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A writer writes. . .and the topic becomes an obsession.
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Jun 29, 2009 4:23 am
Mood: relaxed,
1338 Views
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I am a historian. I am proud of that. I am a student of history and a student of global politics, economics, sociology and philosophy. I am proud of the accomplishments I have made in these fields.
I am also a writer. . .a songwriter and a screenwriter. Being a historian, my scripts are usually based on historic events, while my songs detail with interpersonal relationships and the frailty of the human condition. I am proud of my work. I pour my soul into it.
I've written close to 300 songs since 2007 and seven full length screenplays since 2003, including two this year. While my first movies dealt with concepts I developed in my teens, my last four deal with historic or sociological issues.
In 2007, I wrote a piece called "Into Loud Silence." I entered it into a screenwriting competition sponsored by "Creative Screenwriting Magazine," the first time I ever entered one of my pieces in such a competition. I did not win, however, I placed in the top 5% of submissions. I consider that a success that our of over 3500 screenplays submitted, my piece was in the top 175.
"Into Loud Silence" deals with the worst instance of mass killing in the history of any Native American war. . .the Camp Grant Massacre outside of Tucson, Arizona in 1871. With two years of research into it, the movie wrote itself in four days, where I spent ten hours a day writing. I am completely proud of this piece. But, along the way, I changed. The people Tucson has canonized I cannot. People like William Oury, Sam Hughes, APK Safford, John Wasson. . .these people used people's fears to enable their greed on the blood of sleeping, surrendered Apache women and children. Sam Hughes was a monster, not a hero. Yes, he created TUSD, but he enabled mass murder. Wasson Peak; Safford, Arizona; Oury Recreational Center, Sam Hughes Neighborhood. I began to despise Tucson for not knowing its history, not caring and doing nothing to atone to Peridot, Arizona for the open, bleeding wound that the Apache still feel.
In 2008, I began researching another topic in history: The Nanjing Massacre of 1937. . .the one where the Japanese butchered over 300,000 Chinese in fourteen weeks. Politics aside, because I am not in the mood for that petty bullshit, what the Japanese did was horrific. I've read transcripts, diaries, seen documentaries, conducted interviews. . .and this action has tainted my view of the Japanese forever. I see them the same way I see Nazis. The Germans have attempted to atone for the Holocaust. . .the Japanese flatly deny their hand in numerous massacres (Manila, Bangka Island, Changjiao, Kalagong, Parit Sulong, Sook Ching, Bataan, Room 731, the use of Korean women as gang raped comfort women) and their history books gloss over it as if it never happened.
I wrote this movie in order to tell the story of the Chinese War Crimes Trials of the Japanese in 1946. In the process, something happened. I lost my view of Japan. I loathe what they did. . .and I despise their refusal to accept their hand in the bloodshed they caused. I know that if I can find producers in China to make this movie, the Japanese will never grant me a visa again. As far as I am concerned, that is fine. Personally, the Americans should have given the Royal Family to the Chinese. I know Chiang Kai-Shek and Mao Zedong would have loved watching Prince Asaka and Emperor Hirohito publicly executed.
I just finished another movie, "NIMBY," about the county and town where I grew up. I know how popular I will be there when this movie is made (because it's in the process of being sold). Sadly, again. . .I flat don't care. It's the history of the area I lived for 13 years, along with their narrow minded attitudes, tacit racism and open provincialism.
Right now, I am researching another historical based movie, this one taking place in 1941 at a Russian Canyon outside of Kiev called "Babi Yar," a place where Nazis executed 34,000 Jews in less than two days, and another 200,000 over the next two years. While this will not be controversial, my treatment of the Russians that handed their Jews to Nazis happily, then scrubbed their history to avoid mentioning that the victims of Babi Yar were Jews will make me very unpopular in Russia if I can get this movie made.
But, I don't care. History is not about dates, it's about perspective. History is a "why" discipline, not a "who, what, where, when" recital of fact. Facts are concrete. Sadly, most people don't even know their history. Of the ten movies I have planned to write, all but one of them are based on some forgotten part of history.
"Mountain Meadows Retreat," based on the Utah Civil War of 1876, the Mountain Meadows Massacre and the fact that good, Christian Mormons blamed on the Paiutes, leading to massive massacring of Paiutes.
"Springhill," based on the Springhill Mine Disaster in 1957 in Nova Scotia.
"Left for Dead," based on the 1917 Bisbee Deportation of union activists by the Phelps-Dodge Mining profiteers and their Arizona government lackeys and stooges that profited with poor working conditions and a dual wage system for Anglos and Mexicans.
"The Used Warrior," based on the British use and throw away of Joseph Brant and how General Sullivan butchers Iroquois for the sake of watching them die.
"A Long Walk Away," based on Kit Carson and Gen. Carleton's Long Walk of the Navajo and the settlement of the Navajo in the forlorn Bosque Redondo, leading to the disease death over over 20,000 Navajo.
"Wildcat," based on the 1894 Wildcat Strike of the Pullman Railroad Company and the railroading of workers into prison by corporate sponsored judges, police and paid Pinkerton Detectives, all because Pullman owned everything the workers had, including their clothing.
"The Hunter’s Visa," based on Japanese diplomat Chuine Sugihara assisting ten thousand Jews looking to escape Nazi extermination in Lithuaniah while the Russians used it as a way to fleece the poverty striken Jews out of every dime they had. Chuine was thrown on the dustbin of history, forgotten even today by most people.
"A Woman’s Worth," based on the Apache legend of the real life woman Gouyen.
"Pleasant Valley," based on the rancher range war in Northern Arizona during the mid 1880s.
Some are lighter than others, but the entire scope is history. These are stories that need to be told. Sadly, most people are ignorant of current events, let alone history.
I am obsessed now with the topic I write about. A writer writes, but the subjects do become an obsession. I feel, after my research into the Nanjing Massacre, so much love for China and the Chinese that I cannot express my feelings in words. I feel so much love for the Apache that I cannot express it in words. I am Jewish, so the love of Jews will always be there.
My topics become my obsession. As such, I've learned so much about them. Sadly, most people just don't care. I wish sometimes I could look at the world like 90% of the world's population, as a willfully ignorant boob. Unfortunately, with a Master's Degree, the desire for the Doctorate and the desire to read EVERYTHING in the world (along with an unquenchable thirst for knowledge), I cannot look at the world like the common ignoramus, which bothers me. Morons are always sure about everything. Intellectuals are always questioning. I wish I was sure about some things.
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