BREAKING NEWS ...SHAMELESS SELF-SERVING PROMOTION ALERT....As I leave this morning with a PBS film crew to begin work on my piece in the film The Head of Joaquin Murieta, I ponder on all of it, the hanging tree, the over 540 Mexicans who were lynched by a rope in 12 states since the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupie Hidalgo and even before. PBS producer John Valadez (Latino America; The Longoria Affair) is keen to shoot as much of this docu-drama at night or as close to night as possible...he is looking for a dark, foreboding feel to this epic, hope my part, to be filmed tonight in Goliad, TX, at the famous Hanging Tree, can be done in a few takes. I am NOT accustomed to being in front of the camera, have spent the great part of my career in back of the camera. However, Valadez is a great director, he will get every drop of juice out of me possible....I will be playing the part of an old, curmudgeon, shade-tree CHICANO historian, (typecasting?) recalling tales of invasion of our lands, treachery, and murder, lots and lots of murder. I counseled John Valadez to get himself a Mexican American PhD in History or Chicano Studies, for this part, but noooooooooo....he thinks an academic would be too dry for the part, so he has selected possibly the craziest Mexican shade tree historian in TEXAS, and so it goes... Then on Monday, it is on to Thorndale, TX, heading west, to document the lynching, on May 12, 1911, of a 14-year old Chicanito, by the local fine white Christians.....All of this ultra-violence serves as a background, for the story of Johns familiy, a very personal tale, and of Joaquin Murieta, whose actual head we will carry with us on this westward heart of darkness story, to finally reach Santa Rosa, Califas, where we will bury the head in a solemn ceremony, giving closure finally to this saga, and seeking peace and reconciliation with the invaders, whom we should all forgive, but never FORGET, what was done by them in their quest for land, gold, greed fueled by murder. Wish me luck...this movie has already been given a national broadcast date, probably during this years Hispanic Heritage Month......
Posted on: Sun, 26 Jan 2014 11:50:22 +0000
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