MOVIES MADE ME: December 2007

L’s family has an unlikely tradition of going to the desert on Christmas Eve. I think the rationale is something like this: “If you can’t have a winter wonderland, might as well seek out scenery that’s equally exotic.” Last year, we went to Joshua Tree. This year, we drove north into the Mojave Desert to see the Trona Pinnacles.

This is a surreal sight to come upon in the middle of a huge dry lake bed – some five hundred calcium carbonate stalagmites rising out of the earth. The pinnacles were formed 10,000 to 100,000 years ago, when they were at the bottom of Searles Lake – a link in a chain of lakes stretching from Mono Lake to Death Valley. The Trona Pinnacles were designated as a national natural landmark in 1968, and have since been featured, appropriately enough, in several science fiction movies – including “Star Trek 5: The Final Frontier” (where Kirk talks to God) and Tim Burton’s remake of “Planet of the Apes.” Of course, neither the films nor these photos can do justice to the grandeur of this site.

A few months ago, I read a book called “The Desert,” by an art historian named John C. Van Dyke. In 1898, Van Dyke wandered alone into the unsettled Colorado Desert, accompanied only by his faithful dog. When he returned, he had written a beautiful book about the strange appeal of the forbidding landscape he encountered. I can think of no better words to accompany these photos.

"How often have we wondered why the sailor loves the sea, why the Bedouin loves the sand! What is there but a strip of sky and another strip of sand or water? But there is a simplicity about large masses – simplicity in breadth, space and distance – that is inviting and ennobling… The waste places of the earth, the barren deserts, the tracts forsaken of men and given over to loneliness, have a particular attraction of their own. The weird solitude, the great silence, the grim desolation, are the very things with which every desert wanderer eventually falls in love. You think that very strange perhaps? Well, the beauty of the ugly was sometimes a paradox, but to-day people admit its truth; and the grandeur of the desolate is just as paradoxical, yet the desert gives it proof."

“What is it that draws us to the boundless and the fathomless? Why should the lovely things of earth – the grasses, the trees, the lakes, the little hills – appear trivial and insignificant when we come face to face with the sea or the desert or the vastness of the midnight sky? Is it that the one is the tale of things known and the other merely a hint, a suggestion of the unknown? Or have immensity, space, magnitude a peculiar beauty of their own? Is it not true that bulk and breadth are primary and essential qualities of the sublime in landscape? And is it not the sublime that we fell in immensity and mystery? If so, perhaps we have a partial explanation of our love for sky and sea and desert waste. They are the great elements. We do not see, we hardly know if their boundaries are limited; we only feel their immensity, their mystery, and their beauty.”

The Browncoats wore red yesterday as they marched on Fox studios in Century City. For those who don’t know, “Browncoats” is an honorary term for fans of writer/director Joss Whedon and his brilliant but short-lived space western TV series “Firefly.” When “Firefly” was cancelled, the Browncoats started a letter campaign to resurrect the story… and ultimately succeeded in convincing Universal Studios to make the (excellent) feature film “Serenity.” As Whedon himself has said: Under any normal circumstances, cancelled series do not lead to feature films. The fact that “Serenity” exists at all is a testament to the fans and their willingness to fight for the universe that Joss created.

In that spirit of activism, the Browncoats have rallied for another great cause: to support Whedon and his fellow writers in their underdog-fight against the studio alliance. Yesterday, several hundred fans – including some from as far away as Florida – gathered outside Fox studios (the would-be home of Whedon’s new series “Dollhouse”) to show support.

In the past few weeks, the creator of "Firefly," "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "Angel" has been one of the most passionately outspoken writers on the picket lines, reminding people of the importance of the issues at hand. In an open letter to Variety’s Vibe Scribe two weeks ago, he wrote that he was proud he was to be out there among his fellow writers…. fighting, like the characters he creates, for what he believes in:

“I don't think of the studio heads as a bunch of grinning tycoons sitting in a smoke-filled club and drumming their fingers like Montgomery Burns. I know some of those guys. I think they're worried about the future as much as anyone. But they are beholden to their corporations, and that inevitably causes entrenchment and shortsightedness. They can't afford that. This is an era of change, and for the giant conglomo-tainment empires, it will either be the Renaissance or the Ice Age. Because we will not stand down. Writers can be replaced, as we are constantly reminded. But so can companies. Power is on the move, and though in this town it's been hoarded by very few, there are other companies with newer ideas about how to make money off of - or possibly, wonderfully, with - the story-tellers.”

I’ve heard some people criticize the Writer’s Strike, arguing that Hollywood writers have nothing to complain about – after all, they say, these people have the kind of jobs that everyone wishes for. That may be true, but it’s no excuse to undervalue the real work they’ve done to get and keep those jobs, and to keep the rest of us inspired and entertained. Bottom line: Writers are doing a job, just like anyone else. It’s HARD WORK writing a good script. Hell, it’s hard enough work writing a bad script…. And then re-writing and re-writing and re-writing to try to make it a good script. (If you don’t believe me, try it.) As with any job, writers deserve to get fairly compensated for their work. It’s that simple.

Yesterday was proof that the writers and the fans alike are in this together – we all want the strike to end so that we can look forward to new shows by our favorite writers. And after being around such a devoted group, I have no doubt that the writers will get their message heard. To quote Mr. Universe: “Can’t stop the signal.”

For information or to give your support, visit Fans4Writers.com