Alternate Realities-Documentary Pitch 1
So, about a week or so before this project is due, my 20th reunion is taking place in Caldwell, Idaho, at the small religious private school of Gem State Adventist Academy. Mainly what this means is that I've been listening to a lot of Weezer, Marilyn Manson, and Nirvana lately, along with other staples of 100.3 Pirate Radio, which is what it was before it was The X. But the other thing I've been doing is considering where I'm at in life, and where I could otherwise be.
Unlike the other graduates of Gem State, I didn't grow up going to Adventist elementary schools or even in a city. I grew up on a ranch, and until high school I attended Owyhee Combined School on the Duck Valley Indian Reservation. Now, the students who graduated in 98 from OHS are also having their reunion, and even though I was only with them from K-8, they've invited me to attend. Unfortunately, they won't actually be meeting until after the school year ends. But I'm friends with a lot of people from both schools on Facebook, and...let's just say the difference in their lives is pretty staggering. So I'm thinking of looking at the socio-economic difference between these two populations twenty years down the line.
- What’s
the trouble?
Unlike the other graduates of Gem State, I didn't grow up going to Adventist elementary schools or even in a city. I grew up on a ranch, and until high school I attended Owyhee Combined School on the Duck Valley Indian Reservation. Now, the students who graduated in 98 from OHS are also having their reunion, and even though I was only with them from K-8, they've invited me to attend. Unfortunately, they won't actually be meeting until after the school year ends. But I'm friends with a lot of people from both schools on Facebook, and...let's just say the difference in their lives is pretty staggering. So I'm thinking of looking at the socio-economic difference between these two populations twenty years down the line.
- Characters or interview subjects. Who
are the characters in the story? If you’re not sure, what kinds of people might you talk to?
So, outside of myself, my classmates and potentially former teachers seem to be the best interview subjects, as well as maybe someone like an economist or social worker. I want to be careful to interview a decent mix of people because--while I can see a clear pattern--these lives aren't absolutes. There is a woman who is a couple years ahead of me, whose sister was in my class, from Owyhee who has gone on to be a college instructor and author who represents indigenous peoples. Similarly, there are people who were given this private school education who have done little to nothing with it.
- Point
of view. What’s your stake in
the story? Why does it interest
you? What do you want to find out?
Ultimately, I'm interested because it is a story about me. There is no way of knowing for sure where I'd be today if my parents hadn't decided to let my dad vicariously atone for getting expelled from Gem State by sending me to relive it. They were able to get their employer to be my patron, and match the cost of my private school education. I was able to get--the warts of a religious approach to science aside--a rich kid's education while being poor. I want to gaze into the pool of "what-ifs," and see if I can construct an alternate me that might have been.
Hi John,
ReplyDeleteThis sounds fascinating, and the timing of the reunion couldn’t be better. I gather that Gem State draws from a distinctly different sociopath-economic demographic? (I know nothing about the school). So do you see this story, in part, about highlighting the differences between poor, rural (and largely Native American) public schools and more upscale urban religious schools? What I think I like best about this is how as the narrator of this story you are positioned between both, trying to sort out how these fundamentally different experiences get stitched together in your own sense of yourself as a student, a ranch kid, or a writer. The key phrase seems to be “a rich kid’s education while being poor.”
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteJohn,
ReplyDeleteI miss 100.3 Pirate Radio (and to a lesser extent the early days of the X cira '95-'98).
I think that you're pitch sounds fascinating. I love the idea of exploring the differences that twenty years have had on two seperate populations of people with whom you've had experience. Ever since taking a sociology class early on here ate BSU, I've always been intrigued by the studies, essays and documentaries like this. The only possible wrinkle I foresee, is that you might encounter too much information to sort through in time to record. Which is not really a bad thing. In any case, I would love to hear your findings on this subject.
Good luck!
Bryan
John, I agree with Bryan on this: I think that this project has so many possibilities that your issue will lie in narrowing it down! Knowing you as a person, I think that you'll do justice to respecting the personal details of each person you interview. This piece is inherently political and very personal, and I'm interested in it for those two readings. To other readers, I think the creation of the "what-if" of what you/they could have been under different circumstances will be appealing. Your idea to interview an economist or sociologist, an outsider, is a good one. I very much look forward to this pitch if you're able to make it happen! (I wish that the reunions were happening before this assignment was due so that we could see the way the local papers talk about the reunions, too.)
ReplyDelete