by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner
While I really enjoyed the movie Civil War, I do think it pulled its punches as to how bad a modern American civil war would be. I understand why this was done, but it leaves me thinking how I would approach the story.
What I would have done is make the scenario A LOT darker. I would have kept it a dystopian road movie, but made it a lot like The Road. I would have made the point of the story a group of people heading to, say, the headquarters of a rebel group and have them go there on foot, rather have have the luxury of being able to drive there.
I would lean into the fact that the lights are off and there would be little or no communication around the country. This would be a lot more realistic and make the nature of the story a lot more grounded in reality and personal. I would also lean into not only the prospect of WMD being used by one side or the other, but also how outside nations might get involved.
The specific story I have rolling around in my head would be someone in a rural area of my state, Virginia, going on a trek to visit someone in Richmond. Along the way they, they pick up an elderly relative from a nursing home and maybe get a few other people with them as they head to their destination.
During the journey, we see various ways that the country has splinted as part of the decent into civil war. While the actual movie Civil War does address that in some respects, the story is not nearly as dark as it could be.
Anyway. If it was 25 years younger, I would probably start writing a novel like that. As it is, lulz, I have to focus on finishing the novel I’ve been working on for several years now.
