 |
HOME |  |
SCHEDULE | |
PROGRAMS | |
KIDS & FAMILY | |
LOCAL | |
SUPPORT KCET | |
ABOUT US | |
SHOP KCET |  |
| About Us | Contact Us | |
 |
|
 |
          |
|
|
 |
 |
||
|
|
Life & Times Transcript
05/19/06 Val Zavala>> Tonight on Life and Times -- A construction project uncovered something unexpected: human bones. Now a nearby community is demanding some answers. Irvin Lai>> This is not Chinese history. This is American history. I want them to understand that. Sofia Quinones>> It's the desecration of, you know, families. Val Zavala>> And then, he's a powerhouse of a composer. Meet Hans Zimmer, the man who scored "The Da Vinci Code". These stories and more 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>> Construction workers were digging deep into the earth in East Los Angeles building the latest leg of the Los Angeles subway when something stopped them in their tracks. Bones, human bones, from an old forgotten cemetery. But whose bones are they and what do we do now? As Anne McDermott tells us, many of them are from the community that helped build this city. [Film Clip] Anne McDermott>> That's a crew from the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, or MTA, working near Evergreen Cemetery in East Los Angeles. Eventually, all this dirt and debris will be transformed into the nearly nine hundred million dollar extension to the Gold Line light rail system. The project is supposed to be completed in 2009, but it did run into delays this past summer. That happened when MTA crews were digging into the ground near an old Potter's Field just outside Evergreen. And as they dug, they began finding remains, human remains, bones and more dating from the late 1800s and the early 1900s. Sherri Gust>> "On June 23, the next day, shallow grading was attempted in an adjacent area. The bone was encountered in the first few minutes and grading was shut down." Anne McDermott>> That's Sherri Gust, one of the archaeologists called in by the MTA once the bodies were discovered. Eventually, authorities found one hundred twenty-eight full and partial grave sites and Gust and her crew determined that at least nineteen of the bodies were Asian and maybe more. Eighty-three of the remains were so deteriorated that they defied immediate identification. Sherri Gust>> "So this is another picture of a burial we recovered showing the skull preserved. You can see they're not six feet deep. They're about three feet deep in most cases." Anne McDermott>> What else did they find? Bits and pieces of a Chinese laborer's life. Treasured rice bowls and spoons and ornaments and other mementos interred along with their owners. All work by the MTA ceased during this recovery project as the pitiful skulls and bones were brought up and taken away to a lab in Orange County. But it would be six months before Los Angeles's Chinese community, now four hundred thousand strong, was notified about the bodies and they're angry about that and they vented at a community meeting last month. Daisy Ma>> "Six months? I mean, I'm sorry, it's not acceptable to us. We're not going to take it." Anne McDermott>> For the Chinese American Angelenos who worked so hard at preserving the city's Chinese heritage, the MTA's delay was painful and ultimately perhaps foolish. According to Irvin Lai, the MTA should have reached out to the Chinese community at the first glimpse of a rice bowl or Asian coin. Irvin Lai>> "We can help you with that stuff. That's the reason why the Chinese community is so frustrated because this is not just one or two graves. There's almost two hundred graves and people are asking me now, "Where is my grandfather's grave?" Anne McDermott>> Where indeed? And who are these Chinese dead? To find some of the answers, we must go back to Evergreen. Evergreen is an old graveyard. See how its angels are aging? But today, it's still a final destination for the dead of Los Angeles and here you'll find the rich and poor, black and white, and Latino and -- well, you get the idea. It's a democracy of the dead. But back when it was new, back in 1877, this was the end for the city's elite. Oh, there were some poor folk here, but not in the cemetery proper. They were relegated to a tiny Potter's Field just outside Evergreen, a place for those with nothing and no one. And in an even tinier corner of that Potter's Field were the Chinese. They weren't penniless, but they were Chinese, the lepers of their day, so they were unwelcome in Los Angeles's stores or schools or cemeteries. They were, however, welcome to work. They came to work the railroad and then they came to dig. Jane Cheung is with the Chinese American Museum. Jane Cheung>> During the 1800s when the Gold Rush came about in California, many Chinese laborers immigrated to the United States in search of trying to strike it rich and trying to seek better opportunity. Anne McDermott>> The ten thousand Chinese laborers who'd come to Los Angeles by the turn of the century worked hard, very hard, but most didn't get rich and most of them wound up doing California's dirtiest work, the backbreaking, low-paying, menial jobs that no one else would do. And so they worked and died and were buried outside of Evergreen. Decades went by. The Potter's Field was filled, then closed. Ownership changed, development came and, in the meantime, bodies were dug up, some for reburial in China, some for who knows where? But they were all gone, weren't they? [Film Clip] Anne McDermott>> No, they weren't gone. For some reason, likely lost to the mist of time, some bodies remained, Chinese bodies. MTA officials have said they didn't notify any community groups about the remains until archaeologists finished their work. Why did they dig near Evergreen? Well, MTA officials said they dug in the area near Evergreen only after being assured by their experts that the crews would encounter no problems such as digging up bodies. They were wrong, but the MTA's Dennis Mori says those experts were working from the best available information they could find. But the fact remains that there were bodies there and you didn't know it. Dennis Mori>> Well, it appears that nobody knew that they were there. Even with the Chinese Historical Society, they commented that we've helped them to rediscover or discover the ancient Chinese cemetery that they've been looking for for over eighteen years. Anne McDermott>> But surely Chinese Historical Society members would have preferred that the cemetery was discovered some other way, any other way than by bulldozers dredging up bone after bone. And the MTA meanwhile is urging the Chinese community in Los Angeles to help them decide upon an appropriate monument to these long-lost Chinese laborers. There will also be a proper reburial ceremony, though it's not yet known where or when. Now some might be wondering who really cares about all this. What does it matter to anyone outside the Chinese community? But a lot of people do care, people like community activist, Sofia Quinones, who wonders if this could ever happen to her father or grandfather, her cherished family members. Sofia Quinones>> It's the desecration of, you know, families. Anne McDermott>> Irvin Lai says he sees another reason for all of us to care about what the bulldozers dug up. The reason is history, our history. Irvin Lai>> This is not Chinese history. This is American history. I want them to understand that. Anne McDermott>> And to understand and embrace the idea of how a despised group of lowly workers, all but invisible in the city they lived and worked in, are finally in death being accorded the dignity and honor they deserve. Anne McDermott 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, plus transcripts and audio of past episodes and links to some of our most interesting features. Just go to kcet.org, scroll down the page and click on "Life and Times". Val Zavala>> It seems as though every time you open a paper, you're reading a story about a young person in serious trouble with sex, drugs or serious crime. That begs the question: where are their parents? For a frank discussion, we brought three outspoken people together over coffee. Earl Paysinger is the Deputy Chief for the Los Angeles Police Department. John Hill is President of a mentoring program. And Joe Hicks is with CommUnity Advocates, Inc., an organization that encourages innovative approaches to race relations. The topic? Bad parenting. Joe Hicks>> Bill Cosby said some things last year that got himself in trouble. He talked about a lot of things, in fact. In essence, he's saying some folks just shouldn't be parents. They don't have the wherewithal. They just don't have the ability to be parents and there needs to be some responsibility when you father a child that you should at least understand what that means. You know, he knows all that, yet home boy came down pretty hard. You're looking at me like um-hum. Earl Paysinger>> But listen, I hate to disagree with Bill Cosby, but let me just disagree with Bill Cosby. I mean, the fact of the matter is, we assume that because people go through the natural biological essence of childbirth that automatically makes them parents and that's not the case. I mean, the fact is, when you have somebody, a mother in the home who's under the influence of some mind-altering narcotic, the father's in the penitentiary, and you leave the whole parenting cycle up to a grandparent in the home who's already raised five kids, I mean, where does that come from? Where does that come from? Where does parenting come from? John Hill>> You can't stop people from being parents. That will not happen. People are going to have children. The question is, are they capable of raising those children? Joe Hicks>> But are they hearing from responsible sources the notion of individual responsibility for your acts? Should there be some kind of campaign, in fact, to talk about what that means so that a twelve or thirteen year old is hearing these messages? If I'm going to have a kid, here's what that means in terms of responsibility for me. I can't just run off and forget that there's this responsibility. John Hill>> I think what we need to take a look at is this. We know that there are problems with parenting. We also know that, in the African American community specifically, there are problems with fathers. There are not enough fathers in the homes to help raise children. Take myself. We've set up an organization called The Father's Heart. Joe Hicks>> I think we got to be careful, though. I want you to come back and talk about this. I want to hear what you do. But we got to be careful so we don't give the impression here that only poor inner city folks are bad parents. John Hill>> No, that's not what we're saying. Joe Hicks>> We got this case in Orange County where three kids raped a young woman. The father of one of these kids, in fact, was an Orange County deputy sheriff. So clearly, bad parents come in all classes and races and all that. We know that. John Hill>> Well, we're not talking about just bad parenting. We're talking about the absence of fathers and why children are behaving the way they're behaving. That's what I'm talking about. I'm not talking about bad parenting. I am talking about there's a problem with children out in our community that this community must take some kind of help to help these children become adults. If that does not happen, you're going to continue to have the problems and you will continue to feed the Juvenile Halls and the prison system unless you take some responsibility. Earl Paysinger>> The problem that I have, though, when we talk about that is whose responsibility is it? John Hill>> It's the community's responsibility. It is my responsibility to help raise young men to being men who don't have fathers. That's my responsibility. Joe Hicks>> All of us have indicated there clearly is a problem out here, yet when people like Cosby -- I know you disagree with home boy -- when people raise those red flags, people say, oh, he's blaming the victim. Bill shouldn't have said that. So the message doesn't get received very well in these cases. John Hill>> Because he's raised the red flag without a solution. We know that there are problems with bad parenting. Joe Hicks>> But isn't the first thing, though, to raise the alarm and say there's a problem here? John Hill>> No. The problem when you're Bill Cosby is to raise the issue with a solution. Everybody knows that there's a problem. I know that there's a problem with no fathers in the homes. Sometimes just raising -- Joe Hicks>> -- I know you're doing some stuff. John Hill>> I'm raising a solution and that is to bring in men who have raised children to help raise the children. Joe Hicks>> I've given you all kinds of chance to talk about what it is you do, man, because I know you do some stuff. I know what he does. He puts people in jail. What do you do? John Hill>> And I'm trying to keep them from going to jail (laughter). What we do, we have a group called The Father's Heart. We have cell phone dads. Twenty-four hours a day, any child in Los Angeles County can call and talk to a father figure anywhere in Los Angeles County through a 1-800 number. What we're trying to do is be the surrogate father to children who don't have fathers. We know that that is the huge problem. We know that there's a solution to that. Joe Hicks>> I find that, in one way, heroic and, in another way, pathetic that there's a need for that kind of organization. John Hill>> There was a need for the civil rights movement in the 1950s when you had a country that's been around for two hundred years, but that's another story. Earl Paysinger>> I know John has done a lot of good work in the organization, but the problem that I see is not the implementation of these types of programs, but in sustaining these types of programs and getting other people involved. Because let me tell you something, being a parent doesn't mean being a parent today and tomorrow. Being a parent means being a parent next year and the year after that. You know, it's interesting because, over the last several years, I've had an opportunity to visit a lot of different juvenile detention facilities and every one of those young men, when it came time for me to leave, you get literally the tugging at the sleeves and the wanting to be embraced. See, that sends a powerful message that you just can't come there for this quick-fix, microwave, get in there and hit it now and leave. This thing happens over a lifetime. Joe Hicks>> So then, what do we do to begin to turn this around? I mean, it's clear this is a devastating urban community. What is it we need to do? John Hill>> We can't just sit around and talk about it. You've got to get involved. If you know that this is a serious issue in your community, you've got to get involved and you can get involved in a lot of ways. Joe Hicks>> The scope of this is so large that it's going to take something much larger. We're talking about a pandemic here. Is this going to take something that is larger than our ability to just get engaged and nurturing and the kinds of heroic efforts like you? I guess what we're saying here is that we need to begin to find some way to launch campaigns to really begin to deal with this problem. Earl Paysinger>> Look at what we're dealing with the tobacco industry. We made a conscious and a deliberate social choice to educate not a community, but an entire ecosystem of individuals and now we virtually don't have issues involving cancer, at least as it relates to tobacco. If the community has the will to do it, we can get it done. John Hill>> But you got to do it regardless of race. Joe Hicks>> We're running out of time and running out of coffee (laughter) and, without coffee, there ain't no conversation. So we have to take this up again. We're going to get out of here. I want to thank both you guys for coming in and having this chat today. We'll see you next time. Announcer>> To send a comment or a question to our program, you can reach us by mail at this address: Life and Times 4401 Sunset Blvd. Los Angeles, California 90027 You can also call our viewer comment line (323) 953-5555) or contact us the fast way by e-mail at kcet.org. Val Zavala>> You may not know his name, but if you watch movies, you definitely know Hans Zimmer's music. For the past two decades, he has scored dozens of movies and he's won every major award in film and music. His latest project is "The Da Vinci Code" directed by Ron Howard. Vicki Curry shows us how Hans Zimmer creates the sounds that Hollywood loves. [Film Clip] Vicki Curry>> His music is as epic as the images it accompanies. [Film Clip] Vicki Curry>> Or as intimate as the moment requires. [Film Clip] Vicki Curry>> These are the sounds of Hans Zimmer, film composer and creator of sonic landscapes as varied as the people and places on the screen. Hans Zimmer>> Every time somebody comes with a project, it's a whole new world of adventure in habit you describe and place. You get to go on these journeys. You get to go and visit centuries. You know, you get to live in a fantasy world. [Film Clip] Vicki Curry>> Hans Zimmer has scored over a hundred films covering the spectrum in scopes and style. He's particularly known for his innovative use of synthesized music. Hans Zimmer>> I just thought computers and synthesizing was a better tool. They are technologies just like a violin is technology. I mean, if it makes a gorgeous noise, use it. You know, if it can tell a story, if it looks like it's appropriate, use it. Vicki Curry>> His interest in synthesizers began early in his career. Born in Germany, Zimmer made his way to England and joined The Buggles, the group behind the first music video aired on MTV. [Film Clip] Hans Zimmer>> I instantly got bored with the whole thing because the problem is, as soon as you have a hit record, the record company really asks you to repeat yourself ad nauseam. I love film. When I was about twelve, I saw "Once Upon A Time In The West". I snuck into the cinema even though I was definitely not allowed. It just blew me away and that idea of music and pictures together sort of stuck with me. You know, you can have all these lights and colors and tell a story with music and images. Vicki Curry>> He made the switch to film music with the help of composer, Stanley Myers, but Zimmer soon broke out on his own and his career took off when he came to Los Angeles to score "Rain Man". Hans Zimmer>> We actually made a rule up right at the beginning which was whenever you see people driving in a car across America, either jangling guitars or the fingers sweeping, so no jangling guitars or no strings (laughter). Vicki Curry>> His next big picture was "Driving Miss Daisy", a completely electronic score. [Film Clip] Hans Zimmer>> I originally set out to write a big orchestral score for "Driving Miss Daisy" and I just realized that it became a sort of heavy thing which I think young people love the classical music with older people and I realized I was killing the actors. I thought, hang on, she's feisty, she needs something, you know, so that's why we came to this little thing, this little pulse, this little nagging thing going on all the time which comes straight out of hip-hop or electronic or whatever. Vicki Curry>> Zimmer hasn't shied away from using orchestras in his other scores or whatever sound suits the film. Hans Zimmer>> I tend to read scripts less and less and have the director tell me the story because you get what his vision is. [Film Clip] Hans Zimmer>> But at the end of the day, I think my job is to surprise them, to write something that I think they can't possibly think of themselves. That's the job. You know, otherwise they can do it themselves. I never write anything down. I do most of my writing in my head and a lot of it happens in the tub at home or, you know, whatever. I always think, you know, if I can't remember it by the time I get to the studio, it can't have been any good. I never approach film as a musician, really. I always approach it as a filmmaker. I always approach it from the story and stuff like that because that's what interests me. It just so happens that the language I speak is music. I mean, here you are sitting across from a German who's trying to sort his English out somehow or the other when really what I know is, if we could just speak in music, we'd be having a much better time here (laughter). Vicki Curry>> Before he gets around to writing, Zimmer spends months and sometimes years researching the subjects of his films. Hans Zimmer>> I can give you a thousand theories on every little nook and cranny of "Gladiator" or "The Last Samurai". You know, I spent forever trying to research Japanese culture, Japanese music, and surrounding myself with pictures and such. So I got something that just pops into my head, you know. Try to write your melodies from yourself, you know, informed by Japanese aesthetics, at which point I went "What does that mean?" You know, I'm giving myself even more punishment. So the second thing that popped into my head which was slightly simpler was hang on, they hired you to invent, so invent. Stop with all that other stuff and write from the heart. It might not be the universal language, but there is something. There is a common humanity that we can all understand, that we can get to with music. Vicki Curry>> Zimmer works out of a state of the art studio in Santa Monica that is also home to many young musicians. Called "Media Ventures", it's a kind of cooperative of composers sharing resources and ideas. It's his version of the mentoring he received in Europe. Hans Zimmer>> That vent of apprenticeship didn't really exist in Los Angeles, so I really put this place together with friends who were musicians, composers, you know, and try to get them off the ground in one way or the other. The other thing is, composing is something for lonely persons. You know, usually you just sit there and knock your head against a wall and hope things happen. It's great having other composers around, especially because they come in and they're merciless. "Oh, Hans, you can do better than that" or you walk into their room and they're doing something and you go, "Oh, this is great. I'd better crawl back into my room and see if -- you know, throw everything out." Vicki Curry>> And what is the purpose of music in film? Hans Zimmer>> It's a question I find impossible to answer. A man walks down the street and you hear music. Why do you hear music? What's it supposed to tell you? It can tell you things. [Film Clip] Hans Zimmer>> I have no idea how this works. I have no idea how to write a score. I have no idea how to say anything in the scene that is remotely meaningful. You know, how am I going to get through this? Most of the time, you know, you're just desperate. It's only twelve notes. That's all we've got and everybody seems to have played all of them. Beyond that, you're trying to actually describe something indescribable. It's this funny process that I can never quite work out, but there comes that moment when you suddenly go, hang on, this is right and literally you will not have an argument from anybody. [Film Clip] Val Zavala>> And that's our program. I'm Val Zavala. For everyone at Life and Times, thanks for watching. We'll see you next time. 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. Sponsored in part by:  | |
|
Home | Features | Arts | Health/Science | OC Edition | L&T Blog | Archives | About Us | Contact Us | Privacy Policy | Terms of Use |