I’ve been meaning to talk about The Dry Land screening, and here it is, one week later. America Ferrera stars and executive produces this gritty story about soldiers returning from war in Iraq (or was it Iran?).  I went to the web site but they negelected to offer press materials or a synapsis for me to steal from, so it’s a little tougher to bang this out.  Maya Entertainment might want to hire a PR rep to consult them on this stuff..

Anyway, the premise is the soldier comes back home to El Paso, Texas, to his wife, dog, family, and the dilemna of picking up where he left off. He takes an awful job at a slaughter house, where my vegan friends will be thrilled to hear they do such a good job at showing the reality that I considered for a few moments if I could ever put meat in my mouth again. (I could.)

Anyway it turns out our hero has Post Tramatic Stress Disorder (PTSD.)  In the discussion that followed our screening with Film Independent LA (FIND) we heard from the cast one of the stats that more soldiers have returned and committed suicide then have died in the war.  Something needs to be done, and hopefully this film will spark more discussions about helping our military re-adjust to civilian lives.

The story touched me, as my own father fought in Vietnam and ended up not only with PTSD but with sinus cancer from Agent Orange, which might have helped exacerbate the issue. He’s in remission now, but for a time I had to avoid going out in public with him altogether, because our family didn’t understand why my father would lose his shit for the tiniest reasons, like if a young hostess at a restaurant showed us to a table rather than a booth.  Overreacting was his MO all through our lives.  It was easier to just stay home.

Now that the VA has helped diagnose him, albeit late in life, I can try to keep a sense of humor and explain his crazy behavior to others in a way, that I hope, both justifies his behavior and perhaps earns him some respect as a solider who once served our country. I just tell them, don’t pay attention to him, he’s “Crazy Neil” and he has PTSD, and thanks to films like The Dry Land, more and more people understand, at least a little bit.