I have had numerous, numerous, occasions at which I was only one or two degrees separated from a person. Some of the better separations are:
- I picked up a hitch hiker in Rosetown SK, on his way to Saskatoon. During our conversation, we discover that he grew up in the same town as a girl with whom I was currently attending the same college in another town. Their families are still friends (up to that meeting).
- Riding a greyhound from Lethbridge to Regina, in the middle of the night somewhere between a wheat field and a barley field, I wake up and overhear a conversation at the back of the bus. Being bored and intrigued and awake, I go back and join the conversation. One of the two guys is a college roommate of my previous housemate from Canmore, four years prior to this bus ride.
- In the early days of the internet (c.1996), I meet a girl online through some message board. We begin an email friendship. She moves UAE to work in a hospital, I end up meeting her parents in Wisconsin through an arranged stopover on my second drive west. Finally at college in Nipawin, one of my classmate's aunt in Regina went to college with both of the parents from Wisconsin. Somehow, I got a care package of cookies from Regina out of this.
The front page of the Lethbridge Herald yesterday was a photo of the Empress Theatre in Fort Macleod. Brokeback Mountain was being screened for one night only on Thursday, and it was a sell out crowd. Brokeback Mountain was filmed in and around Fort Macleod. The apartment over the laundry mat is on the main street, and when Enis looks out the window for Jack's truck, the Fort is in the background. There is even one scene of a bit of a hill/mountain at a steep pitch with the sheep being herded across, and I've definitely been there; last summer while mountain biking, it's a popular off-road area for backcountry recreationists, nestled in the Castle River valley.
Brokeback Mountain is a story about love. Problem is, many people get hung up that it's two men. One should understand it as two people.
Alberta, and the eastern Rockies in the US, were mostly settled by Mormons and Christians who predominantly became cowboys. For the fundamentalist, this film is quite the in-your-face experience, exposing not that which is unknown, but rather that which is feared. If I have heard any comment on the film and its story, the comment is rooted in a deep homo-erotica-fantasy-phobia. It's no secret that part of the nature of humanity is to point out the perceived faults, failures, or disliked character traits of others that are actually represented in oneself. Bluntly stated: if you're apprehensive, or even vocally abusive towards this film, it's likely that you would actually enjoy seeing two guys make out and have sex. And enjoying the sight on-screen is what scares you more than the act itself. Somehow, for the masses, there is nothing wrong with a man having sex with a woman, or even at times, a woman having sex with a woman. But as soon as it's two men, it's disgusting. If you hold this attitude, you are a hypocrite.
Because of the content of this film, I've heard and read quite a bit about people banning or boycotting it, merely because it's the "gay cowboy movie". It blows me away that in our society, people can still be so rude and ignorant!!!
I liked this film because it was something out of the ordinary. And I believe that Ang Lee is a brilliant director; he makes films with real honest-to-goodness acting. It's extremely refreshing amidst all the crap that Hollywood typically pumps out.
Another film which has quite a bit of unnecessary negative hype surrounding it right now, and which many different groups are attempting to ban or boycott, is Karla. This is the story of Karla Homolka.
(In case you've been living under a rock for the past 18 years, go read this CBC indepth article on Bernardo.)
I will see this film, even if it means driving to Calgary.
This criminal murder-mystery story is likely the biggest (and dare I say best) to dominate the minds of Canadians, and Americans too, in the past several decades. Sure, there are horrific stories of other serial killers, both fictitious and not, which have dominated media and film screens in the past 15 years, but this is by far the best, because it is real and it is appalling.
Aside from the early years of the Scarborough Rapist, the Tammy and St. Catherines murders are most intriguing because it wasn't just Paul, it was Karla too. No one really knows what went on. And the details of this story have been kept a secret for so long.
I want to know why the defense lawyer for the case hid a box of video tapes that would have easily convicted Homolka to life in prison, releasing the tapes AFTER the Crown made a plea deal with Homolka to get off with 12 years and manslaughter, which was really a slap on the wrist for her and slap in the face for justice in Canada.
I want to know what was going on in Karla's mind. Why was she so enamoured with Paul that she was willing to have an intimate relationship with a man who was at the same time raping strangers in Scarborough? Why didn't she turn him in? Why did she continue to help him carry out his sexual dominance fantasies? Were these Karla's fantasies too? How is it possible that she would drug, rape, and kill her own sister along with Paul, then cover up the truth to protect him?
There are several circumstances with the trial of this case which, in my opinion, were botched. Being that it is such a high profile story, one filled with much uncertainty and mystery, I believe that it is within the rights of the public to know what exactly happened.
But the other reason, the most compelling reason for me to see this film is because I am not far removed from its reality.
I am (potentially) one degree separated from Paul Bernardo.
To substantiate claim, I must admit to the following: I was a run-away/throw-away youth. I ventured to Toronto in the spring of 1990 (living in the city until the late winter of 1991). Eventually living downtown with no other options and nowhere to go, if not for the work of Covenant House, I would literally have been "on the street".
Covenant House is a shelter, and at the time had two facilities, one short term and one long term. After I was transferred to the long term house (at Gerrard and Sherbourne; they've since moved), I met a girl one afternoon. I can't remember the fake-name she gave me, but I do remember our walk in the park and sitting on the front steps of Covenant House as she told me her story.
Having been admitted to hospital quite frequently while I was young, related to illness, I had seen many things in the hospital which most people don't see. I became accustomed to, or not bothered by, physical abnormalities. So it was on this sunny Sunday afternoon that I met this girl outside Covenant House where we were both current residents that I was able to carry on a conversation without staring in shock or disgust at her physical appearance. And I think that action on my part alone is what allowed our conversation to continue and for the girl to eventually open up and tell me her story.
The girl was from Etobicoke where she lived with her parents. For some reason which I cannot now remember, she was in Scarborough on Saturday afternoon. Eventually, she was taken captive, beaten, raped, and left in some bushes near a parking lot, where she was unconscious until found on Sunday morning. She was at Covenant House because she wanted to protect her parents from having to find out about what happened to her; she was there just long enough to let the bruises heal. She told me that the police were quite certain that it was the Scarborough Rapist who had attacked her.
As I sit here typing and remembering this story from so long ago, I'm actually having a difficult time of it all. I've never fully shared this second hand experience with anyone since I heard it. Although this post and the way I've written would suggest a high level of objectivity, believe me that I'm actually quite emotional right now.
The two things which still strike me as completely unreal about this story are these:
- The girl was grateful and thankful for life. She focused her attention on the positive, her loving family which was waiting for her, that she was alive and free, that the person who found her did the right thing and called police, that she had a place to go (Covenant House) to sort it all out before going home.
- She was not bitter. Though not specifically stated, she had forgiven her attacker, because it was the only way for her to move on from this potentially ultimate damaging life experience.
To this day, that Sunday afternoon haunts my memories whenever I hear or read about the Bernardo/Homolka story.
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