To be honest, I never wanted to post anything political on this page. It doesn’t interest me, enough to blog about fully, but I’ve been thinking the last few days. As writers we can’t really ignore what goes on with politics. It affects our writing in one way or another, whether it’s conconcious or unconciously. What we write can usually be viewed to one side of the political spectrum. Maybe you’re good enough to twist both sides together and make people unaware which side of the preverbial ‘fence’ you fall on, but that’s usually a rare case. For the most part, you’re writing will be affected and lean towards one side of the political arguments. Which leads me into this post.
I was thinking the other day about the TV show, Babylon 5. In particular, the tele-movie, In the Beginning. At the beginning of the tele-movie there is a quote that goes as follows:
“It is said, that in every age, there is one singular event that forever changes the world around us; a nexus if you will.” ~ Delenn (Mira Furlan)
And it’s true.
For this example, I’m defining an ‘age’ as about a decade. Given that we have two strong nexus points in our real world. The first in 2001, with the attack on the twin towers. Regardless of your position on that attack currently, it has been a ‘nexus point’ for everything that has come after it.
The struggles, the wars, the politics. Everything since then has been affected in some way or another by this event. As much as this effect has started to fade off (a little) it was the major ‘nexus’ of this current time of our lives.
The second, because that was over a decade ago, is the Trump Presidency. Again, regardless of which side of the fence you sit on it’s a nexus point that is already beginning to cause ripples throughout the world. It’s beginning to define the world as we see it. Trump has only been in office for a short time, and he has already made drastic changes in an attempt to force the world into a particular line of thought. With his presidential orders of re-enacting the globalgag order about how women can deal with abortions, and health aspects (it covers cancer and other treatments, not just abortions). The allowing of the oil pipeline across Native American land, and recently, the signing of the “muslim ban” (as it trended on twitter).
The presidency of Trump, unless something starts changing soon, is looking to be a MASSIVE ‘nexus point’ on how the world works. It appears from what he’s doing as President that nobody in the US government understands, or learns, from history. A lot of what is happening has happened before. Perhaps not exactly, but in a general sense. Most of which we, as a race, can’t allow to happen again.
So, as writers, and screenwriters, and authors. Watch what is happening while you plan your manuscripts. Watch for the reactions. Watch for the actions. Learn to see the ‘nexus points’ that are evident in our daily lives. Use what you see, and learn as you go through your work. Tie it to something “human” and “real” for the emotional impact.
Well, that’s all for this post. Go out, watch, and learn what is happening. Apply it to your work.
Go to rallies, and protests (peacefully) against what Trump is trying to do. Let him know that the world won’t stand for what is happening.
To end this how it began, we need a real life version of Babylon 5. A place, somewhere, that can bring a hope back to the world.
Hopefully this will be my only “political piece”. So, Happy Writing. Get those manuscripts done.
Dreaming Screenwriter 