Billy Bob Thornton addresses the controversial reactions to a speech from his show, Landman

Taylor Sheridan’s newest show, Landman, follows his motif of powerful industries and the politics that shape certain aspects of how things are run in today’s hectic world. From Sicario to Yellowstone, his writing also tend to present the drama as kind of a modern day western. His newest Paramount+ series takes a look at the world of the oil business. Some controversy has been stirred up as a season one episode featured a speech about how the ideal fight against using fossil fuels is quite an uphill battle. It was a speech that seemed to have caused some talkback from viewers.

Collider reports on the show’s star, Billy Bob Thornton, as he addresses the reactions to Deadline. Thornton was inquired if Sheridan had worked his views into the show perhaps too overtly, to which Thornton replied, “There’s another side to this, and here’s what it is. People more so these days than ever watch movies or TV or listen to music and read novels from the point of view of their own agenda. I mean, if you’re doing a movie about a serial killer and the guy plays an amazing serial killer, it’s not like they’re saying we’re promoting serial killers. We’re just showing you a piece of entertainment that’s supposed to move you in some way or entertain you in some way.”

Thornton’s defense was that the show emphasized that it’s important to look at all sides of an issue, no matter how uncomfortable. Additionally, some have pointed to the scene of getting statistics incorrect, although in the grand scheme of things, Thornton thinks the controversial scene will get people thinking and talking about the issue despite the details given in the speech. He stated, “I think you just have to watch this as a thing that presents to you how it works in the oil business. That speech stirred up controversy, which of course is always good for a piece of entertainment in our world. It stirred up controversy because some people said, those statistics aren’t right. And then some other PhD says, well, actually they are. So it starts a conversation, which I think is always a good thing.”