Don's script also made a big change. There is no more a Monster, the Killer Global Warming in his script. Instead Don made it into Global Warming, a climate change endangering the earth. A leading character, Robert, became a photo journalist from LA Times, who was assigned to capture the impact of climate change in the world with his camera. Traveling all over the world, he meets a woman, Sally ( former The Princess Sunshine) who runs an organization to save the endangered animals in Africa. Then romance begins between them. When Robert gets another assignment in Himalayas, he asks her to come with him, but they don't know they are heading into danger in the Himalayas...
"That's about it so far. I'm on page 90." said Don, shutting down his computer.
During holiday, Don and Sylvia had worked hard to revise his script and this was the first time he read me his revised version. To be honest when his script had 500 pages, I often got distracted while he was reading. It was hard to sit still and listen when one scene kept going for at least 5 pages without changes.
But this time nothing distracted me.I couldn't stand up from the chair. Every scene in the script was breath taking and I enjoyed every minute of it.
"What's going to happen in Himalayas? I want to know. Tell me. Tell me." I said, excited.
"You like the revised version better?" asked Don.
"Of course! Definitely Oscar will be yours!"
Don closed his eyes and started a talk.
"Writing a story is like being a captain on the ship, taking a journey with all the characters as your passengers. How the journey turns out is all up to you. You have got ultimate command and responsibilities."
Then he opened his eyes and blurted out with bitterness.
"What are you doing then?" I asked.
His bitter tone made me notice where his talk was heading to.
Don kept grieving.
"Look at this! She changed my whole script! My Killer Global Warming is gone. The Princess Sunshine is gone. All the scenes with the buildings collapsed in the fire are gone. Sylvia erased them all. "
"You guys were revising together.You were with her and enjoying it." I said.
"She said this would make the story more realistic and somehow she convinced me at that time. But now I realized it didn't need to be realistic. Hollywood makes the impossible possible. You see Superman flying in the sky? Blues Wills jumping one building to another? That's what I was pursuing! She manipulated me to change."
"Why would she do that?" I sighed.
"Just to prove she is a better writer than I am."
"And the script got better." I added.
I was feeling irritated by Don's grieving, which usually comes from his over-sensitivity.
"Don, you are a good writer. You created all the characters. You are still a captain on the ship.OK?"
I stood up from the chair to conclude this talk.
But Don didn't let me go and said, "I will show you something."
He stood up from the chair and took me to the kitchen. When he opened the cabinet, I saw all the plates and cups nicely placed in order.
"I know you'd say it's nicer. But before I knew where every single plate and cup was. Now I have to look for it. Very incovenient.Sylvia changed. I show you another one."
Don took me to his bedroom and opened the chest. All the T-shirts and his underwear
were nicely folded and organized in the drawer.
"Nicer, Right? First I thought so, too. But now I am too afraid of ruining this order and end up wearing the same T-shirt every single day! After she left for New York, I realized she had a subtle way to do this kind of thing. Trying to dominate me and change everything in the way she wants."
I was used to watching Don overreacting whenever he feels insecure, but this time I felt anger toward him. I didn't have patience to listen to him.
"You are just afraid of a change happening to you. You are just finding a fault because you don't want to admit you are afraid of a change for better. Both your cabinet and chest are more nicely organized. That's the fact. Instead of appreciating God offered something nicer, you are complaining and complaining and complaining because you are afraid of change. My point is it is the fact that your script got better. If you like to put the killer Global Warming monster back in your script, you should. If you want to go back to your 500 pages of the script, you should. It's your script. But I like what it is a lot better than what it was before."
Don seemed surprised at the strong stance I took against him. He stared at me in silence and then calmly said, "Don't talk to me like that."
But I didn't change my tone.
"Yes, I will talk as I like. I am expressing myself. Freedom of speech."
I walked away and closed the door behind him. Then I wondered if I shouldn't have said what I had just said. But I decided being honest and expressing myself was a good thing to do for Don because I love Don.
January is off to a good start with some good changes.
