If Every time Men Had Sex,
They Risked Death, Physical Disability,A Life Altering Interruption In Their Education,Or Career, & The Sudden Life Long
Responsibility For Another
Human Being,I Think
They’d Expect A Choice
In The Matter
If your child feels uncool in social situations, please assure them that when they grow up, they’ll feel even more uncool in even more social situations.
@ZohranKMamdani If you’re going to cry tears that it’s unfair that you’re asked about Israel, then don’t make inaccurate statements like this about Israel. You can’t have it both ways.
I spend 15% of my time trying to remember whether my friend asked me to hang out through Instagram, Text message, WhatsApp, email, Slack, TikTok, or voice memo, so I can respond that I’m out of town.
In America today, the government is using coercion, threat, censorship, intimidation, disappearing, extortion to support an authoritarian regime. It’s clear this is their modus operadi. The threat is stifling people’s lives for fear their actions or speech will make them a target for destruction. For many Americans this is a shocking dystopian change to our society that threatens our values. Never seen before.
But for me, it’s a reminder of growing up watching my grandfather farm sugar cane in Louisiana. He was charged more for feed and seed, his crops were devalued never getting the fair market price, by the same sugar mill threatening to steal his land pressuring foreclosure by driving him further into debt. He was attacked with coercion, threat, censorship, intimidation, and extortion. For many in our community this is nothing new. This has been the America we have always known.
The challenge now is to replicate how we have survived and thrived in authoritarian America. Exercise radical self care. Nothing counts so much as family. Care first for your family to prepare to care for your community. Be serious. Elevate education and excellence and truth. It will not only fortify you against attacks but embolden you to meet them head on. There is an attack on dissent. Be prepared. Truth will be your shield. To thine own self be true. There are those who do not have your best interest at heart but will tell you otherwise. Exercise your right of self determination.
We don’t know if this is a Pandora’s Box never to be shut again. Reach for the best part of your human nature as others manifest the worst part of theirs.
Here are three character questions that changed my screenwriting:
1) What does the character THINK they want? 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘈𝘤𝘵 1.
2) What does the character REALLY want? 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘈𝘤𝘵 3.
3) What does the character FEAR? 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘻𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 ����𝘦𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘸𝘰.
Answer these with genuine care, and you will see a character's journey through the entire structure.