Thursday, January 27, 2011

Here’s a movie I’d like to see

two_hands_clapped
I’ve always wanted to make movies.  My high school friends can attest to that – I worked hard on a few very strange pieces of film while in Heidelberg.  Since then, I’ve spent so much time watching movies that I think I’ve been inside of theaters for more time than in almost any other location (not including workplaces and homes.)  As an adult I still daydream about it.  Sometimes for example in conversation I’ll preface a comment by saying “Here’s a movie I’d like to see” and then I’ll move on to describe said film.
So:  Here is a movie I’d like to see.
It is the distant future. 
One man has discovered on the universal web that back in the days before computers became common, one w0man had built one in her garage.  This woman was taught by God how to make the computer, and when she was finished, she also made a tiny data storage device.  God then dictated a new testament to her, explaining all aspects of reality and reconciling science with religion.  In it, it is rumored, all contradictions are explained. 
The computer was destroyed by a government agency, who feared that this woman’s machine was a weapon.  One of the agents knew otherwise, having had a revelation of his own.  Acting on this, he warned the woman in advance of the ensuing raid.  As a result, she managed to escape before the raid, and the data storage device faded into ignominy.
The man who discovered the story begins to research  it further – and discovers, in an online photo album from the woman’s time, a picture of her.  Around her neck, she wears a pendant.  In the legend on the screen, it says that the pendant is an onyx, a gift from a friend, but the intrepid research scientist knows differently.  It is the data storage device. 
The rest of the movie would outline the researcher’s quest to find both the data storage device, and the story of what happened to the woman after she went underground.  The two stories are then presented in parallel timelines, as we watch the amazing life of the prophetess unfold.  Meanwhile the researcher is unaware that some of his searches have alerted the authorities that he is looking into the mysterious data storage device and begins tracking him. 
So here is another movie I’d like to see:
A woman works at a grocery store.  She has a stable, happy family, makes enough to get by and even put something away.  He children love her, as does her husband.  Her neighbors are a lesbian couple with an adopted child.  This couple also lives happily and their child is both brilliant and well adjusted.  There is no conflict in the movie and no plot.  It is just a depiction of life lived as it should be lived – in contentment and fulfillment. 
So here is a movie I’d like to see. 
In 2012, Philip K. Dick, who has been dead since the late 70’s, walks into a small convenience store.  He aggressively accosts the cashier there, saying three times “VALIS is coming!” Then he disappears.  Later that day, the video from the store’s surveillance camera is aired on television.  During the broadcast, an image of Philip appears on the screen, repeating the message, and then saying “VALIS” has arrived.  The rest of the film would be an examination of the final years of Dick’s live, interspersed with segments about how interaction with VALIS has transformed the world. 



No comments:

Post a Comment