What We Don't See

My first thought about something that was impactful to the audience while it was never fully revealed was the contents of Marcellus Wallace’s briefcase in Pulp Fiction.  We never really know what’s inside, but clearly the contents are intriguing to those who open the case.  People get killed over its contents.  To this day, people speculate over what was inside.   I found my own speculation fun, discussing with friends my idea which was that it was Wallace’s soul inside the case, and that the bandage on the back of his neck symbolized his soul having been removed. After the film’s release, a Canadian newspaper ran a contest for people to theorize what was inside.  Some of the guess were: the Oscar that Quentin Tarantino hopes to win, a human head, the ear from Reservoir Dogs, O.J.’s other glove, Michael Jackson’s other glove, Rudolph’s nose, and the diamonds from the robbery in Reservoir Dogs.  The winner of the contest claimed it was a homage to Robert Aldrich’s Kiss Me Deadly, which centers around another briefcase, glowing because it contained a small nuclear bomb. Tarantino maintains that the similarity was purely accidental, although he apparently liked the idea.  Actually, Tarantino and co-writer Roger Avery admitted that the idea of the diamonds from Reservoir Dogs being in the briefcase was one they had tossed around.  But they were worried that something like that would be too expected.  And then, a properties person installed a light bulb in the suitcase so it glowed when it opened.  Tarantino and Avery disliked this, but the producers thought it was nifty, so the shots stayed.  

Avery says, “Originally the briefcase contained diamonds. But that just seemed too boring and predictable. So it was decided that the contents of the briefcase were never to be seen. This way each audience member would fill in the blank with their own ultimate contents. All you were supposed to know was that it was “so beautiful.” No prop master can come up with something better than each individual’s imagination. At least that was the original idea. Then somebody had the bright idea (which I think was a mistake) of putting an orange light bulb in there. Suddenly what could have been anything became anything supernatural. Didn’t need to push the effect. People would have debated it for years anyway, and it would have been much more subtle. I can’t believe I’m actually talking about being subtle.”

Tarantino still maintains regarding the contents of the briefcase, “It’s whatever you want it to be.”  But I like the idea that the writers wanted it to be left to the audience’s imagination.  Would the guesses have been as wacky and plentiful if the wasn’t a light emitting from the case?  Interesting thought.  I wonder…

As for the second query- I’d like to confabulate on Gidion as dark matter was in Gideon’s Knot.  I think that not seeing Gidion was an incredibly effective choice, which did indeed, “help focus and audience’s theatrical experience.”  In doing my own research for this show, I heard there was a production where there were school pictures of the students on the wall, thusly the audience saw “Gidion”.  I think that was a poor production choice.  It’s much more interesting- to me anyway- to imagine what Gidion may have looked like.  We don’t have a face to put to this child who has tragically taken his life.  Which I think makes the show even more powerful when the culpability of both women is called into question.  By having only the idea of the deceased eleven-year-old, we become more invested in the morality struggle.  Who deserves the punishment in this situation?  The teacher who saw a troubled student and did nothing about it?  Or the busy single mother who failed to see that her own son was conflicted in feelings about his sexuality and potentially a bully himself? In a story where the playwright deftly places two women who absolutely do not want to be in the same room together (yet whom actually need to be in the room together), the dark matter can “alter others consciousness at will.”  Some people side with Heather, some with Corryn, but the trauma induced by the lack of Gidion’s presence is spoken through each of these characters.  Neither of the characters is rewarded, and we are uncertain as to what will happen to either of the women moving forward.  I think Adams’s work is brilliant, and I hope she resurfaces with some new work soon in which she again represents “personal and collective traumas” in a new light, by using the dark.

Creating a Space for Love

The Sandy Hook Elementary School Massacre is a event that continues to weigh heavy on my heart, despite the fact that six years have passed since the fateful incident.  I suppose I am liable to think on it in light of the recent shooting in Florida on Valentine’s Day.  Every school or mass shooting is beyond horrible, but for me, the Sandy Hook shooting was particularly distressing.  In my darker moments of pondering life on this planet, I have let my mind drift to what an automatic weapon could do to the body of a child. And it makes me want to give up- at least until the anger kicks in. Then I want to fight for change. Even if the beginning of that fight is just a small gesture. A recognition of the issue.  And the desire to have a conversation that reminds us to love each other.  That may sound a little hippy dippy, but I have to believe in love and peace right now, in the wake of this most recent tragedy, or I won’t be able to keep fighting for my desire to have a child of my own- to bring a child into this often ugly, war-torn, bipartisan world that we live in.  So when I stumbled across the name Yolie Moreno this week, it brought me some comfort.

Yolie was one of the residents of Newtown where the tragedy of Sandy Hook occurred.  When interviewed by a playwright (about the steps taken to heal the town in the aftermath), she said the following:

I felt, well maybe I could absorb some of this sadness or maybe I could deflect some of this by just standing in this like, vigil.  Sort of like silent vigil.  I woke up and thought, “Oh my God, if this is what my town is now known for, I just couldn’t bear it.” And what this was, I was compelled and I had this dream and I said, I woke up and I said, “I have to go make a sign.  I have to go make a sign and go sit out somewhere.” So I called my friend Vicky and I said to her, “I’m gonna make a sign and it’s gonna say, ‘I am love, I am Newtown’ and I’m gonna sit at the highway exit.  Exit 10.  So it’s the first thing they see when they com ein and the last thing they see when they leave.  So, me and my daughter, made this sign, and painted it.

And Yolie and her daughter did indeed sit by the busy I-84 holding a various signs- one of which that ended up saying, “I am Newtown, I am love, please send love.”

And after a few days, the love began to roll in.  Letters, cards, and teddy bears.  Every cargo truck in the area was full of support for the town.  At first, the town didn’t know what to do, and began to discuss throwing things away.  But Yolie went on to spearhead the documentation effort, covering every each of her farm with greetings and pictures and well-wishes from around the world.  She photographed everything.  And now, you can see every letter, card, work of art, and more at the website she began at www.embracingnewtown.com

So, what started as a brightly painted sign and a vigil of sorts, grew into an impromptu art installment at Moreno’s farm, and now is a documented gallery of love.  I think Moreno’s efforts were and are art- they inspire empathy and move us toward social change.  I don’t think what she's done goes too far, because until gun reform occurs, anything that can be done- including hand painted signs and stand-ins on highways- to help us re-write history and remember those who we lost, is of the utmost significance.  In this case, I did not feel complicit in the “media-fication” of tragedy.  Rather, I was proud of a woman who took a stand, and through a small act, helped a community to heal.

Manifesto- Creation of Space for Love

In these moments of tragedy,

Take a breath.

Create a space,

A space of love.

Do not close your eyes to the ugliness of the world

Rather- open your mind to the idea that change is inevitable.

We can reframe the ugly and make it beautiful.

We will take the time to put our hearts into our mouths

And let our tongues speak from our souls.

We will dare to say, “I care,” “I’m here,”

“I won’t forget.”

When our leaders turn their backs

On the tears and trauma senselessly brought on

By the careless and selfish actions of others,

We must not let anger overcome us. 

Or if the anger is what drives us,

Accept the challenge of transformability.

Reframe the anger into action. 

Your actions are never too small.

Place the call,

Make the sign,

Light the candle,

Scream and cry,

But speak.

Be heard.

There are those of us who want and need to hear.

We can create joy out of pain.

We shall comfort with our transformation.

We will speak truth to power.

We may be met with skepticism.

There may be those who fear our actions

Because they don’t understand them.

They may try and block our efforts as a result.

We must be vigilant in welcoming them in to the space

Of love and forgiveness that we have created

Otherwise no one will grow,

Change will be stifled.

This will be difficult.

We will want to shut them out as they have done to us

But only through compromise comes understanding.

We must keep the space open and welcoming,

We must live inside the space.

There are those that will question our actions.

We must be patient.

We must make them understand.

Though this may be a lifelong endeavor,

We create a place of love

Because there is no room for anything else.