By Ron Wilkinson Nov 5, 2009, 15:34 GMT
What are all those crosses on the highway, who puts them there and how do I build my own? An inventive documentary that pries open a Pandora’s Box of emotion
Oscar nominated Liam Neeson (“Schindler’s List,” also “Michael Collins” and “Kinsey”) narrates this fascinating study into something completely different. Have you ever wondered about those crosses that show up along America’s (and the world’s) highways to commemorate victims of fatal accidents? Well, if not, this is the film for you. Because after this film you will never look at those innocuous crosses again.
On the face of it the crosses are erected by state or national authorities as cautionary symbols. The idea is that when a driver passes by one he or she drives a little slower and pays a little more attention to the road, thinking the next cross erected could be for them. But in many locations the simple small wooden cross is hardly the end of it. Families add this and that, flowers, symbols, old tires and even entire cars on structural steel supports to further commemorate their loved one.
The fact is that, unbeknownst to many, a very determined lawyer is fighting the right of families to add to these state sponsored memorials and even fighting the practice of the state erecting the4 memorials at all. The basis for the argument against what would seem to be a harmless practice is that there is neither the precedent, obligation nor right for public officials to appropriate public land for private memorials. More to the point there is even less justification for private parties to add to the state-sponsored memorials, which they often do, and no basis in law whatsoever for any private person to erect such a memorial on their own just because the site marks the location of the death of a loved one in a traffic related accident.
At first though one might ascribe the establishment of the mini-memorials to a reminder to keep the eyes on the road. But wait a minute, what if the modest symbols are topped with sculptures worthy of the Museum of Modern art? It doesn’t take too many dozens of flowers to create an eye-catching roadside hazard that has as much potential to lure subsequent drivers to their death as it does to warn drivers to keep their eyes on the road.
Also, as one driver says, “I drive that way to work every day and I don’t like driving through a cemetery.” Come to think of it, isn’t that what cemeteries are for? To have a place to build memorials to loved ones so that we can focus our thoughts and prayers in contemplative meditation? Do we really want our drivers dropping into deep contemplation on the freeway at 80 miles per hour?
Probably not.
If people want memorials they should build them in the location for which they were intended. That location is the cemetery, not the highway. It is as pathetic as it is unlawful to seize public property for the purpose of publicizing one’s dead friends and relatives.
As far as a criticism of this film the interviews were very one-sided. It appears as if the film makers interviewed twenty people on the subject and when it came to the “pro-memorial” folks included the nuttiest three in the film. It would have been refreshing to have heard a couple interviews with persons who didn’t care one way or the other, which probably includes 90% of Americans. The questions of choosing the correct religious symbol for any one of a variety of religions was also left uninvestigated as was the question of which states/countries give the family of the deceased any choice at all and which do not.
All in all a fun indie film about one of those thing that you would never think about unless you went to your local film festival. Viva NYIFF!
Directed by: J. Michael Kipikash and Melissa Villanueva
Written by: J. Michael Kipikash
Release: No release as of this dateMPAA: Not Rated Runtime: 48 minutes Country: USALanguage: EnglishColor: Color
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