The Sub (aka alternate title: “Creative Destruction”)
This script, treatment and
notes were displayed on this site from March 2005 until the date above. The script
was a short of about forty pages. I have expanded it to feature length and
removed it from public display. I have
added a courtroom trial sequence, which I think imparts a lot more ideas; work
goes on to make the dialogue and characters as realistic and natural as
possible. I save other scripts that are not available for viewing.
The script does deal with a
troubling subject: a substitute teacher gets accused of improper involvement
with a minor, gets sent to prison and dies there. It is ambiguous as to whether
the teacher really is “guilty” or should be convicted in a legal sense, so
there is some injustice and tragedy. But the minor does play his musical work
in public, as a kind of eternal or vicarious vindication. Beyond that, I’m not
continuing to give out more details of the story.
During the past six or so
months, there have been many sensational media reports about this problem, and
there seems to be an increase in reported incidents and prosecutions of many
teachers and other adults. This subject
matter has been used in some commercial films, such as Student Seduction on
Lifetime in 2004, Whole New Thing
(Canada) from Picture This/ThinkFilm in 2006, or The History Boys and Notes on a
Scandal both (UK) (Fox Searchlight, 2006) (same link). Nevertheless, the
display of my material in such a public matter was particularly upsetting to
some people. The script did not
contain any explicit depictions of sexual acts and was not objectionable in an
objective sense in the way some Internet content is objectionable (such as
pornographic) or even illegal. The circumstances however made it provocative.
Do I have as much right to delve into material like this as NBC/Universal or
Lions Gate/Lifetime? Maybe not always,
without “paying my dues.” They are
bigger than I am, and that is not a very satisfying answer. There is a subtle
legal issue involving “self-libel” and fiction, which by definition is more
subject to evaluation by the reader’s emotions and prejudices as well as
objective intellect; that’s a major part of the issue. The political climate
regarding Internet speech and behavior is becoming more unstable, because of a
flow of media reports about misuse of the Internet by minors (on social
networking sites) and of sexual predators visiting chatrooms
(the NBC Dateline “To
Catch a Predator” series). It’s important to realize that the acceptability of
content posted in an unrestricted public space can change rapidly (and the
likelihood that some legal theory previously viewed as frivolous might really
be used) as “times change” because of external social events.
I will list a number of
important ideas covered by the script:
(1) the complications for gay special ed teachers caused by the military “don’t ask don’t tell”
(2) the enormous maturity range among students
(2.5) body image problems of an older teacher in front of students (in the preview still available here, the 60-something year-old-male character is ashamed to show up in swimming trunks in front of students because of his balding legs -- the protagonist is entitled to his shame over what Dr. Phil gratuitously calls “tissue death” -- or maybe just rust and oxidation); the fact that some subs have not raise kids and that administrators might expect them to have done so
(3) the controversy over whether writers are “real people” (based on a real assignment at Hayfield)
(4) the possibility that even a “good kid” might play games with a sub
(5) a lot of information about the psychological importance of classical music
(6) the contingent nature of substitute teaching from an administrator’s point of view
(7) the relationship between teaching and pseudo-parenting
(8) defibrillators in school
(9) the attitudes of parents towards gay teachers
(10) the carelessness of business establishments in admitting underage customers
(11) the legal definition of sexual battery; the issue of intent; the issue of arousal; passive solicitation
(12) zoning laws, apartments, and writers
(13) the sexual offender registry, how it works
(14) reparative therapy
(15) does an artist’s work redeem him after his passing?
(16) There is some relationship to legal theories of “rebuttable presumption” undergirding the military “don’t ask don’t tell” Federal law from 1993. See note 121a at this footnote file link. Also see this 1995 essay, “Perils of Rebuttable Presumptions.” A related concept is “propensity,” like “pre-crime” or “thoughtcrime” in the film Minority Report. Included is the general idea that the military “don’t ask don’t tell” policy for gays could legally affect civilians in some circumstances.
(17) A philosophical play on the value of one’s life: is it in the life’s being lived, or in the life’s external work (music). The music is supposed to have a “Dorian Gray” effect.
(18) whether a person’s treatment
by the health care system should be influenced by what others perceive as “moral
hazard” or “deservedness” factors, like whether the person has children, or
even inmate status.
http://www.csba.org/csmag/Fall04/csMagStoryTemplate.cfm?id=48
A significant event in the story is the saving of the
protagonist’s life by the student with a defibrillator. Apparently very school
public schools actually have these yet (airports have them) but they will
probably arrive in the schools over time. Here is a story from the DC Examiner
There are up to five commercial films called “The Substitute,” some of them with Treat Williams playing an undercover substitute teacher investigating problems in schools. There are details on imdb.com. Some of them come from Artisan Entertainment. I review the last of these films (and the TV film).
There is more information on my links on blogging and intellectual property.
The JonBenet Ramsey case, when it
broke in August 2006 with the arrest in
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