NEW GODS AND OLD GLORY Treatment by Tim Viola

NEW GODS AND OLD GLORY

Tim Viola

Drama

Synopsis

A black town car, driven by a faceless man, follows BRYN and her quiet 11 year old son JONAH. They drive into their gated suburban community and face their worst nightmare when two naval officers pull up in the town car behind them. With death on their faces, Bryn knows the news. She slams the door on the officers as she holds her son.

At the funeral reception UNCLE SAM, a radical patriot and president of the housing community where they live, invites them to dinner and encourages a life in the army for Jonah. A life he now questions. When Jonah and Bryn attend the dinner at Uncle Sam's, Jonah finds a room filled with every kind of Americana, including an enormous American flag pinned to the wall. During the meal, Uncle Sam and Bryn exchange a war of words over the current status quo and the purpose of war. Jonah listens to every word and grows livid with every that leaves Sam's mouth.

When the TEACHER at Jonah's school assigns a project to write about a Greek God, Jonah becomes obsessed with Prometheus, the God that defied the father of all gods to give power to mankind in the form of a flame. Growing obsessed with the God's act of defiance, Jonah changes everything when he stops reciting the flag pledge in his school classroom. Watching in awe, his classmates stop as well. Uncle Sam watches in absolute rage, while the Teacher looks on in complete admiration.

After being dismissed from the school, the Teacher offers to privately tutor Jonah at home- no preconditions. Bryn accepts. On the drive home, Bryn's small hatchback nearly collides with a speeding SUV at an intersection with a non-functioning traffic light. Bryn looks around and sees the entire neighborhood is without power.
Shaken and now in their candlelit home, Bryn and Jonah welcome the Teacher as he begins his first private lesson. He mentors Jonah and pushes him to be the change he wants to see in the world. It's not too long after when Jonah completes the essay and is captivated by a poster of Prometheus and his father's uniform hanging in the open closet.

Shortly after, Bryn collapses from losing her home and the dream she built with her husband. Jonah decides he has had enough and sets out to commit an unthinkable act of protest outside Uncle Sam's front window. The protest illuminates the dark street and residents from the community arise from their homes. Each run to interfere in what quickly grows into a small revolution.

In the end, they answer the test of their patriotism with a display worthy of fanfare.