Usually I'm not the type of writer who rallies in bleeding-heart self-promotion but because I have noticed a low reception rate to the previous piece that I wrote regarding actress Thelma Todd, I feel compelled to write this footnote. If I didn't care so much about her, I wouldnt even give it a second thought but her story and the truth of what happened to her has always been, and always will be, important to me. I vowed to myself years ago that someday if I ever had the opportunity to write about her I would definitely do so. Upon reviewing and evaluating every single word, every single sentence, every single paragraph of "For Thelma" I still cant understand why anyone would not take even the slightest interest in reading that piece.
Very very rarely have I ever even had the slightest notion of feeling disappointed with my readers, so please mark it down on your calendars that this is that day. Yes, each and every one of you has the undeniable right to choose which of my pieces you would like to read, skim over or totally skip altogether; however, I put not just alotta heart-n-soul into that piece, but I wrote what I feel is the truth of what really happened to her, as well as gave you the reader the choice to formulate your own opinion as to what you personally feel is the truth. What do I plan to do about this? First, I'm going to continue to respect you the reader for the choices you make as well as your opinions just as I would hope you would respect mine as well. Second, I choose to take action on this matter, immediately.
Starting tomorrow, up until December 16th, 2010, I will be re-posting "For Thelma" on a regular basis until it has garnered the readership that I personally feel it is entitled to. I dont care how irrational or even slightly maniacal this all sounds. What happened to Thelma Todd was wrong and I may not be able to go back in time to change the course of history, to alter the horrible events that led up to her murder, but I will be damned if anyone is gonna read what I wrote about her and exclaim "Oh well, nothing big, might as well move onward, let it fall to the wayside, maybe even sweep it under the rug." Sorry guys, this is one time that sucha response, or anything remotely resembling it, is unacceptable. Almost 75 years ago, those closest to Thelma Todd, both professionally and personally, turned a blind eye, a deaf ear and a silenced voice to what happened to her and tried to sweep it all under the rug. I may not be Creator of the Universe, but I'll be equally damned if I am going to allow this modern world to devalu the meaning of her existence. Her life did matter and as long as people like me, as well as future generations, read and hear her story, she will not have died in vain, she will not have become a faded masthead of some bygone era. She didnt deserve what happened to her, nobody deserves for anything like that to happen to them, and in my heart-n-soul I'd like to believe that if what happened to her would happen to any of us (God forbid) that someone would stand up for the truth and defend our honor, our memory, the same exact way that I am doing right now for her. And I always will.
Whether writing as an Hiv/AIDS activist or as a film star historian, my commitment to writing about the truth and my desire to in some way attempt to right wrongs which should have never happened in the first place, or intellectually speaking, have no rational, justifiable basis for happening in the first place, will continue to be unwavering. Maybe it is wrong of me to expect people to read about Thelma Todd just because I wrote about her but damn, if you dont wanna read what I wrote, then at least read what someone else wrote about her before you make the irrational judgement that because what happened to her took place so very long ago, it's no longer relevant. I'm here to tell you that if any one of you feels that way, you are wrong, very wrong. It does matter because whether you are an Hiv'er like myself, an orphan in Afghanistan, or even a 1930's actress/comedienne, such as Thelma Todd, all life is precious and all life needs to be respected, as well as remembered. Thank you for reading.
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