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| A Musical |
Last time on Not My Story, I wrote about Ms. N_, Vietnamese hair stylist, harrowing escape from Viet Nam at age 14 on a raft. The story was hers to tell. Not mine to embellish.
But my job is to tell stories. What if Ms. N_'s story was a screenplay in Hollywood studio development hell? What would they do?
NOT MY STORY - THE MOTION PICTURE
Based on a True Story
Change the Title
- Raft
- Escape from Terror
- South China Sea Travel Tips
Add Love Interest
- Ms. N_ falls in love with a pirate, but her loyalties are divided between running away with her dream-boat or staying with ailing grandmother and face hardship in a refugee camp.
- Ms. N_ meets a cute boy on on the raft, but he has an ailing grandmother who disapproves of refugee romance. Will the they consummate their forbidden love?
- Ms. N_, after her boyfriend is killed by pirates, becomes a pirate and ravages the South China Sea in search of her beloved's murderers. Will she find love again? (Grandmother is written out.)
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| South China Sea. Caribbean. What's the difference? |
Action, Action, Action
- Ms. N_ is caught in the middle of an international naval incident, bringing the superpowers to the brink of World War III.
- Ms. N_ fights off aquatic monsters to save her ailing grandmother and fellow refuges.
- Ms. N_ versus Zombies.
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| You get the idea. |
- Ms. N_ is played by a Caucasian actress.
- Ms. N_ makes soft-focus, orchestra music love on the raft.
- Ms. N_ stays glamorous. Everybody knows exposure to sun, starvation and salt sea spray is good for the skin.
Based on True Story.
Item:
Ms. N_'s father served in the South Vietnamese Army, killed in 1972. Commenting on the disposal of her father's remains, Ms. N_ said, “They dig a hole where you die and dump you in."
Still not my story.
What's not your story?
The was a little boy selling seashell necklaces on the beach in Veradero, Cuba in 1957. He sold them to support his family. Three younger sibs and a mother. Miguelito was seven and as smart as a whip and he was our friend. They had a black and white television and I remember hearing the sound of I love Lucy coming through the open windows. We shared our comic books with him and gave up our Christmas presents to give his brother and sisters a nice Christmas. (We didn't realize that Santa came on Kings Day in Cuba.)
ReplyDeleteWhen Castro took over we tried to get them our of Cuba. We couldn't. We never saw him again. His story is not my story, but I will always wonder what happened to them.
I see Justin Bieber cast as young Miguelito, Cuban rock star, rebelling against Castro with his swivel hips.
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