Act 4: Matthew
Scene 1: 1945- Unite Nations Charter San Francisco
The act begins with Booker yet again. He is with his family and wife, who is pregnant with yet another child. She asks him when he is leaving and he tells her that he has about 10 minutes. She quickly makes him breakfast while he reads the newspaper. The camera zooms out of the house and we see that he now lives in San Francisco. It then jumps to Booker walking through a crowded street, fully dressed in his military uniform. He heads toward a building called the San Francisco War Memorial and Performing Arts Center. He enters and a security guard asks him for his credentials. He hands him a paper and is let through. Another US service member greets him and asks him how hard it was getting there. Booker calls him David and says that he enjoyed the walk. David introduces him to Senator Connally, one of the American leaders for drafting the UN Constitution. Senator Connally tells Booker that “the other nations are still fearful of the Untied States Senate because they know that the League of Nations was slaughtered there in that chamber” (Conally 1). Booker tells Senator Connally that he is sure it will be ratified and Senator Connally goes on his way. David asks about Booker’s children and Booker tells him that they have a baby boy on the way. David asks what they will name it and Booker tells him that they have decided to call their new child Matthew. David congratulates them and a lower ranking service member comes up to tell them the service is starting. It turns out be a ceremony for the signing of something a new organization called the United Nations. Several officials give a speech and then everyone claps as the head diplomats of each state stand up to sign the document. After the ceremony ends, Bookers says goodbye to David and heads home. David tells him to have good luck raising a baby boy in this day and age. Booker says he is sure that there will be no problems.
Scene 2:1955- Disneyland Opening
Camera cuts to kids screaming and jumping around in a car with Booker at the helm, his wife in the passenger seat. Booker tells them to be quiet or he will turn the car around. Silence quickly falls upon all members of the family. Matthew, now age 10, asks his father where they are headed to and Booker tells him that they have been invited to a the opening of a new amusement park by the people who make the Disney cartoons. Matthew asks about the attractions that are in the amusement park and Booker tells him to wait and find out. They get there and it’s about 10 in the morning, but the line is huge. They see a policeman and ask him how long the line is. The policeman tells them that “More than 15,000 persons, some of whom [have] waited the entire night, [have] formed a four-abreast line a mile long”(Disneyland 1). There are thousands of people everywhere and chaos reigns. Booker promises them that they will get in so they wait in line. An hour passes before they finally gain entrance to the park and every space is filled with an individual. The asphalt in the park is still wet and women’s heels are sinking into the ground slightly. As the go through the park they try out a couple of rides. They are amazed at how big the park is and know that it will only continue to grow (Site Visit). Although it is extremely hot, they all enjoy there time.
Scene 3:1964- Berkeley Free Speech Movement
Another sharp cut, this time to Matthew in a crowd at Berkeley. A man is speaking on the pedestal and Matthew is listening intently. The man is giving a speech about the machine that runs the country and everyone in the crowd is extremely into it. After the speech ends Matthew and his group of friends, who are dressed like hippies, go walk around Berkeley to talk about what they just saw. They talk about the state of the country, especially how terrible the Vietnam War is. Most of the men in the group vow to burn their draft cards if they are called to fight in the war. Matthew doesn’t join in the vow and they ask him what’s wrong. He tells them that his dad is a military man and Matthew would have to go fight if the was drafted. They say that he doesn’t have to follow his dad’s way and he can to what he wants. All of the sudden the police show up and are everywhere. There is heavy struggle and Matthew’s friends try to stick together. Eventually they are all caught and the reporters shout out questions at the last arrestee. She says that “This is only the beginning. The fight for freedom will continue” (The State 1).
Scene 4:1969- Sharon Tate Murdered
Matthew is the focus of the seen again except he is out of college now. He is wearing a lot of stereotypical hippie clothing and hanging out with a new group of friends inside a fan that has a lava lamp. Matthew is playing the guitar and singing a very sad song. As he finishes, one of the girls in the van asks him why he wrote such a sad song. Matthew tells them that his family disowned them after he refused to join the army and fight in Vietnam. He says that his dad told him to never come home ever again. The driver hops on the wheel and tells them that there is a party at Sharon Tate’s place, who is a famous actress. Matthew says he is too bummed out and that they should just drop him off at his apartment. They tell him that they don’t want to leave him alone and they all accompany him to his apartment. The next day they here about the wild Sharon Tate murders in the newspaper and are shocked. One of them reads the opening paragraph out loud: “Film star Sharon Tate, another woman and three men were found slain Saturday, their bodies scattered around a Benedict Canyon estate in what police said resembled a ritualistic mass murder. The victims where shot, stabbed or throttled. On the front door of the home, written in blood, was one word: “Pig.””(Torgerson 1). They talk about how lucky they are that they didn’t up going. They all vow to stick together.
Scene 5:1978- Harvey Milk Killed
Matthew is back in San Francisco and living with one of the woman from the van whom he refers to as Stacy. They are in bed and share a quick kiss before Matthew gets up and gets dressed, this time in business attire instead of the hippie outfit he had previously worn in the van scene. He tells her that it’s time to go to work and she begs him to stay and spend the day with her. Matthew says that his job working for Harvey Milk has really helped him learn how to balance the activist and professional life. Matthew says that if he lands a steady job down at city hall then maybe his father will forgive him for his past transgressions. Matthew takes a Ford Pinto to work and jams out to some Al Green in his car. He gets to work and sits down at his desk. As he is working in the office a man comes into the room and then heads for Milk’s office. It was very common for people to move around city hall and Matthew takes no particular interest in this incidence. He hears several loud sounds, but didn’t hear it. Matthew runs into the room and sees that Milk has been killed. He tries to revive him and calls the emergency services. As he tries to talk tears keep falling down his face. It then switches to him talking to the police. He tells them that we “were unaware they were shots at the time”(Endicott 1). The scene then switches to the funeral of Harvey Milk, which Matthew and Stacy attend, both draped in black.
Scene 6:1984- Los Angeles Summer Olympics
A much more jovial Matthew eats in a Los Angeles Café, Stacy and children sitting around the table. Stacy asks him if he is sure that he doesn’t want to see his parents, and Matthew tells her that he is positive. Matthew looks at his watch and tells them the game will start soon. As they walk towards the venue, Olympic imagery is everywhere and so are flags of all nations. They head toward the Forum in Los Angeles to see the American basketball team play. Everyone is so excited that the eyes of the world are on California and especially on Los Angeles. Matthew tells his children that this coming summer will be filled with Olympic events. Then a super 80s style montage shows them going to all sorts of events and interacting with all sorts of different people of varying ethnicities. The montage also highlights the beauty of Los Angeles and the various Olympic venues it houses. As they are walking they see a man, draped in Olympic gear, sleeping in Exposition Park. They ask him if he’s okay and he tells them that he is from New York and loves this Olympics. He says, “I’m so impressed. It’s been great. I haven’t met a person here who has had a bad experience” (Stein 3). The family is shown at the closing ceremonies in the Coliseum and everyone is happy. As the fireworks are blasting Stacy tells Matthew that his father should be here. Matthew just looks downward somberly.
Scene 7:1992- Rodney King Riots
Booker is at the cash register of a convenience store and looks at a small TV with news about the riots following the beating of Rodney King. The TV shows pictures of people looting and fires raging around Los Angeles. All the sudden a bunch of hooligans burst into the shop and start tipping things over. Booker pulls out a gun and tells them to leave. However, one of the vandals also pulls a gun on him. There is a tense exchange where they talk about their current situation in life and why they are ready to kill. All of the sudden, Matthew bursts in and smacks the gun out of the guy’s end. Another guy pulls a knife on Matthew and Booker shoots him. Then there is a crazy fight scene with bullets and people flying everywhere. Afterwards, Booker and Matthew finally embrace. The camera zooms out on their embrace and shows a Los Angeles burning. In the sky is the words of Andrew Hacker, a professor of political science at Queens College in New York: “The fundamental difference between the riots this time and the riots of the 1960s is that the reservoir of sympathy for blacks on the part of whites just isn’t there anymore”(Lauter 2).
Scene 8:1994- Northridge Earthquake
Matthew is in his home in Northridge with his family, including his parents. They are all asleep when a huge earthquake hits. Everyone starts running around the house, while the children hide under their beds. There is a lot of screaming and things falling everywhere. Eventually the shaking stops and they go look outside. Everything is in shambles, but they are all right. Booker tells Matthew maybe its time to leave California. Matthew says “It’s the price you pay for living in this weather, I suppose”(Schaefer 1). Matthew tells his dad that the people of California have always preserved through hardship and that they will rebuild the city strong than before. They put their hands on each other’s should and smile as they stare off into the earthquake ravaged distance.
THE END
Bibliography
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