Is Just a Movie....Extra Credit

On March 22, 2012, Howard University was graced with the presence of the amazing storyteller, Earl Lovelace. The Trinidadian author has written many great novels including, Salt, The Whine of Astonishment, The Dragon Can't Dance, and the Schoolmaster. Howard University students, professors, and those of the community were truly in for a treat in having Lovelace come and share an excerpt from his latest novel, Is Just a Movie.

The scene that was shared with the audience depicted a male who had just scored a role in an action film. His character's purpose in the movie was to be killed. The protagonist found issue with the fact that he was being paid to die. He felt that as a gifted actor, his talents should be portrayed in a way that viewers would recognize and respect.

The actor did not want his character to simply die. He wanted his character to be profound and remembered by anyone watching the film. Unfortunately, he was not the star of the film, therefore, his character's purpose was to illuminate the star by dying a quick, sudden, and meaningless death.

After coming to grips with the fact that he had to die, the protagonist became fixated with the way in which he died. It was bad enough that he was being paid to die; he decided to add meaning to the way he died in the film. When it came time to act out his death scene, he added a dramatic effect to the way his character died. The director quickly interrupted, saying that the protagonist was "dying too slow".

The actor argued that he did not want to solely die without it having any emotion. He wanted his death to live. It was now the battle between the importance of money and the importance of his dignity. Was he going to conform to the wishes of the director and die a quick death for the sake of a pay check? Or was he going to make sure that the viewers would remember the poignancy of his death despite the fact that it would over-shadow the "star" and contradict what the director had envisioned?


In case you wanted to hear some of Is Just a Movie for yourself....