chloride, forcing the evacuation of local residents. This could easily be a still from the recent film.

Source: Gene J. Puskar/AP

I guess there isn't too much to add.  Carrying goods by train is remarkably efficient and safe, until it isn't.  I hope no one in the area was exposed for too long. If I recall, David Foster Wallace's The Broom of the System featured the Great Ohio Desert, which was just outside of Cleveland, roughly 100 km from this derailment.  I'm not saying the two are linked, but it is an interesting coincidence.  White Noise isn't set in any specific location, but it does seem to be set in the U.S. Midwest/Rustbelt, and it could certainly plausibly be taking place in Indiana, Ohio or western Pennsylvania.

I recently watched White Noise a second time, but on Netflix.  (The first time was over at Tiff Lightbox.)  I did find the overlapping conversations in the kitchen for example much harder to follow on the small screen.  I think it is a pretty good film and am a bit sad it got blanked for Oscar nominations.  Personally, I would have liked to see Don Cheadle get the nod for Best Supporting Actor and probably the team should have gotten one for Best Adapted Screenplay (certainly over Living, which is essentially just a remake of Ikiru*).  And also LCD Soundsystem for Best Song ("New Body Rhumba").  But it was not to be.

* I do think Bill Nighy has a pretty good shot at Best Actor, mostly because Academy voters realize that in even 5 years, the idea that they gave the Oscar to a guy in a fat suit just won't sit very well.  I do hope Michelle Yeoh gets the Oscar over Kate Blanchette, who is probably the front-runner.