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An Interview with Andre Codrescu
about Road Scholar and America.
Interview conducted by Johanna Zorn
> Were you surprised by anything you saw or felt on your trip across
America?
Everything startles me and I try not to lose sleep over it, but I was truly
surprised to see how many different people and styles of living thrive in the
United States. My movie didn't start out being about diversity and tolerance,
but it ended up quite lyrical on those scores. Originally, I just wanted to
visit "communes," and my producer wanted roadside "kitsch."
> How much of this documentary was neatly planned and how much unplanned
discovery? What is the best balance?
There was a dry run to talk to some people and get them ready, and I read some
stuff beforehand, but I had no idea what I was going to ask until I did. Some
of the best stuff was spontaneous -- we just found the people and talked to
them. I'd say about 40% was pure luck. It was great that the cameraman who was
also co-director, Jean de Segonzac, had no problems going with the flow.
> Ten years later, do you think you'd find a significantly different
America?
At least two different Americas. A lot of cities, especially Detroit, were in a
deep recession in the early nineties. Then we had the boom, and since 9/11 we
have yet another America. Unconventional communities were pretty snug in their
self-sufficient cocoons. Then came Waco, which scared the crap out of people
like the Sikhs of New Mexico (editor’s note: Andrei visits a sect of
American-born Sikhs in the documentary). They relaxed after a while -- until
9/11. A lot of things seem to have come full circle, connected by the two wars.
> You end Road Scholar on a patriotic note as you welcome a new group of
Americans at a citizenship ceremony ... how have your own feelings about
patriotism changed over the past decade ... or over the past few weeks since
9/11?
I had a hard time with all the patriotic rah-rah at the end of the movie; it
embarrassed me. Roger Weisberg, producer and co-director, kind of sneaked that
on me. But -- after the movie came out I felt that audiences got quite worked
up about it, and it was because of the kind of patriotism they perceived. I
think that people saw that I was praising an America of tolerance and huge
differences and they were moved, I think, to see that freaks were American,
too. Now, of course, I am even more patriotic, though not the flag-waving type.
I think that the U.S. is the hope of reason against religious fanaticism, 18th
century illuminism versus 12th century god-epilepsy.
> As a poet...what is the role of poetry and the arts in helping
Americans deal with this national crisis and loss of innocence?
A huge wave of bad poems is already on it way. Take cover! The role of poetry
is to shut up for awhile and let the facts roll. There is an awesome poetry in
the starkness of facts now. There was evil poetry in the attack, there is
ennobling poetry in the people. So, my advice to fellow poets is: keep the
allegories and laments to a minimum. Speak in prose, like everybody else.
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