Explainer Video Script Copy

TWENTY TRILLION DOLLARS. WHAT WOULD YOU DO WITH ALL THAT MONEY? YOU COULD PAY OFF THE NATIONAL DEBT. YOU COULD SPEND A MILLION DOLLARS A DAY FOR TWO THOUSAND YEARS AND STILL HAVE TRILLIONS LEFT. BUT COULD YOU END POVERTY IN AMERICA?
THAT WAS THE ONE OF THE GOALS OF THE GREAT SOCIETY, PRESIDENT LYNDON JOHNSON’S AMBITIOUS PLAN TO TRANSFORM THE LIVES OF AMERICANS.
THE GREAT SOCIETY IS FIFTY YEARS OLD. IT’S BEEN A LONG, HISTORIC JOURNEY. BUT ARE WE AT THE END OF THE ROAD?
LET’S TAKE A RIDE DOWN MEMORY LANE AND EXAMINE…THE GREAT SOCIETY AT 50: THE TRIUMPH AND THE TRAGEDY.
WE’LL START BY TRAVELING BACK TO 1964, WHEN WE BEGAN THE DRIVE TOWARD A “GREAT SOCIETY”
AMERICA HAD ATTAINED THE HIGHEST STANDARD OF LIVING THE WORLD HAD EVER KNOWN.
AND ITS PROSPERITY AND POTENTIAL SEEMED LIMITLESS.
BUT AMERICA HAD DISGRACEFUL
VIDEO
--road elements should appear throughout this design--
Visuals of huge stacks of money, spending huge sums
Big USA map with question mark on it
JOHNSON’S OFFICIAL WHITE HOUSE PHOTO
ROAD THAT LEADS FROM 2014 BACK TO 1964
TITLE SKETCH in BOLD CINEMA-STYLE TITLE TREATMENT
ROAD TO 1964
HUMMING FACTORY, HAPPY SHOPKEEPER, BUSINESSMAN,
FAMILY IN SUBURBAN BACKYARD, DAD BBQ-ING, MOM WITH CAT EYE SUNGLASSES, KIDS PLAYING
SPACE RACE ERA ROCKET BLASTING OFF
AGE OLD PROBLEMS…PROBLEMS THAT WEREN’T QUICKLY BEING SOLVED LEGAL DISCRIMINATION….AND POVERTY…THAT COULD NO LONGER BE TOLERATED IN THE INCREASINGLY PROSPEROUS LAND OF THE FREE.
SO IN MAY OF 1964, PRESIDENT JOHNSON MADE A BIG ANNOUNCEMENT
SOT:
“‘THE GREAT SOCIETY RESTS ON ABUNDANCE AND LIBERTY FOR ALL. IT DEMANDS AN END TO POVERTY AND RACIAL INJUSTICE…TO WHICH WE ARE TOTALLY COMMITTED IN OUR TIME’ (:14)
LBJ DECIDED THAT THE GOVERNMENT, WITH ITS VAST POWER AND THE MIGHT OF THE NATIONAL TREASURY, WOULD STEER US TOWARD A BETTER PLACE.
SOT:
“THE CHALLENGE OF THE NEXT HALF CENTURY IS WHETHER WE HAVE THE WISDOM TO USE THAT WEALTH TO ENRICH AND ELEVATE OUR NATIONAL LIFE, AND TO ADVANCE THE QUALITY OF OUR AMERICAN CIVILIZATION.’
THE GREAT SOCIETY ENDED THE SOUTH’S JIM CROW LAWS.
NO MORE ‘WHITES’ ONLY LUNCH COUNTERS, ‘COLORED’ WATER DARK, OMINOUS FIGURES WITH GLOWING EYES NAMED ‘POVERTY’ AND ‘ DISCRIMINATION’, WITH U.S. FLAG AS BACKDROP
TRANSITION TO 60’S-ERA TV…
FOOTAGE OF LBJ’S G.S. SPEECH FILLS A 60’S ERA TV SCREEN
TRANS BACK TO WHITE BOARD
SKETCHED VERSION OF LBJ AT PODIUM, ALONSIDE BIG CAPITOL BLDG OVERFLOWING WITH $$, ARROW POINTING TO THE WORDS ‘GREAT SOCIETY’ ON THE HORIZON
TRANSITION BACK TO
FOOTAGE & SOT FROM LBJ’S GS SPEECH FILLING TV SCREEN
JIM CROW ERA STILLS DROPPING ONTO SCREEN, PILING UP ONE BY
FOUNTAINS, AND SITTING AT THE BACK OF THE BUS.
LANDMARK LEGISLATION LIKE
THE CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1964,
AND THE 1965 VOTING RIGHTS ACT WERE TREMENDOUS ACHIEVEMENTS THAT DID AWAY WITH LEGALIZED RACIAL DISCRIMINATION. TODAY, WE STAND MUCH CLOSER TO BEING THE COLOR BLIND SOCIETY THAT JOHNSON ENVISIONED. BUT WE’RE STILL TRYING TO LEVEL THE PLAYING FIELD WITH AFFIRMATIVE ACTION POLICIES THAT THEMSELVES AREN’T COLOR BLIND.
ANOTHER STAIN ON AMERICA WAS EXTREME POVERTY.
FIFTY YEARS AGO MILLIONS OF AMERICANS WERE STILL SHOCKINGLY POOR.
THIS MEANT LIFE WITH NO
PLUMBING OR ELECTRICITY, AND OFTEN, GOING TO BED HUNGRY.
TODAY, MATERIAL LIVING STANDARDS ARE A LOT BETTER. BUT HARDSHIPS REMAIN. TODAY, THE PROBLEM ISN’T HAVING A SHIRT ON YOUR BACK OR FOOD ON YOUR PLATE. IT’S HAVING A JOB, TWO PARENTS, THE SCOURGES OF CRIME AND DRUGS…
NOT TO SPEAK OF THE CHALLENGE OF ESCAPING THE POVERTY TRAP.
BECAUSE…LBJ ALSO SAID:
‘WE ARE NOT CONTENT TO ACCEPT THE ENDLESS GROWTH
ONE
FOOTAGE OF SIGNING OF THE CRA OF 64
STILL IMAGE OF LBJ WITH MLK
AND STILL OF BLACK VOTERS IN LINE AT A SOUTHERN POLLING PLACE
TRANS BACK TO WHITE BOARD
BALANCE BEAM OR SCALES
TRANS TO:
BLACK AND WHITE STILLS OF LBJ VISIT TO APPALACHIA
STILL OF POOR WHITE GIRL IN A DELAPIDATED HOUSE
TRANS BACK TO WHITE BOARD
PUBLIC HOUSING-STYLE BLDG. BASIC KITCHEN, WITH COMMON APPLIANCES COMPUTER, WWW, TELEVISION
LBJ AT PRESIDENTIAL PODIUM.
ABOVE HIM READS,
‘WE ARE NOT CONTENT TO ACCEPT THE ENDLESS GROWTH OF RELIEF ROLLS, OR WELFARE ROLLS.”
IMPASSABLE BRIDGE
OF RELIEF ROLLS, OR WELFARE ROLLS.”
ENTITLEMENTS WERE SUPPOSED TO BE A BRIDGE TO A BETTER LIFE, NOT SUSTAIN PEOPLE IN POVERTY.
AFTER FIFTY YEARS OF EFFORT, AND AN ASTROMICAL PRICE TAG, THE OFFICIAL “POVERTY RATE” HASN’T CHANGED. EVEN IF BEING POOR DOESN’T MEAN WHAT IT DID BACK THEN.
AND OTHER PROBLEMS AFFLICT TODAY’S POOR. DIVORCE AND SEPARATION HAVE SOARED...AND WHILE ONLY EIGHT PERCENT OF KIDS GREW UP WITHOUT A FATHER IN 1960, TODAY THAT NUMBER HAS NEARLY TRIPLED.
IN AMERICA, WORKING AGE MEN 25-54 ARE FOUR TIMES MORE LIKELY TO BE OUT OF THE WORKFORCE ENTIRELY THAN BEFORE THE GREAT SOCIETY. FOR EVERY WORKING AGE MAN UNEMPLOYED TODAY, THERE ARE THREE WHO HAVE CHECKED OUT OF THE WORKFORCE ALTOGETHER. WE NEED TO ASK OURSELVES: HAS AMERICA ATTAINED THE GREAT SOCIETY THAT LBJ ENVISIONED IN 1964?
SHOULD WE HAVE TRAVELED A DIFFERENT ROAD TO BECOME A GREAT SOCIETY?
WE’D LIKE TO HEAR FROM YOU.
TOWERING STACK OF $$, DWARFS PERSON BELOW. ‘$20,000,000,000,000’ “POVERTY RATE 1966: 14.7% 2012: 15%”
YOUNG MOM HOLDING INFANT AT 8% IN 1960.... 23.7% IN 2012 AND A FAMILY STICKER IN CAR WINDOW…WITH DAD MISSING
TRANS TO 4 MEN VISIBLE, 1 DISAPPEARS. ONE WITH RESUME?
Glowing.glittering USA MAP W/LBJ FACE
TRANS TO FORK IN ROAD…ONE HEADED TO ‘GREAT SOCIETY’, THE OTHER TO ‘???’
CROWD OF PEOPLE, ALL WITH LIGHT BULBS ABOVE THEIR HEADS ‘LEAVE COMMENTS & SOLUTIONS’, ARROW POINTING DOWN SOCIAL MEDIA LOGOS FACEBOOK TWITTER YOUTUBE
LEAVE YOUR COMMENTS BELOW THIS VIDEO. AND SUBSCRIBE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE PROMISE AND THE PERIL OF GREAT SOCIETY.