Hey gang! I gchatted Tigs some titles and he said “Sorry.” I thought he was going to say he wouldn’t be writing one and that is when he said “Chutes and Ladders, Monopoly, Candyland, Life, Twister, Guess Who…” Those last three are already movies. All very similar- Life was about race in southern prison system, Guess who about race relations within growing families, and Twister was about a race with nature. He then gave me this suggestion; a game I’ve come to learn is about feeding a pig until it explodes. This film will not be about that. It will instead also be about race.
Pop the Pig
Winston was born and still is a poor black child. We are in the south and it’s the 50s. He lives on a farm with his large family. They have a small field of vegetables and a few animals. One of which is Pop the pig, an angry large hog that Winston has saved from the butchers block several times. Pop escapes a lot and Winston discovers he is gone one morning.
We cut to the woods where a young white boy named Carl comes upon Pop. He ropes him and brings him to the other side of the woods where his family’s farm is. It is much larger and we learn that his family has a similar relationship with Pop. They believe they own him and he escapes a lot but always comes back. Carl loves Pop similar to Winston and has also saved him quite often, though with less effort because his family doesn’t really need the money or the food that he would yield.
Pop runs off again but this time both boys meet up. They are confused and hesitant but a friendship forms. They also discover that Pop has made a bit of a home for himself in a small cave in a hill. The two boys hatch a plan to free Pop more often and meet up here to hang out all together.
Winston is surprised one day to find Carl and his father at their farm. We learn that Winston’s family rents the land from Carl’s and that they are late on some payments. Winston’s father seems very worried as Carl’s father is a bit cold and uninterested in excuses. We really focus on the two boys faces as they witness the racial tension and the cruelty of Carl’s father.
Winston’s father tells him that they need to sell Pop. He sends him off to find him. Winston and Carl meet up and decide to run away with Pop. Carl’s family believes that Winston’s has hurt him. Winston’s believes the opposite. The two families come close to violence but are stopped by the two boys and Pop. The two boys talk their families down from before Pop runs off. The boys and families give chase until they find Pop at his hill. Pop digs a bit and uncovers a mess of confederate treasure that the families agree to split.
The two families now led by Winston and Carl own a huge farming empire. In front of their offices is a huge bronze statue of Pop the Pig.
Pop smashes racial bigotry! My niece, who loves the game but doesn’t understand how to play it, would be proud