Originally Posted by Goldwingnut
(Post 1943028)
Unfortunately, I was involved in the making of this film, I did a majority of the drone photography (not the illegal flight in Spanish Springs). I owe everyone and the developer an apology for having any part in this, another typical hit piece on The Villages. I was hesitant to get involved and was even given forewarning by district staff about this crew being here. When I spoke to Valerie her story was that "they had nothing like The Villages in Europe" and that "retirement was a lot different there", she wanted to expose Europeans to a different idea for retirement. I was naive and tried, as always, to see the good in people, I was a fool. I'm sure she used the same line of BS on the other Villages residents that were involved.
The film starts out with a preacher espousing moving "here" for retirement, I couldn't help but to think of the likes of someone like Jim Jones, or some other cult leader. It's doesn't say were they're at and without that context it infers this is the way it is in The Villages.
There are many shots of activities going on here in The Villages that are shot to make the residents look somewhat foolish and this is further amplified by the silly music playing in the background.
Speaking of music, every shot of a town square has WVLG playing in the background with commercials for homes for sale playing, not music, here again the selective soundtrack is used to push their biased narrative and agenda. And we can't forget that somehow every TV seen in the film is always showing Fox News.
In one scene they show a golf cart just blowing through a stop sign, obviously Villages couldn't give a hoot about the law. I know there are some who will blow through a stop sign, but the vast majority of the people I know and see here in The Villages do always stop for stop signs and obey the traffic laws. But of course, the law-abiding residents don't make for a good story, do they?
Of course, all of use Americans are gun toting rednecks and The Villages is a mecca for them according to this movie. I'm not sure where the gun range they showed in the film is located, but it's not in The Villages, neither is the gun shop they showed, a fact that was conveniently left out.
A lot of the film is spent on the anti-Villages crowd that blames The Villages for being greedy and buying the land to develop and creating only low paying service jobs. Left out of course is that someone sold the land to The Villages, and why was that, for the money. Their former neighbors were being greedy. While there are low paying service jobs created, there are also thousands of good paying construction and construction related jobs created by the growth of The Villages. Did I miss the part of the film where they talked about many entrepreneurs in the area that have made their fortunes and higher thousands more individuals? Oh, that's right, they left that part out.
The way that residents were used in the film was embarrassing and shameful. They chose one couple and portrayed them as "typical" couple, she had a physical impediment due to surgery and he was a rather large bellied suspender wearing simpleton. I felt bad for the couple the way they were used, I seriously doubt they are as portrayed. Another lady was portrayed as vain, materialistic, and self-centered to make it seem the norm for The Villages.
A big deal is made of the water usage here in The Villages, showing lots of sprinklers running all the time. We represent less that 2% of the daily influx of people into the state of Florida, but we are responsible for all the water shortages. Did they mention the nationally recognized water retention/reuse systems here in The Villages? Of course not.
No hit piece on The Villages would be complete without the vitriol and contempt for The Village of Orlando's Lauren Ritchie. She throws her usual barbs and misinformed criticisms in at every turn of the film. According to her "most people are kind of brainwashed" and of course "they really feel entitled to let go". Of course, according to her we are all just a bunch of racist because "there aren't any minorities" in The Villages. The people who live here are here by their own choice without regards to race, religion, and any other popular social divider. The developer is, just like every other business, color blind, all they see is green when it comes to selling a home.
I will give credit where credit is due, there were many statements by the residents that were very positive about The Villages, our community, and living here, and these were left in.
This film crew came to The Villages, rented a home in the Lopez area, lived it up and enjoyed the amenities this community had to offer, all the while with a less than honorable and objective motive in mind. Eurotrash! Stay in Austria, and don't bother coming back to our country and community! You're not welcome here.
I could go on about the film, I took 2 pages of notes when I wasn't yelling at the computer as I watch this junk, but I think you get the picture, it's just another hit piece about us and our community. Is our community perfect? Of course not, we have our flaws and idiosyncrasies, but I think most will agree, there's not a better place to retire and enjoy our golden years.
Don't waste your time watching this movie, it will just make you mad.
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