Is there a way to safely reopen certain industries? We’ve got the evidence of how not to do it all around us. Having rushed into reopening Texas without strong safety protocols in place or a consistent, top-down message about the efficacy and essentialness of mask wearing and social distancing, Gov. Greg Abbott now has a catastrophe on his hands. We are living through that catastrophe.
The film industry is hoping it can do better. In this week’s cover story, Screens Editor Richard Whittaker takes a look at the planning that has gone into crafting The Safe Way Forward, a set of production guidelines for how to make a movie during a pandemic, and speaks with Austin favorite son Robert Rodriguez on the eve of his own movie shoot here in Austin – one of the first productions to roll camera since COVID-19 struck.
Saturday is the Fourth of July. The usual parties and parades will be absent, or at least muted. The backyard fireworks that torment all of our pets are inevitable – and so, too, is the talk from certain corners about rights – especially the right to not do this or that, despite the best advice of doctors and scientists.
What if this year, we reframed the conversation from rights to responsibilities? To a sense of community, and civic duty?
The stories we tell about America’s finest moments as a nation – they’re never about a bunch of people just looking out for number one. There is always collective action, collective sacrifice, in order to achieve a shared goal. Considering what some of our ancestors have endured, these are not big asks. Wear a mask. Stay six feet apart. Stay home if you’re sick. Cut out reckless behavior. Not big asks, but they matter. That is patriotism. And next year, when the parades return, we’ll have earned them.
Online This Week
Wisdom of Our Elders: Just shy of her 91st birthday, Austin treasure Miss Lavelle White released a new track, “Keep Your Mask On.” Good advice, Miss Lavelle.
In Plain Sight: Victoria Rossi previews an epic performance piece staged by 80 multidisciplinary artists meant to draw attention to immigration detention centers.
Supreme Court Corner: The U.S. Supreme Court swatted down hopes of universal vote by mail in Texas by declining to lift a stay on a federal court injunction that would have effectively allowed VBM in the state. One business day later, SCOTUS struck down a burdensome Louisiana abortion law, a major victory for reproductive rights that upheld precedent set in Texas’ historic 2016 Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt case.
Two Legends Lost: Staff writer Kevin Curtin eulogizes Austin Tejano singer, guitarist, and bandleader Manuel “Cowboy” Donley, who passed away Sunday at the age of 92. And in remembering Carl Reiner, dead at 98, Arts Editor Robert Faires revisits his 2014 interview with the trailblazing writer, director, and comedian.
Trouble in Marfa: “Faster Than Sound” columnist Rachel Rascoe checks in with Trouble in the Streets frontwoman Nnedi Agbaroji and drummer Bobby Slangen about their West Texas shoot for the Mad Max-esque video “Mad Science.”
This article appears in July 3 • 2020.
