Mr. Saul Takes His Family on an Educational Outing

super-8 film, 3.5 minutes, 2006

Following up on the opening at the Mackenzie Art Gallery, faculty members from the UofR were asked to conduct lectures or screen films in an audience setting. I nervously agreed to present this, the third Mr. Saul's Utopia film, live for the first time.

TEXT:

Hello, my name is Mr. Saul. Now I know some of you have joined me here this evening to discover the importance of the carefully planned expedition to the country.
However, in anticipating all possible mishaps, it is often nearly impossible to factor in the greed of industry and how that greed will impact on me, the honest, hard-working citizen. You see, in some sort of misguided attempt to rake in extra profits, the photo-sensitive emulsion layer from the first twenty feet of this roll of super-8 movie film has been withheld. Be certain, all of you, I will be writing a letter, or perhaps even a missive, to the Kodak motion picture film manufacturing company to express my fury in regards to this issue.  

So, at last we are here. I must make an emphatic endorsement of this particular destination. Nothing expands the mind of a young man like an insightful tour of a brick factory. This will, of course, be a building block, if I may use such a pun, towards becoming an adult with the wherewithal to always be right.

Understand that the brick is a metaphor, or perhaps a designation of an idea by implicit comparison, for the most important of world views; the box, or to be more precise, the box within which we are destined to think. One must keep in mind that the world outside-of-the-box is full. I will be continuing to work inside.

But it certain does give one pause to ponder… why is it that Santa does not see you when you are awake.

I show my son, William, a boy of four, photos of myself when I was his age, and he asks me where HE was and if he and I had played together? Of course, this is a ridiculous question and I send him, immediately, to sit in the corner until he is able to come to terms with his own non-existence.

Thank you.