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| An Ancient Egyptian Piece of Art :-) |
Okay, I was really amped to share my “Brain on Fire” backstory, based on Susannah Calahan's autobiography "Brain on Fire," and I was in the midst of reading it/re-reading it, outlining it, researching it, etc., but found out that Dakota Fanning (who I love!!) is portraying Calahan in a film-version based on the piece. Fanning is gonna rock it and I know she’ll nail it (as always!), but I really want to avoid sounding like a cheap imitation, so I decided to look for characters who still need a voice and ones that have yet to be acknowledged on an artistic, humane platform.
There are approximately 7 billion characters residing in the world, a population of characters surmounting the latter number who once resided in the world, and many more lodged in the corners of our mind (if you have an imagination, that is...). With all of these character choices, there is no excuse for me not to find someone whose persona has been denied entrance to the realm of entertainment, with a voice worthy of being heard to enlighten, inform, and humanize the audience, reminding us why such distractions are a necessity to survive in any culture.
Anyway, people may be surprised to discover this about me, but I am a huge history fanatic. I have no idea where this intrigue stems from, but I have held such a love for this particular subject ever since I was really little. I also love reading about current social, political, and cultural events because it allows me to bear witness to history in the making......and that’s just really cool. So, as I was in search of my new character, I took to CNN, and there she was, right in front of me, my next character!! It was as though one of my guardian angels of cinema brought me to her. I didn’t even have to do much searching, just a couple simple clicks and voila!
My muse was unearthed in an Ancient Egyptian tomb, believed to be a queen married to Pharaoh Neferefre. Well, someone like this is definitely worthy of a little more recognition than as a pharaoh's wife, and sounds like she has a good story to tell and one that could really resonate with some people, especially if I have anything to do with it. She was a queen, after all, so the mental, sexual, joyful, and/or grieving aspects of her persona provide a plethora of human emotion to unveil!! And, in virtue of being a queen, people naturally pay attention to you, likely amplifying such a respected individual’s drives, especially when such motives are not satisfied. Hm...
Okay, so I’ve never, ever, ever, ever, ever spoken to a soul about my Princess Diana backstory, aside from touching on it loosely in various social forums, but I made sure to do my homework for that one. I am a huge fan of Princess Diana and really wanted to do her character justice, whether or not all of the pieces I put together in her puzzle were a completely accurate illustration of her psyche at that time, I really, desperately wanted to portray her in the most human, loving, empathic light possible. Whenever I made references to objectively factual, provable elements of her world, I did double and triple-checks to make sure that it was spot on. For example, when I say, “..the department store on Brompton Road” - any Brit knows I was referring to Harrod’s, which was owned by her boyfriend at the time, Dodi Fayed. These details give a greater reality not only to the authenticity of her voice, but to the undeniable love she had for Fayed; a love that could not dissolve the grief she felt over the dissolution of her relationship with ex lover Hasnat Khan, the disgustingly inhuman attacks from the press on her fragile character, and all of the other monstrosities she dealt with as a woman (who made amazing accomplishments, mind you!!) in the public eye, which ultimately, as I refer to it, were causes of her “broken heart.”
So, in my post for the “unknown queen”, I plan to ascribe the same, if not a greater, level of humanity to her persona as I did to my Diana’s. I was.. what? About two years younger when I wrote that particular Princess piece?? Whether you believe it or not, I’ve done quite a bit of growing since then, on an emotional, personal, and, at times, unnecessarily “childish” front, meaning that, along with the good and the bad, my level of empathy, too, has grown.
So these are the questions I need to answer: What was it like waking up everyday as a Queen in Ancient Egypt? What did the surroundings look like?? Generally speaking, what was a simple common courtesy and what wasn’t? What were the social norms? Who was courting her? Who did she love? Who didn’t she love? And why? What was her wardrobe like?? Whose political voice did she respect the most? I really am aiming to answer these questions in a way that won’t make anyone’s brain hurt, with answers remaining so visible in the context of the piece that it shouldn’t even seem like I had to do any research to uncover them, because, without a question, these answers, or these simple realities, would come so organically to the character (just like her emotions).
I have more questions where that came from, and I really don’t wish to bore you anymore so I’ll keep all of the future, mundane details to myself, promise!! I just thought I’d open up a little bit about my process when I write these pieces, and I might share more of my particular process on “The Unknown Queen” if, I believe, it is actually worth reading!! So thanks, and good night xx
