Source:
Adults
Author:
jonny graham
Title:
Exploitation of Dolphins.
In the lonely glow of some small hour revelation can be clutched out of the daydream channel by hunched men who tug their beards and set their jaws like idle anvils. But they dream on and do nothing about it, whereas it occurs to me that I could write a novel brim full of lurid realism concerning the exploitation of dolphins. The central character might be a journalist of the investigative type, young and gung-ho and full of enthusiastic naivety, concerned about conservation, shocked by the obscene exploitation and the horrific interaction between south-sea islanders and the dolphin desperation. He would be partnered by a somewhat cynical National Geographic photographer who is only in it for the money, but by about page 150 he starts to be concerned, starts to see that the slaughter of dolphins is not funny. There would be the involvement of an animal loving woman, and from her point of view he begins to understand and is shocked by the innocent nobility of these persecuted sea-mammals as they are herded onto sun-kissed beaches and hacked at with rusty blades powered by sinewy native arms, and left to flap hopelessly in their own bloody coagulations, and he feels rage as he looks into their vulnerable and unblinking eyes, and all this in a so-called paradise where need is greater than any regulation. And so the young journalist would become stronger in character because of this harrowing experience, he would now be stripped of the charm that made him so attractive in the first 120 pages. And the photographer would be drinking a lot and would now be argumentative and difficult. And there would be a power struggle, of sorts, between them, concerning the girl of course, so I would introduce another woman into the plot to kind of even it up a bit, or spice it up a lot, the possibilities are endless. So, lets see - that would be four goody types, trying to somehow save dolphins, against a band, or tribe, of machete wielding south-sea islanders who kill dolphins to survive. Nice moral dilemma developing here. And there would have to be a protagonist murder incident, and perhaps some police corruption or bribery, and an unhappy love-affair scenario smouldering in the background as a kind of sub-plot. And there would be a tropical storm, blowing over the coconut palms, nice and dramatic. But none of that would do anything to help the plight of the exploited dolphins - remember them ? About 400 pages would do it I reckon. But I would need a 6 week trip to a tropical paradise for the purposes of research, and to experience the atmosphere of the whole thing, and I might even actually really see dolphins being exploited. But the investment would definitely pay off. The book would be a hit, and there would be a film, and other spin-offs, and I could donate a percentage to dolphin welfare or something equally worthwhile. And I could start acting smug because I would have helped save dolphins from extinction, I think. Actually, I don't know if any of that is true. I might just be tugging at my beard in some small hour and daydreaming again. There are probably more direct and effective ways to save dolphins , if I really wanted to. And writing a book about dolphin exploitation would be such a thankless chore anyway, I mean, who really cares about dolphins, alive or dead ? So I'll just hunch over this lonely keyboard and write a poem about it instead.
Published on writebuzz®:
Adults
> Poetry
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