- A neighbor by the name of Ron Thomas stopped by Cloud
Creek Ranch over the weekend to put an interesting proposition on the table.
Interesting enough, I think, to share.
-
- Ron's in charge of the local version of an educational
program called the "East Initiative," and he wanted to know if
I'd volunteer some time and energy for it. The East Initiative is all about
teaching high school and middle school students how to make the most out
of their computer skills by applying them to the making of video. It gives
them a solid foundation they can follow up professionally, or as hobbyists,
or simply as appreciative viewers who genuinely know good work from bad.
-
- The specific project Ron has in mind for his students
is called "My Community." It's a contest in which they make short
videos about their town. This, of course, is right up my alley. I would've
agreed to help out even if Ron hadn't offered me the fine Paradise payment
of three miniature goats.
-
- After Ron left, though, I got to thinking. I've seen
some of the past winners of "My Community." No matter how good
they've been - and some have been very good indeed - they've all been pretty
cut-and-dried.
-
- "Here's what our town looks like "
-
- "Here's what it used to look like "
-
- "Here's what we do in our town "
-
- "Here's what we used to do "
-
- None of them give the flavor, the feeling of what it's
like to really be alive in that particular place, at that particular time.
And to me that means both the audience and the video makers are missing
out.
-
- There's a reason my thoughts wandered in this direction.
The name of that reason is Elaine the Not So Wild Mustang.
-
- Born wild in the inhospitable Nevada desert, Elaine is
congenitally bowlegged and knock-kneed. Her front end has been breaking
down for years, and now, at about 20, she's loaded with bone spurs and
chips, and the pain that accompanies them.
-
- To relieve the pain, Elaine does what any sensible creature
would do. She lies down. But these days it's getting harder and harder
for her to stand back up. Painkillers have become an integral part of Elaine's
life. They taste terrible, so to get her to eat them I grind them up and
sprinkle the powder into her afternoon mash. Then I watch to make sure
her lover boy, Huck the Spotless Appaloosa, keeps his nose out of her bucket
and in his own.
-
- The price of failure at this assignment is an intoxicated
wild man of a Huck who races around kicking and rearing like a horse from
Hell for an hour or two, demonstrating more power than it seems safe for
any living thing to have - and a shockingly powerless Elaine who hurts
too much to move.
-
- Since the first time I found Elaine on the ground, unable
to get up, I've helped her to her feet more times than I can count. Sometimes,
I can cajole her to her feet. Other times it takes some yelling, or even
prodding. A push here, a pull there, and then a quick dive for cover so
I don't get kicked in the head as she scrambles.
-
- One result of all this has been that Elaine has become
more relaxed around me than she was. She comes to me for petting. Likes
to stand close and listen to me sing. Huck's not happy about sharing my
attention, but he seems to know Elaine's time is limited so the only trouble
he makes about it is a horselaugh or dirty look.
-
- From time to time I've been known to proclaim, "Life
is laughter!" but it's clear that for Elaine life is very much a suffering
thing. Until recently, I hadn't realized how difficult each moment is for
her, and how much courage it takes for her to just get through the day.
Now I've got to make that courage mean something, for her and whomever
else I can.
-
- Which is why, when I work with the students on their
"My Community" project during the next few months, I'm going
to encourage them to show the responsibility, the pain, the joy the moment-to-moment
emotional richness of their daily lives.
-
- Will that make them winners in the competition? I can't
say. But if they can come close to carrying it off, they'll have created
something wonderful and unique, and winners they will be.
-
-
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- Copyright C 2007 by Larry Brody. All rights reserved.
-
- Author Larry Brody's weekly column, LIVE! FROM PARADISE!
appears on his website, www.larrybrody.com. He has written thousands of
hours of network television, and is the author of "Television Writing
from the Inside Out" and "Turning Points in Television."
Brody is Creative Director of The Cloud Creek Institute for the Arts, the
world's first in-residence media colony. More about his activities can
be seen on www.tvwriter.com and www.cloudcreek.org. He welcomes your comments
and feedback at <mailto:LarryBrody@cloudcreek.org>LarryBrody@cloudcreek.org.
Brody, his wife and their dogs, cats, horses and chickens live in Marion
County, Arkansas. The other residents of the mythical town of Paradise
reside in his imagination.
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