forgivenessonline

Here's why I am James Cameron's biggest fan!

Folks. What follows are a few tiny facts. Then I throw out a bunch of my own fantasies about how these facts could be affecting events in Hollywood. I’m throwing it out there so you can give me your comments. Also, if you want to pass it on to your Facebook friends, I am okay with that too.

In January the book Last Train from Hiroshima by Charles Pellegrino was published by Henry Holt. Very soon after, it was announced that James Cameron  had purchased the movie rights to the book. Part of the book tells the story of Tsutomu Yamaguchi, the only person recognized by the Japanese government to have survived both the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings. 

On March 1st. Henry Holt pulled the book off bookstore shelves. A handful of inaccuracies in the text forced the recall. Although small in number, the integrity of the entire manuscript was in question.

Here’s the fantasy part.

When Cameron bought the movie rights, a tiny shudder went through Hollywood. Avatar had just become the largest grossing movie of all time, with a world-wide box office of $2.7 billion. Cameron’s movies have grossed almost $6 billion world-wide.

Cameron had taken out and used his massive $6 billion stamp of approval and credibility which said, “This is a great untold story.” 

Cameron is known to take a long time making his movies. Perhaps the other directors and producers in Hollywood are thinking that if they can get a movie out about the Manhattan Project  before Cameron’s that they can steal most of Cameron’s box office thunder.

But with the book being pulled off the shelves, does Hollywood get all skittish about the subject matter. I don’t know.

I have an active imagination. Keep your fingers crossed.

Forgiveness, the screenplay

     Just wanted folks to know that the video, on YouTube at forgivenssonline topped 28,000 hits yesterday(October 18th).  It is averaging between 100-300 hits a day. Somedays it drops off the cliff, but then there will be a one day spike of 400 hits. Go figure.

     But far more important, is there are quiet little ripples on the water in Hollywood. The video is bouncing around the movie community. The screenplay has been sent out there too. Somebody asked to see it and I sent it out there ASAP. No word yet. As Tom Petty sang, "The waiting is the hardest part."

     Keep your fingers crossed. I will use this blog and Facebook to provide updates.

Why is this sprawling epic story unknown?

       This amazing story has been hidden, untold in our national dialogue about our shared common experience. Why is it that this epic, massive American saga remains unknown in our history classrooms and our living rooms where our stories our learned, and then retold from generation to generation?
       This story remains untold because we are ashamed of how we ended the conflict with Japan. The lifeblood of shame is silence. Regardless of the event, whether public or private, the lifeblood of shame is silence.
       Some will assume, quite wrongly, that I want us to be proud about our use of an atomic weapon. I certainly do not want to live in a country where August 6th. and August 9th. are celebrated as national holidays. It would be inconsistent with the foundation of our values.
      Shame is also inconsistent with our foundation of values.
       We are ashamed of how we ended the war with Japan. Because of this shame, because of this silence, we have thrown the amazing stories of these 75,000 domestic soldiers onto the trash heap of history. Their tales of sacrifice and hard work have been ignored by all of us because we fear that if we celebrate their efforts to end a deadly war, then we open ourselves to criticism that we are also celebrating the mass slaughter of innocent Japanese civilians.
      We can honor our domestic soldiers and respect the war dead too. It is not inconsistent to do both at the same time.
      We must ignore the fear of criticism and tell the story of these domestic soldiers. It is long overdue. There are only a handful of surviving workers. They need to be honored. They need to be thanked by a grateful nation.

    

They ended World War II. They have never been honored.

      In the fall of 1942, the federal government quietly bought 62,000 acres of farmland in an isolated east Tennessee river valley. A secret colony of 75,000 scientists, engineers and laborers worked at break-neck speed for 2 1/2 years.
     This secret colony provided the enriched uranium for the bomb dropped on Hiroshima. These domestic soldiers helped end the war. In the months after the war, thanks was offered by a grateful nation. But in the years and decades to come, this amazing story was never told.
     Why this gross mistake of history happened was both sad and avoidable. In the days ahead I will explain how this mistake happened and why we need to fix it and fix it soon.