C.S. Lewis once said, “Isn’t it funny how day by day nothing changes, but when you look back, everything is different.” Well, he didn’t know of this current administration, where day by day EVERYTHING changes. In fact, so many daily changes take place that one can’t keep up with it all. Wouldn’t it be a coup if this were not the case? Truth be told, artistically speaking, my inspiration these days is coming out of desperation. I’m craving peace like never before, and I know I’m not alone. As we painfully watch the disintegration of our democracy and the devastating fallout of warfare, I do my best to rely upon the idea that this too shall pass — and this course of history, though in a down spiral, will not always be this way. However, in the meantime, I need to vent a bit about it all, thus my new film project, Something Fake II.
You might recall that the summer of 2018, I embarked on a three hour project to channel my pent-up emotions regarding the Trump administration — his 1st term at bat. In my Jiffy-Mix style, we whipped up a menu of choreography, images, acting, and site specific Godspell-ish meanderings. Satirically driven, the footage we shot then was made into a film-short that at the very least, let out a little steam that had been building within. It wasn’t Michael Moore in its breadth and scope, but hinted at the very things he and everyone else had been vocalizing about regarding the inane events of the day. We were in a free fall, so while falling, I took advantage of the timing and gathered my artists up to get to work. I wrote a poem back then, MAGA in D flat, that gave me the nuts and bolts of my storyboard.
And, here we are all over again — another free fall, and I’m taking advantage this time around with a great new editor who is helping me to morph Something Fake, into Something Fake II. Why not? It’s pretty much the same story, but with slightly different twists. I’m ripping off my own material to rebuild and highlight the rut we’re in now. It’s a mixture of fear, hate, greed, and a desire for power. This evil concoction is the cause of all the daily changes we can’t keep up with. You know what else I crave besides peace? Where we can see life again as C.S. Lewis once did, where day by day nothing changes.
Stay tuned for our finished film this Spring!
