Alex Salam

It feels as if America is reaching a moment. An inflection point. One that could tip into a potentially irretrievable future. Of moral bankruptcy, in the absence of change. We see this in its gun violence, its opioid crisis, its go-all-out pursuit of capitalism, its none-for-all healthcare system, its mass incarceration and execution of its citizens, its addiction to fame and celebrity, the myths it spins, its past, and its political polarisation. The seeds for this were undoubtedly sown long ago, some perhaps in the 1980s, when Bright Star is set, when the creep of political polarisation began in earnest. This story was born from me witnessing America’s troubles.

It unsettles me to observe the most powerful country on Earth suffer through these issues whilst having the overwhelming means to tackle them, if only it chose to. I find this a disquieting and upsetting contradiction. As a doctor, I’ve witnessed suffering and death in countries that don’t have the economic resources to help its citizens as they would wish to. This script is a response to America's current state and the failure of its moral duty towards its citizens, despite its wealth and power. It places my feelings within the context of a character, the Warden, who faces a moment, a decision, in which his identity is irreversibly lost. The principle theme of Bright Star therefore can be summarised as ‘America corrupts the soul’, as it tracks the journey of a moral man, Warden Coleman, who ultimately commits a moral atrocity as a result of the weight of America’s nature upon him.

Within this theme, lies a multitude of sub-themes and subjects that are central to America’s historical and modern identity, such as ‘America is guilty of mass murder’, ‘The crimes of the individual are born from America’s lust for violence’, ‘The platforms that the media give to certain individuals renders the media complicit in the nature of those individuals’, ‘Our current obsession with celebrity revels in superficiality and soundbites’, ‘As a nation, America is losing its integrity’. Whilst some of the themes are framed as statements, others are presented more as questions, such as ‘Where does the boundary between free will and determinism lie?’, ‘To what extent can we hold a nation responsible for the nature and actions of its citizens?’, “If a moral individual commits a moral atrocity for the greater good, do they cease being moral?”. This is therefore a challenging film with many ideas and themes that are drawn to the surface over the course of the film.

Bright Star is subversive, heavy in dialogue and visual symbolism, and with a touch of the supernatural. The film relies on character, dialogue, and symbolism to express its ideas and themes. The main theme ‘America corrupts the soul’ is critically dependent on symbolism. Structurally this film is unusual as the story gradually morphs its focus towards the Warden, but this is essential in subverting the audience’s expectations. America has a lust for blood, whether that be in its obsession with true crime or the lengths it goes to to execute its citizens. By engaging the audience with a story that initially focuses on a mass murderer, then gradually drawing them towards the Warden, the audience become complicit in that lust. By the end of the film, I want the audience to feel conflicted, terrified, and in awe of America’s ability to corrupt an honest individual.

Whilst this film doesn’t offer a solution to America’s problems, my aim is to make the audience feel something they aren’t used to feeling. And in that feeling, I hope to inspire people’s thoughts and dialogue in trying to reach for a different version of America’s future.