Historical stories are tricky things.There is no solid way to avoid touchy subjects, or potentially offending someone. We as humans, share a history and therefore any portrayal of that history automatically speaks of the author’s views and opinions, and often implies many things about their character and situation. When I and my partner, Jase, were working on this script, we were aware that it was a risk to adopt actual people into these characters, especially concerning such a topic. We decided, however, that in this particular case we were willing to do so—it is to be read as something of a speculation on what could have happened. Lizzie Borden was acquitted, but most agree that she was the one to commit the murders. Likewise, both Emma and Bridget have also been considered suspect, even if no trial was held for either of them. If this were to be made into anything larger-scale than a three page script assignment, then yes, perhaps we’d have avoided incriminating legally innocent people. But it is a short assignment, so we took the risk.
The script we came up with was largely imagined; Emma wasn’t even around at the time the murders took place (although there is no solid account of where she actually was) and Bridget left shortly after, with little records we could find saying much about her. The details—the burned dress and the hatchet head—were all we had to go on, and even there we took artistic liberties.
I read The Veil after writing this, for the most part, and it made me wonder how I’d write something like this in first-person. I could figure it out if I were writing a short story, but a script in first-person seems like an endeavor at which I’d fall short; I’d probably make the character sound like a crazy person. It was an artful way to tell such a story though, very personalized and human. The pictures sure lent a hand to the telling of both The Veil and After the Deluge, although I think that their particular sort of storytelling called for it. In a script, the action lines more or less stand in for the pictures I suppose, so nothing is lost either way.
Our short script turned out rather like a psychological narrative/typicality and process story we’ve actually just recently discussed in TMA 114. Having most of the focus on the little blood-soaked details, rather than the murder or the murderess, gave more insight into the characters directly presented. I personally also think that it would be easy for one to read between the lines and come out or it with something unique, different than what others glean from it. At least, that’s what it does to the best of our abilities.
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