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Life & Times Transcript

10/24/06

Val Zavala>> Tonight on Life and Times --

The abortion question. Californians voted against parental notification a year ago, so why is it back on the ballot?

Martha Swiller>> They are looking for every different ways to limit a woman's access to abortion and other reproductive health care.

Nora Urrea>> This proposition is not about limiting. It's about notification of parents, parental rights.

Val Zavala>> And then, they have big stars and big budgets, but one critic says that even fans of small movies should give blockbusters a chance.

These stories and more next 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.

Val Zavala>> It's a simple question, but then again, it deals with abortion which means it's anything but simple. Should parents be required to be informed before their daughter has an abortion? That question was answered by Californians in a previous election. They turned the idea down. Well, now they're being asked again in the form of Proposition 85. Hena Cuevas takes a look at both sides of the Parent's Right to Know Initiative.

Hena Cuevas>> With only a short time left before the general election, this group is getting ready to hit the streets. They're campaigning against Proposition 85, the Parent's Right to Know Initiative.

>> "Our focusing this afternoon is saying No to 85 and why we're saying no is because we don't want to endanger any of our teenagers."

Hena Cuevas>> Proposition 85 would require that parents be informed before a daughter under the age of eighteen has an abortion. Right now in California, any girl, no matter how young, can get an abortion without her parents' consent or knowledge. Proposition 85 would change that. Seventeen year old Lydia Matta says that many of her friends are worried that it will pass.

Lydia Matta>> Some of the girls are like freaked out because I know some of my friends have had abortions without their parents knowing, so it's like, oh, my God, what are we going to do? So they're definitely against this.

Hena Cuevas>> That fear also concerns Martha Swiller of Planned Parenthood, one of the places teens go for information on sex, contraception and abortions. Swiller is a mother of two young girls.

Martha Swiller>> I'm going to do everything that's in my power as a parent. It's my responsibility to make sure that my daughters would talk to me if they were faced with an unintended pregnancy. But not all families have good communication and no law can mandate good family communications.

Nora Urrea>> Well, it's not that they're forcing communications, but I think law should encourage family communication.

Hena Cuevas>> Nora Urrea is on the other side of the issue. She's the mother of seventeen year old, Olivia, and both are firm supporters of Proposition 85.

Nora Urrea>> Why is it that the only medical procedure or any procedure that a child can get without parental involvement, notification and consent is abortion?

Hena Cuevas>> Proposition 85 would require a forty-eight hour waiting period from the time the parents are informed to the time an abortion can be performed. Urrea says that these two extra days would stop a scared teen from making a rash decision.

Nora Urrea>> So waiting is an important aspect to this proposition because you have time to think about the consequences of your decision. Not just the physical, but the emotional, the moral, the legal, all of those aspects that need to be carefully considered.

Olivia Urrea>> Well, they'll be acting out of fear, most of them. They'll be like, oh, my gosh, I'm pregnant. I have to go get an abortion. I don't want my parents to know. But if the parents had to know, they'd have to think about it and they'd have to be able -- they'd have more time to make a rational decision and be more aware of what the consequences are of having an abortion.

Hena Cuevas>> But Lydia says her friends don't see it that way. That's why she's walking through neighborhoods to persuade voters to reject parental notification.

Lydia Matta>> I think there's going to be a lot of girls more scared of their parents and getting hurt.

Hena Cuevas>> The law would provide exceptions to the notification rule. If the pregnancy was caused by rape or incest or if the girl fears violence at home, she can then get a waiver, but she has to go before a judge. But Swiller is still not persuaded. She says that involving the courts could make matters worse for pregnant teens.

Martha Swiller>> What Proposition 85 would do is narrow their choices. It would say talk to your parents or go to a judge. It just won't work. It will scare teens away from getting the help and the timely safe medical care that they need.

Hena Cuevas>> How ironic is it that a parent needs to be notified when the daughter is to be given an aspirin; however, they're not notified when she's about to get a very serious procedure like an abortion?

Martha Swiller>> There's not many teens that I know who are afraid to ask their parents for an aspirin. We think that a teen who is faced with this situation should be urged to talk to her parents, but if it's unsafe for her to do so, she needs a safety net there.

Nora Urrea>> Someone has to assist the minor in this very difficult situation in her life and we're just saying that the parents are the ones that are most indicated to be the persons counseling that troubled teen.

Hena Cuevas>> This isn't the first time California has tried to have a measure giving parents the right to know. Actually, twenty years ago, there was a law that required parents to give their permission before their daughter got an abortion. But ten years ago in 1997, it was struck down. The Supreme Court basically said it violated a minor's right to privacy. To make sure the law can't be challenged in court, Proposition 85 is being presented as a constitutional amendment. Also, it requires only that parents be informed, not that they give their permission.

Nora Urrea>> No one is saying she can't. We're just saying that, before she makes that very important decision in her life, the people who care for her most should be her parents.

Hena Cuevas>> She says keeping parents or guardians in the dark limits their ability to help a teenage girl through a difficult situation.

Nora Urrea>> It's such a major procedure that there could be many complications and could even lead to death and the parents are completely unaware. How could her best interest be served in a situation like that? It seems to me illogical.

Hena Cuevas>> This isn't the first time that voters have been asked the question. Last November, it was called Proposition 73 and was part of a special election. It was defeated by a six-point margin. Swiller sees this latest effort as an extension of a larger attack on choice.

Martha Swiller>> They are looking for every different way to limit a woman's access to abortion and other reproductive health care.

Hena Cuevas>> Do you see this as the first step in limiting a woman's right to choose?

Martha Swiller>> Well, not the first. Unfortunately, we have many different battles on our hands with regard to a woman's right to choose and this is certainly one piece of that strategy that the anti-choice people have put onto our plates.

Nora Urrea>> This proposition is not about limiting. It's about notification of parents, parental rights, so I don't see the connection. I mean, really it's about parental notification and helping your daughter make the best decision for her.

Hena Cuevas>> Thirty-four other states already have parental notification laws. This November, voters will have yet another chance to determine whether parents have the right to be informed about their daughter's choice. I'm Hena Cuevas for Life and Times.

Val Zavala>> We'd love to know what you think about the Parent's Right to Know Initiative and you can post your opinion on our Blog. Just go to kcet.org and click on the Life and Times Blog. And if you'd like more information about all the initiatives, you can go to Secretary of State's website which is voterguide.ss.ca.gov.

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>> Southern California lost a very special person recently. Her name was Mayme Clayton and she died of cancer at age eighty-three. But this librarian of very modest means spent her life amassing an impressive collection of African American memorabilia and we thought this would be an appropriate time to open up the Life and Times Vault and look back at the visit I made to Mayme Clayton several years ago.

Val Zavala>> Hello. Hi, Mayme. How are you?

Mayme Clayton>> I'm fine. Nice to see you.

Val Zavala>> You too. That's a pretty gold blouse.

Mayme Clayton>> Thank you. Come on in.

Val Zavala>> Thank you. So we came to see this legendary collection of yours.

Mayme Clayton>> Okay. Just push the door together there.

Val Zavala>> And I hear it's, what, out in the back?

Mayme Clayton>> Oh, yes. We have to go out in the back so we can see everything.

Val Zavala>> Well, you lead the way. I'll follow you. You have lived here a long time. I can tell.

Mayme Clayton>> Yeah, we bought this place in 1946 and we had to do a lot of remodeling to it.

Val Zavala>> So you moved away for a short time up to View Park?

Mayme Clayton>> Yeah, I stayed up there for quite a few years and then I decided this house was paid for, so I moved back down here.

Val Zavala>> Now did this used to be the garage here or is this a little house?

Mayme Clayton>> This is a double garage and I converted it into the library. I had a guy put the shelves in here for all the books. I've collected all of these things.

Val Zavala>> Do you know how many books you have here? You counted? (laughter)

Mayme Clayton>> (Laughter) Well, I think it's close to about twenty thousand.

Val Zavala>> Now, Avery, you're her son, right?

Avery Clayton>> Yes.

Val Zavala>> Now when did your mom start collecting things? Do you recall when you were a kid, did she like to --

Avery Clayton>> -- well, when we were little, she was collecting.

Val Zavala>> Now what's some of your favorite items that you've collected that you like really value?

Mayme Clayton>> My really favorite one is Phillis Wheatley. I have a book.

Val Zavala>> Phillis Wheatley? Do you have it here?

Mayme Clayton>> Yes.

Val Zavala>> Can you show it to us?

Mayme Clayton>> Sure.

Val Zavala>> Oh, great. Show it to us.

Mayme Clayton>> It's in here. Is it okay if we go into the other room?

Val Zavala>> By all means. You go right ahead. We'll follow you.

Mayme Clayton>> Phillis Wheatley was brought to this country from Africa as a slave at the age of nine years old. The Wheatleys lived in Boston and they saw her and they decided to buy her, purchase her. They purchased her and they taught her how to read and how to write.

Val Zavala>> She like wrote her own autobiography? Look at this.

Mayme Clayton>> It's some poems she wrote.

Val Zavala>> Oh, I almost don't want to hold this. 1773?

Mayme Clayton>> Yes. She signed it. This copy is signed by Phillis Wheatley.

Val Zavala>> Beautiful. So this is a collection of poems that she wrote.

Mayme Clayton>> Right.

Val Zavala>> Now what other things do you like especially in your collection?

Mayme Clayton>> I have this book. This is a book that was written by Booker T. Washington. Have you ever heard of him? (laughter)

Val Zavala>> (Laughter) I've heard of him. "Black Belt Diamonds".

Mayme Clayton>> Yes. He signed it.

Val Zavala>> Oh, my gosh. 1898. July 30, 1898.

Avery Clayton>> This is Martin Luther King's "Stride Toward Freedom". If you'll notice, that's his signature there.

Val Zavala>> Oh, that's valuable.

Mayme Clayton>> Yes, yes, it is.

Avery Clayton>> Alex Haley, who wrote "Roots", became a very good friend of my mother before his death and this is his signature here. He inscribed it to her.

Val Zavala>> Well, look at this. "For the Western -- yeah, read that for us.

Avery Clayton>> "For the Western States Black Research Center, my brothers and sisters, I deeply share your sentiments that our history should be preserved. Sincerely, Alex Haley."

Val Zavala>> That is really nice. So did you meet him, Mayme?

Mayme Clayton>> Oh, yes. I knew him very well.

Val Zavala>> Was he nice guy?

Mayme Clayton>> Very nice, very nice.

Val Zavala>> And you also have some other famous authors that have signed, right?

Mayme Clayton>> Oh, yes, yes.

Val Zavala>> Let's see what you have.

Mayme Clayton>> Okay. I have some other books here that I would like to show you. I'm sure you have heard of Langston Hughes.

Val Zavala>> Everyone's heard of him. That's amazing. Langston Hughes.

Mayme Clayton>> Yes. He was a very good friend of mine.

Avery Clayton>> "The Big Sea".

Val Zavala>> Carmel, January 20, 1941, Langston Hughes, and the book is "The Big Sea".

Mayme Clayton>> It's like an autobiography.

Val Zavala>> That's wonderful. And what is this one? Oh, this is pretty.

Mayme Clayton>> Now this in first edition only. The poetry was written by Paul Lawrence Dunbar.

Avery Clayton>> Feel the cover.

Val Zavala>> Isn't that pretty. Oh, it's almost like embossed.

Mayme Clayton>> Paul Lawrence Dunbar wrote the verses. The Hampton Camera Club took the photographs and Barbara Armstrong did the decorations around it. But the verses are so beautiful.

Avery Clayton>> And they're written in black dialect.

Val Zavala>> Oh, really? So there are verses and photographs. It's hard to write in dialect.

Mayme Clayton>> Yeah. Hard to read it too.

Avery Clayton>> Actually, Paul Lawrence Dunbar is really popular in Japan.

Val Zavala>> And, Avery, you have a favorite one too?

Avery Clayton>> Oh, yeah. This is the one book that I love. This one was published in 1826 and it's called "The Negro's Complaint". It's a poem. Actually, it's "The Negro's Complaint: a Poem" to which is added "Pity for Poor Africans" by William Calpert.

Mayme Clayton>> Calpert was an abolitionist.

Val Zavala>> Oh, he was.

Avery Clayton>> And the thing that I love about this is all these little illustrations here. They're all hand-painted. Now what they did was print them in black and white and then an artist went in and hand-painted each one. It's just a beautiful little work of art.

Val Zavala>> Now how did you get into library work?

Mayme Clayton>> Well, actually, I went to apply for a job over at the Doheny Library and they had an ad in the paper. When I got there, the guy said we were advertising for a man, but I guess we can take you (laughter), so I got the job and I started working at the library.

Val Zavala>> They couldn't say that today, you know. They'd get in trouble (laughter).

Mayme Clayton>> (Laughter) Well, anyway, they gave me the job.

Val Zavala>> What's going to happen to all this, you hope?

Avery Clayton>> Well, you know, we've got to get it out of here. You know, that's the real concern because we've been really fortunate in that there hasn't been any damage to the collection. Our goal is to establish a world-class library-based museum and cultural center. We're going to do that here in Southern California.

You know, we want to make this collection available. This is a real treasure and I am so hugely proud of what my mom has done. You know, she's actually saved black history and how important is that? You know, that's like a huge thing to do. You know, she had a vision.

Val Zavala>> Well, what would you like your legacy to be? What do you want to know that you've done?

Mayme Clayton>> I just want to know that we're passing this information, all these things that I have gathered, to future generations. It's not always for white kids. It's for any kid, you know? It's lessons here for anybody. Some of the same things that our kids go through, other kids are going through those same problems. If we can help each other and work together to make our children feel proud, I think that's what we want to do.

Val Zavala>> The good news? A more appropriate place has been found to store Mayme Clayton's collection, a former courthouse in Culver City. Her son hopes to raise seven million dollars to turn the entire place into a Mayme Clayton Library, Museum and Cultural Center.

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.

Val Zavala>> Movie studios spend hundreds of millions of dollars a year not just making movies, but convincing you and me to go see them. But if you're like me, the bigger the ad, the less likely I am to see the movie. So what could change my mind? Perhaps Los Angeles Times movie critic, Kenneth Turan. Vicki Curry talked with Kenneth Turan who has a new book about blockbusters worth seeing.

Vicki Curry>> Kenneth Turan, your book is subtitled "A Celebration of a Certain Kind of Blockbuster". What do you mean? What kind of blockbuster?

Kenneth Turan>> Well, you know, every blockbuster is not intended for really adults. I mean, I think we tend to think that Hollywood is mostly making films for adults, but every once in a while, they make a film for a younger audience. In fact, it's the reverse. You know, the kind of blockbusters that are intended for kind of intelligent adults who are looking for entertainment is very rare and I really think it's becoming kind of an endangered species in the movie world.

Vicki Curry>> Why did you decide to put this book together?

Kenneth Turan>> I wanted to do two things with the book. I wanted to call attention to this. I wanted to let people know kind of like with a passenger pigeon that, unless we pay attention, we're going to lose these movies. These are big studio movies. These are mostly movies that have a big budget and big stars and these are intended, you know, to hopefully captivate everybody. You know, these are the ones that I think have succeeded and they work for all audiences and, you know, don't insult the intelligence of adults.

Vicki Curry>> So you break the films down by genre and the first one you start out with is action-thriller. So what are your favorites in that category?

Kenneth Turan>> Well, one of the ones that I really like because it kind of came out of nowhere is "The Bourne Identity", which sounds like a standard kind of thriller that the studio can do, but it had a really good cast. It had Matt Damon as the hero and Franka Potente as the German woman who helps him. It's all really nicely directed by Doug Liman. It's just smart, it's fun, it's very exciting.

But one of the ones I especially like is "The Inside Man". I partly like it because its director is Spike Lee. Spike Lee has not usually made genre films. He makes kind of serious drama.

[Film Clip]

Kenneth Turan>> And to have him do kind of a thriller about a bank robbery and a master criminal, but yet to bring his kind of concerns, his kind of societal issues, to kind of bring them in around the edges, I thought was really fascinating. He had the best of both worlds with that film. He had a good thriller and he had areas of adult concerns and managed to meld them seamlessly.

Vicki Curry>> The next category you tackle is comedy. What do you like there?

Kenneth Turan>> Oh, there are several that I really like. One film that I like is "Elf" because, again, it was unexpected. It was directed by John Favreau. I mean, it looked like it was just going to be some kind of silly movie, but it turned out to be very sweet and kind of very clever. It had Will Farrell, who's a great comic actor, and it's really one of the few recent Christmas films I can remember that has the potential to be a perennial film that people are going to want to watch every year or going to want to own and see it every Christmas.

The other film that I really like is "Notting Hill" because it's a classic star vehicle and it's just one of these really unlikely, improbable plots. Julia Roberts is cast as a big movie star, cute meets Hugh Grant, and they're both such really good movie stars. They both really understand the dimension of being a movie star and they just play it perfectly. It's just a really, really charming film.

Vicki Curry>> I notice you mentioned one of my favorites, "The Parent Trap".

Kenneth Turan>> I wanted to put "The Parent Trap" in there for two reasons. Number one because it's a remake and it's a remake that's every bit as good and maybe even better than the original, very smartly done. One of the reasons it works so well is that it's got a terrific performance by a young Lindsay Lohan. In this day and age, we think of Lindsay Lohan as, you know, tabloid fodder. It's great to see Lindsay Lohan really acting. It's a charming film. It's got all the things we remember from the original, but it's been updated. It's a pleasure to watch.

Vicki Curry>> Next up is the drama and romance genre. What do you suggest in that category?

Kenneth Turan>> The drama-romance categories are very strong, I think. One of the ones that comes to mind immediately is "L.A. Confidential". Curtis Hanson directed it from a James Ellroy novel. Every decade, it seems we get a great film noir and this is the film noir for the 1990s.

[Film Clip]

Kenneth Turan>> It really is a spectacular film, really well acted. It's got great characters, great settings, a great plot. Very wised-up, very noir, but very modern. Just a spectacular film.

I really couldn't do this category without Clint Eastwood who's become just a remarkable director. The one I want to talk about the most is "Mystic River". It's got a very strong plot. It's got spectacular acting. It comes from a very good novel by Dennis LeHane. It's really, really impeccably done. Every step is just as it should be. It's not overdone. It's just right. It's just a remarkable piece of work.

Because there is something that doesn't happen very often, I wanted to mention "The Truman Show" because comic actors are always trying to broaden themselves and I think no comic actor in recent memory has done it better than Jim Carrey in "The Truman Show". This is very sophisticated film, a film that couldn't work without Carrey's abilities as a comic actor, but yet it's very dramatic.

Vicki Curry>> You included animation as one of the categories. Why did you decide to include that when you were talking about adult films?

Kenneth Turan>> Well, you know, if you would have said to me twenty years ago that I was going to do a book like this and I would need a category of animation, I would have said you're out of your mind. I would have had you lie down and put a cold towel on your head. But animation has blossomed. You really have to start with the work of John Lassiter who runs Pixar. It's an article with him that adults don't need to be talked down to. "Toy Story" is one of the first ones that really as a feature worked that way and it was a revelation to people.

There's another Pixar film I want to mention called "The Incredibles" directed not by Lassiter, but by Brad Bird. This was really, I think, an attempt to go even further.

[Film Clip]

Kenneth Turan>> It really had dramatic elements and funny elements and romantic elements. It was a very realistic film which just happened to be animated and I think that was really a great step forward.

Vicki Curry>> And the last category you called "spectacle". Why did you decide to call it that? What does that mean?

Kenneth Turan>> One of the things we love about movies is that they're bigger than life. You know, believe me, whatever else is going to happen in my life, you're never going to find me watching a movie on a cell phone. It's just never going to happen. I don't even like to watch them at home. I want the big screen experience. I want to be enveloped in the darkness by a huge spectacle.

Again, we tend to think that these films are really often brainless, but they don't have to be. One of the ones that I think immediately of is "The Lord of the Rings", the three "Lord of the Rings" films. I think it's very unusual to have a man of the kind of sophistication of Peter Jackson, to put someone like that in charge of a hundred billion dollar-plus spectacle. It's unheard of.

One of the films I really wanted to mention was "Black Hawk Down" because it's a serious film based on real events, based on a best-selling book by Mark Bowden, but yet it's done in a way that's hugely involving and hugely entertaining. It's very realistic and you really feel like you're right there in the middle of the combat. Very exciting. It's got great actions and great drama, but yet it's about the nature of war. It's remarkable that it kind of hits on all the bases that way.

Vicki Curry>> Kenneth Turan, author of "Now in Theaters Everywhere", thank you so much for taking the time to speak with us.

Kenneth Turan>> Oh, it was a pleasure.

Val Zavala>> Once again, Kenneth Turan's new book is called "Now in Theaters Everywhere". 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.

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