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Life & Times Transcript

09/29/05

Val Zavala>> Tonight on Life and Times --

Thousands of Southern Californians make the switch from civilian to military lives, but this film student put his Iraqi experience on tape.

Casey (Kc) Wayland>> "We're on lockdown right now. It's Christmas Eve. They took the entire compound down. We almost couldn't get in. Yes, it's that bad."

Val Zavala>> And then, the dean of network news talks about the state of journalism, where the country is headed and why he wouldn't have made a good president.

It's all straight ahead on tonight's Life and Times.

Announcer>> Life and Times is made possible through the generous support of the L.K. Whittier Foundation dedicated to improving the quality of life by supporting innovative endeavors in the fields of medicine, health, science and education.

And by a generous grant from Jim and Anne Rothenberg.

With additional support for Life and Times from The Ralph M. Parsons Foundation.

Val Zavala>> For many of us, the war in Iraq is a world away. Even for families with relatives and loved ones there, it's often hard to imagine what they're going through. Well, we found one soldier who brought the war home, you could say, in his helmet. Orange County reporter, Roger Cooper, has his story.

Roger Cooper>> College student Casey (Kc) Wayland wants to be a filmmaker, a goal he's been pursuing in the film school here at Chapman University in the city of Orange.

[Film Clip]

Roger Cooper>> But Casey's journey to become a filmmaker had to take a major detour when the freshman's Army Reserve unit got called up for active duty in the war in Iraq. Suddenly Casey found himself under orders to give up his life here at Chapman University, put his studies on hold for at least a year and ship out for Baghdad, a place about as different as you could imagine from this peaceful campus. Casey decided to face his concerns by thinking like a film student.

Casey (Kc) Wayland>> I was like, okay, what can I do with this situation? I'm going to be overseas. I'm a film student. I have a huge opportunity here. What I decided to do was I was going to prepare to go overseas and record every bit of the deployment.

Roger Cooper>> Casey was laying the groundwork for what would become his documentary, "365 Boots on Ground", a military expression for a year spent in the combat zone. Casey fitted his helmet with a tiny video camera and actually got Army permission to use it.

Casey (Kc) Wayland>> What I could do is, I could turn the camera on and off and record onto a tape in my canteen pouch. I designed a way to put both a camera and a microphone inside the helmet at the same time.

Roger Cooper>> Casey spent his next year taping everything that happened. Everything, including his mother's reaction to his joining the Army without telling her first.

Kathy Wayland>> I had a heart attack. I never thought he would do something like this. I tried to brainwash them as children and say, "You don't want to go in the Army. You don't want to be a Marine like daddy."

Roger Cooper>> Everything, including his last time with his grandmother who would die while he was away.

[Film Clip]

Roger Cooper>> The approach he took was not so much to capture a trip into the firefights and car bombs we see on television, but to document the mundane, the little everyday events a soldier serving in Iraq experiences. It's all here, the special training to prepare him for Iraq, the target practice in a wet foxhole, the inoculations, the night of the actual deployment.

>> "Okay, smoke a cigar once, go to war once, I'll come back and smoke another."

[Film Clip]

>> "I just touched American soil for the last time in years."

>> "Yeah, welcome aboard, welcome aboard."

Roger Cooper>> Even during the gruelingly long transport plane ride to Baghdad, Casey was rolling. He takes us on his first nervous trip down the dangerous highway from Baghdad's airport to the heavily secured Green Zone where his unit would work.

Casey (Kc) Wayland>> I was one of the drivers and I had a trailer behind me, so I'm thinking, oh, great. If I get hit, I'll be dragging dead weight behind me.

>> "Car bomb?"

Casey (Kc) Wayland>> "No."

>> "Sounded like it, though, didn't it?"

Casey (Kc) Wayland>> "Yeah, it did."

>> "But they were firing before the car bomb went off."

Roger Cooper>> Then there was the day Casey's convoy encountered a potential ambush. A car had stopped at an area where roadside bombs were being planted.

Casey (Kc) Wayland>> So I started in. I saw that there was one driver and then the other guy. I popped a round into the dirt. I didn't want to skip the round off the ground. I wanted to get the sound out, so that way it would scare them. They were good to go.

Roger Cooper>> But most of his time was more routine. As a communications specialist, Casey's unit beamed military news briefings back to the Pentagon. He put a radio station on the air to entertain the troops.

Casey (Kc) Wayland>> One of the other missions we had there was, we did the Freedom Radio which was the local radio station for the entire country of Iraq. It was kind of like the "Good Morning Vietnam" of today's era.

>> "Everybody out there listening to Freedom Radio on 107.7 FM Baghdad, we are glad to have you along and help you, serve you, our customers, those with the boots on the ground every single day."

Roger Cooper>> His documentary also contains what may be the best description ever of what the 110 degree desert heat is like to a soldier.

>> "Turn the oven on in the kitchen to broil, open the door, put your chair right in front of the oven, sit there for an hour in your best winter clothes, then go plug Momma's blow dryer into the outlet next to the microwave on the counter. Blow that in your face so you get the wind effect."

Casey (Kc) Wayland>> "We're on lockdown right now. It's Christmas Eve. They took the entire compound down. We almost couldn't get in. Yeah, it's that bad. Across the way, they're playing music right now.

This is my stocking. Raiders of the Lost Ark, oh, my God. Everybody sent me stuff. I'm happy. I'll be fat, but I'm happy. This is how we spend our Christmas."

Roger Cooper>> Having been through this, having documented it, having lived it, how do you feel about the war?

Casey (Kc) Wayland>> A lot of people have asked me about what I think about what we're doing over there. I think if we stay very determined over there and assist in bringing the nation up, I believe we will be successful over there.

Casey (Kc) Wayland>> "We got word that our replacements are coming and then we heard that for a month. We're thinking, oh, great. They're going to be here next week. No (laughter), they're not going to be here next week."

Kathy Wayland>> Katy and I went out and we bought all the yellow ribbons we could find and, you know, decorated the car with the paint you can write on windows. I went all the way up and down the hills and put yellow ribbons everywhere.

Roger Cooper>> At last, Casey brought his documentary full circle, arriving home at LAX on Thanksgiving Day.

Casey (Kc) Wayland>> "The plane touches down, we're all in uniform, we're coming out of the plane. In the background, people are cheering from the airport like you may have seen in some of those commercials. It was very kind of a surreal moment where you're just back home."

Roger Cooper>> Casey, what did all of this teach you?

Casey (Kc) Wayland>> There's a lot of lessons to be learned from the entire deployment process. I went out and I had a lot of experience overseas. I got to see things that a lot of people never will get to see and I hope that a lot of them don't have to see them.

Roger Cooper>> "365 Boots on Ground" won Casey Chapman's Cecil B. Demille Award for Best Documentary. It's now entered in a lot of film festivals. Companies are talking to him about distributing it nationally. And although Casey has now returned to his studies, he is constantly aware that he could be called up again to go back to Iraq.

Casey (Kc) Wayland>> There is always going to be the possibility of going back over there and, if need be, I can go.

Roger Cooper>> And with the war in Iraq continuing to rage, it's entirely possible that "365 Boots on Ground" could be a film with a sequel. At Chapman University in Orange County, I'm Roger Cooper for Life and Times.

Announcer>> Kcet.org is the place to look for the very latest on Life and Times. You'll find previews of upcoming stories, transcripts and audio of past episodes and links to some of our most interesting features. Just go to kcet.org and click on "Life and Times".

Val Zavala>> Every journalism student will tell you that they begin with the five W's: who, what, where, why and when. But when it comes to television journalism, there should be a sixth "W" added to the list for Walter, as in Walter Cronkite.

Cronkite ushered in the golden age of network news covering all the major events of the last half of the twentieth century from World War II and Vietnam to the moon landing and Watergate. His was the voice that Americans trusted most. He retired from CBS in 1980.

Walter Cronkite>> "Congratulations to all of you."

Val Zavala>> Cronkite is still active in journalism and was at USC's Annenberg School of Communication where he honored reporters from across the country for their outstanding coverage of elections and politics. That's where I had a chance to talk with him. You've come to be known as the most trusted man in America, but who do you trust when it comes to your news sources?

Walter Cronkite>> Well, I am a devotee of the New York Times. I'm a resident of New York, and it is a local paper as well as a great international newspaper, I think. That is my principal first source of the news in print. I believe that, unfortunately, we must go to print to get the full stories of so much of our important news today. Unfortunately, we in network television at any rate do not have the time to cover the news as completely as it needs to be covered.

A half hour broadcast, when you subtract the commercials and the lead-ins and the lead-outs, there's around a sixteen minute or something that's broadcast. We are trying to cover one of the most complicated nations in the world, one of the most complicated world situations in that much time, and that is just ridiculous. We need much more time from our owners. Our evening news broadcasts should be an hour instead of a half hour and I wish we would come to that.

Val Zavala>> And what is the one thing you would like to see changed that would improve broadcast journalism?

Walter Cronkite>> It is time that is needed. We have the talent in our newsrooms. The principal networks certainly do and many of the local stations have and certainly it's there in your network. Incidentally, your evening news report is, to my mind, the way news should be done. The headline service and then going deep into the stories of importance that day with interviews and backgrounders. This is, to my mind, a perfect model. That, of course, requires an hour time. That's what we would like to see with the commercial networks.

Val Zavala>> You've covered more than five decades of presidents. How do you think our current president, George Bush, will be seen ten or even five years from now?

Walter Cronkite>> Well, you're asking me to get pretty deep in analysis at this point in the presidency of George Bush. He's got a couple more years before we close the books on his administration. Up to now, we all know that there is a great deal of controversy abroad in the land obviously among the Democrats, but also among a lot of the Republicans today in their consideration of, first of all, the financial mess we are in. We are going to end up as one of the poorer of the modern nations in the world, particularly Western nations. We're going to be actually poverty-stricken, desperately so, and we're going to have a lot of things that we need to do that we're not going to have the money to do it.

Maybe the most important of those is education. So we are right now falling way behind in our education of our young people. Our teachers today are paid so poorly that, in most of the United States, they are making less than the janitors who work in their school building. That is shameful. These are the people who are molding our future right there in those early school years. If we do not educate them, we are going to have an uneducated public. And with an uneducated public, we are going to be so handicapped that we cannot make the judgments we need to protect our democracy or our republic.

So we are in the throes right now of a seriously desperate future. Our roads have to be rebuilt. Our bridges have to be rebuilt. Our dams have to be rebuilt, as we've seen in the recent tragedies of the hurricanes. Our canals have to be rebuilt. It's incredible what we have facing us in the immediate future without the money to spend on it. We are going to be one of the poorer nations and, unfortunately, poorly educated.

Val Zavala>> Now there are several times throughout your career that people have tried to talk you into running for president. Are there ever times when you wish you had?

Walter Cronkite>> No, I haven't thought of that. I don't think I would be capable of being a good president. I don't think I'm that broadly informed, to tell you the truth, in what is needed to run the country. I'm not sure I'm good at picking assistants which is part of the job of manning or "womaning" the White House, although I have succeeded in having a Chief of Staff for my office who is one of the most brilliant women I've known. If I could be assured of getting her as my Chief of Staff in the White House, I might run (laughter).

Val Zavala>> Who is that?

Walter Cronkite>> She's right over here (laughter). She's -- Marlene Adler is her name and she's been my Chief of Staff for well over a decade and has been of great importance to me.

Val Zavala>> So with the right woman, you could have done it, yes?

Walter Cronkite>> Yes.

Val Zavala>> Mr. Cronkite, thank you so much for your time.

Walter Cronkite>> You're certainly welcome.

Announcer>> To send a comment or a question to our program, you can reach us by mail at this address:

Life and Times
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You can also call our viewer comment line (323) 953-5555) or contact us the fast way by e-mail at kcet.org.

Larry Mantle>> Welcome to FilmWeek on Life and Times. I'm Larry Mantle of 89.3 KPCC in Southern California. First up this week is "Capote" starring Philip Seymour Hoffman as the gifted writer. The film is set during the time of his investigative work into "In Cold Blood".

[Film Clip]

Larry Mantle>> I'm joined this week by critics Andy Klein of City Beat and Valley Beat, and Lael Loewenstein of Variety. Well, Andy, what did you think of "Capote"?

Andy Klein>> This is one of the best films I've seen this year. I'm very enthusiastic about it. Philip Seymour Hoffman is a wonderful character actor, rarely gets a lead, was born to play this part even though he's really probably got six inches taller than Truman Capote. The film concentrates on Capote during the period that he's researching and writing "In Cold Blood" which became his best-known book. It has him partnered up with his good friend, Harper Lee, who, during the course of the time period in the film, publishes "To Kill a Mockingbird", which actually is more successful than anything Capote ever writes.

But Hoffman does this amazing job as you see this guy go from being sort of a lightweight raconteur on the New York literary scene to really getting into depth and analyzing these killers and sort of selling his soul to do it in order to get the great work. The transition is kind of grim and it's a terrific film.

Larry Mantle>> Lael, do you agree?

Lael Loewenstein>> Yes, I thought this was one of the best films of the year and, in particular, Hoffman's performance. This really grabbed me. I was really skeptical of his ability to pull this off, but he sort of shrinks in stature, becoming more physically like Capote and he really embodied all the ambiguity of this character. He's quite manipulative, yet at the same time he comes across as charming and ingratiating. He was very, very wily about the way he gets these townspeople to tell their stories and even the murderers, especially Terry Smith, one of the murderers, to tell the story.

I liked the way the film uses this unusual biographical approach by picking this particular incident as a means to elucidate Capote's life. I thought Keener as well was spectacular as Harper Lee. I also thought, you know, Bennett Miller, the director, this was his first film, really his first feature. I think he'd only done a documentary. And Dan Futterman who was known as an actor, this was his first screenplay. Absolutely wonderful work together. Just sensational all around.

Larry Mantle>> Next up is the film, "Separate Lies", written and directed by Julian Fellowes. It stars Tom Wilkinson, Emily Watson and Rupert Everett.

[Film Clip]

Larry Mantle>> Lael, what did you think of "Separate Lies"?

Lael Loewenstein>> Well, I was mixed about this film. This is the directorial debut of Julian Fellowes who wrote the Academy Award-winning screenplay for "Gosford Park". What he does is, he takes a British upper-class family and shows how an accident and the ensuing revelations of infidelity, adultery, lies and deceptions dismantle the family and the sort of fragile existence that they hold. It's got a terrific cast. It's got Emily Watson as the wayward lady, Tom Wilkinson as the husband and Rupert Everett as Watson's lover.

I loved Wilkinson in a film called "In The Bedroom" a few years ago which was also a melodrama about a family in turmoil. This is a very, very different kind of movie. He's very button-down, very stiff upper lip, very, very British, and I think it might play better to an English audience. To me, the film lacks an emotional connection. I really didn't care that much about any of the characters and, because I didn't empathize, I felt a little left out.

Larry Mantle>> I think this is Wilkinson's second film in the last two or three weeks. Andy Klein, what did you think of this film?

Andy Klein>> Actually, I'm more sympathetic to the Wilkinson character, so maybe it's a gender thing. He basically seems to be channeling James Mason in this. He is very stuffy to start with, but the whole process of the film is all his protective layers being torn away with all these revelations. I thought he did a first-rate job. Emily Watson was played good, though it's sort of a thankless part she's got. Rupert Everett did not come across well here and part of the problem is that something has happened to his face. I think he had bad work done and it looks lopsided and he doesn't seem to know how to use it at this point, so hopefully he'll figure that out. It's a strong drama. You know, it's not anything I'm sending everybody to, but it's actually very satisfying for what it is.

Larry Mantle>> And finally this week, a family-oriented film, "Duma", directed by Carroll Ballard of "The Black Stallion".

[Film Clip]

Larry Mantle>> Andy, what did you think of "Duma"?

Andy Klein>> Carroll Ballard who directed this made one of the greatest animal films of all time, "The Black Stallion", as well as "Fly Away Home" and "Never Cry Wolf" which dealt with similar material. This is about a boy and his pet cheetah, which is pretty unbelievable to start with, and it's shot, you know, without CGI. I mean, they're constantly in the frame together.

The boy has to return the cheetah to the wild because he's grown too big to be domesticated. He has all kinds of adventures while they're going across the South African outback, teaming up with a black guy who's sort of on the run a little bit, who is played by Eamonn Walker who was also in "Lord of War" recently and he's terrific here as well, a really formidable presence. It's beautifully shot. It has some plot holes that I couldn't get past. I mean, things that look like things were cut out in explaining how they got from point A to point B. But this is kind of a perfect family film, other than that.

Larry Mantle>> Do you agree with that, Lael?

Lael Loewenstein>> I agree that it's a great family film and thoroughly enjoyable, but for me the plot holes were so frustrating that I just kept stopping and saying, wait a minute. This is a kid who's so resourceful that he can build a raft, he can build a motorcycle practically and make it fly across the desert, yet he never manages to remember to put gas in it (laughter). You know, things like that.

The kid is great, the cinematography is gorgeous and lush, and there's a wonderful supporting part from Campbell Scott in the very beginning. He does a spot-on South African accent as the kid's dad. Of course, I love any movie about a kid and his pet. There's a sort of "Born Free" mixed with "The Yearling", so it is a nice family film.

Larry Mantle>> Sometimes in the animal films, there are going to be tragedies. Are things like that difficult for young kids? Nothing here that's too tough for them?

Lael Loewenstein>> There is a little bit of a family tragedy, but I think it has an uplifting message in the end. Nothing -- I wouldn't send kids that are too young.

Larry Mantle>> But well-handled how they dealt with it?

Lael Loewenstein>> Yeah, definitely.

Larry Mantle>> All right. Well, thank you for joining us for another FilmWeek on Life and Times. I'm Larry Mantle of 89.3 KPCC joined by critics Andy Klein of City Beat and Valley Beat, and Lael Loewenstein of Variety. We invite you to join us next week at this same time for the next FilmWeek on Life and Times.

Val Zavala>> KPCC public radio broadcasts a full hour of FilmWeek Friday mornings at eleven a.m. And that's our program. I'm Val Zavala. For everyone at Life and Times, thanks for watching. We'll see you tomorrow.

Announcer>> Life and Times was made possible through the generous support of the L.K. Whittier Foundation dedicated to improving the quality of life by supporting innovative endeavors in the fields of medicine, health, science and education.

And by a generous grant from Jim and Anne Rothenberg.

With additional support for Life and Times from The Ralph M. Parsons Foundation.

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