Some Things You Should Know by Truman Locke

Author:Truman Locke [Locke, Truman]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Social Science, Media Studies, Performing Arts, Television, History & Criticism, Biography & Autobiography, Business, Business & Economics, Industries, Media & Communications, General
ISBN: 9781350113251
Google: nLS9DwAAQBAJ
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Published: 2020-01-09T03:34:08+00:00

CHAPTER EIGHT:

AUGUST

August 2

The house I’m in is huge, in a way that makes it hard to relax. The furniture feels as though it’s adrift. It must have been a beautiful place once: ramshackle, lived-in and full of antiques. Now all character has gone. It should smell of woodsmoke, polish and books. Instead it just smells clean.

There are pictures of the owner everywhere, and pictures of no one else: national treasure and man of the people Ray Monroe.

His wife brings coffee in a cafetière and biscuits in gold foil fanned out neatly on a plate.

She must be 30 years younger than Monroe, and is new since the last time I saw him. There are no kids, and none from his previous marriages. The house feels very still.

Monroe does nothing to acknowledge her. She withdraws without saying a word, blank, and closes the door behind her.

I say, ‘They’re coming for you, Ray.’

He says ‘Yes, I know.’

For me too.

There’s no way out – at least, not for Monroe – but I do have a proposition for him: make a follow-up film with me.

Get your response in before the story breaks, I tell him. Take the initiative away from Donovan and the rest of them. Own it. Be brave. Tell everyone the truth.

‘The truth?’ he says.

‘The truth as you see it.’

He makes a noise somewhere between a sigh and a groan. Fear or disgust, I don’t know which.

I tell him if he waits, his voice will get lost in all the outrage and the condemnation. Then it’ll all be over, and no one will care what he thinks or says. No one will ever listen again.

The era that I wanted to explore through Ray Monroe had some sort of blind spot when it came to celebrities and young women, to the extent that abuse now looks like part of the age. There have been several scandals in the last few years. Several well-known names are now in disgrace. Several are now in prison.

If you made a film about the ’70s and early ’80s today, ignoring these events would be unthinkable. When I made my film, things looked very different. I focused on racism and homophobia, because they seemed the worst of the age that was passing. I wish I’d had the foresight to include abuse as well. It’s so much more telling than outdated attitudes and language. It makes you reassess everything about those times. About the forces that shaped you, growing up. On the surface those years always seemed shiny and innocent. Underneath they were dark and rotten.

I’d love the chance to revisit that era, and Ray Monroe would be the perfect way of doing it.

Monroe shakes his head. ‘I can’t do that’, he says, ‘to 50 years of work.’

His name and his legacy will soon be in ruins. He knows the wrecking ball is in place. He just doesn’t want to be the one to swing it.

‘50 years’, he says again.

His wife reappears to clear away the coffee. She seems entirely broken. She glances at me, and quickly looks away.

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