We will have no dictators here

I had 4 conversations yesterday asking what happens on November 9.

Trump has said if he loses, it's because the election is rigged. And if he wins he will lock up his opponent.  This is 3rd world dictator stuff.

What can we do?

We can make it clear how decisively he lost.  We can show how many millions more voted for his opponent.

So even if you live in the reddest of red states, or the bluest of blue, please go vote. History  will  remember the popular vote today.  History will want to know who stood where.

Let 2016 be remembered as the year this country said"We will have no dictators here."

TRUMP THE TYRANT

 How would President Donald Trump react if the American people turned against him?  

Reagan bottomed out at a 35% approval rating. Bush 41 at 29%. Bush 43 at 22%. Nearly every president goes through something similar, even the greats. Lincoln is estimated to have been sworn in with only ¼ of the nation behind him. When George Washington introduced a tax on whiskey, Americans took up arms against the federal government.

So, knowing what we do about Donald Trump, how will he cope with being openly disliked by the public for many months or even years?

Well, Trump has already told us what he will do: He will punish us.

He has already told us that he will punish the newspapers that criticize him by loosening the libel laws, so they can't financially afford to criticize him -- or anyone else. He will curtail the First Amendment, cripple the press’s ability to keep watch on those all-too-human individuals who govern us.

And if he would do that to the press, why wouldn't he do that to you and me?

Trump has been called a narcissist so many times, it is easy to forget what that word really means. It is a person whose ego is so fragile that he needs to be insulated from criticism. He needs to seduce and manipulate and threaten and FORCE others into admiring and praising him so that he knows he is worthwhile.

That is what is happening to this great nation. We are being seduced into a co-dependent relationship with a narcissist. Sooner or later, this relationship will become abusive.

When the honeymoon period ends, and you and I criticize him, he will "counterpunch" us.  He will have us roughed up the way he roughs up the protesters at his rallies. He’ll punish us like he plans to punish our journalists. He will take whatever steps are necessary to silence our dissent. And if that sounds like I am talking about tyranny, that's exactly what I mean.

America, this is an intervention. You need to think hard about what you’re doing.

RIPFEST

This month I participated in RIPFEST, a short film festival where professional directors, producers, actors, DPs, editors, composers and everyone else who makes a film happen volunteered their time, equipment and sweat to create a 5-7 minute film in 16 days.  The screenings will take place this coming Monday 7/29 at Anthology Film Archives at 7:30pm and 9:00pm.  It's been a breathtaking experience.

 As the writer, I was told early on that the film would be created 3 times: first by the writer, a second time by the director and a final time by the editor.  In many cases, I was told, the vision of the film will drift significantly from what the writer intended.   And drift it did.   

Let me be clear: I do not know what the final version will look like; it is still coming together.   I have every reason to believe that it will look and sound great, with haunting and uplifting moments.  I worked with a team of professionals, and it is clear to me that they know their business.   But at the same time, I anticipate that the film will have a message which is almost, but not quite, the exact opposite of what I intended.   

I thought I was well prepared for this.  See my blog post on "Sending Your Script Off To College."  I am a believer that the writer needs to let go of a script for the creative process to work.  And yet -- I was surprised by the experience.  I am writing this blog post because I feel that I need to lay all this out as I invite people to come see the film.  It feels like the right thing to do.

 In the end, what I think I have contributed to this project is the broad strokes -- i.e., the world of the film, the nature of the conflict, the relationships among the characters, some of the imagery and some bits of dialogue.   If that interests you, then I hope you will come to RIPFEST this coming Monday.  I would love to see you there.

Here's more info about it:
http://www.smarttix.com/show.aspx?showcode=RIP22
https://www.facebook.com/events/357330317703933/
http://www.ripfestfilmproject.com/

Pop Quiz!

9^th Grade Science

(1)    Warmer air can hold _________ water vapor than colder air.

a.      More

b.      Less

(2)    When a farmer says, “It’s too cold to snow,” that's because:
      a.      Warmer air can hold more water vapor than colder air.
      b.      Something else.

(3)   So, a snowstorm right at the freezing point is usually bigger than a colder storm.

a.      True

b.      Yes

(4)   Therefore, if global warming was really happening, you might expect to see more:

a.      Big snowstorms

b.      Blizzards

You know how sometimes it snows a lot, and some people use that to laugh at the notion of global warming just because snow is cold?  That annoys me.

Being skeptical is one thing.  I can understand skepticism. 

But on an issue this weighty, at least respect your fellow Earthlings enough to back that skepticism up with some actual, basic knowledge.   

Sending Your Script Off to College

Whenever I hear a play referred to as a playwright’s “baby,” my skin crawls just a little bit.   It’s the same feeling I get when I hear a child over the age of 10 called a “baby,” and I get it for the same reason.   It suggests a desire that the “baby” not grow up, not go out into the world, not be tested, not succeed or fail as it merits, and not become independent of its creator. 

Yes, the script development process can be discouraging, and productions can go horribly wrong.  A good script in the wrong hands can be enough to make you stop writing.  So yes, the instinct to protect one’s creation is natural and healthy -- but only up to a point.  

I’ve seen too many authors fall into the same traps:  they micromanage their productions, abuse their directors and treat their actors like marionettes.   To them, their internal vision is true north and everything else is a deviation.   If you are a creative person and this is what you believe, then my advice to you is “Don’t be a playwright.”   Find some other creative outlet where you’re not so dependent on other people’s interpretation of your work.    Theater works best when everyone on the team takes turns creating, clarifying, adding depth.    The vision takes on flesh and becomes less perfect, but more real.  That incarnation -- that miraculous incarnation -- is what everyone on your team is there for.  It’s what your audience comes for.  They are not there for the playwright.  They are there for the play.

IMHO, the greatest achievement a storyteller can have is to lose ownership of the story.   To create something of such value that everyone else lays claim to it.  They re-tell it.  They reinterpret it.  They make it a part of themselves. 

Is your script ready for production?  Is it tight and stageworthy?   Then it is no longer your baby.  It is your 18 year old going off to college, stumbling its way to maturity.  It is heading out into the big, bad world, and for both your sakes you must start letting it go.