Oakalla Prison - metaphors

Students used to come to me when they were sweating a tough term paper. A few years ago the phone calls were so frequent that I thought my number was written on shit house walls at U.B.C. Most were Chinese students who would petition me for help, always refusing to reveal where they got my number. Through the burning line I could feel them writhing in agony as they read the assignment instructions into my sweaty ear. If I found the question interesting I would help, even if my day job was draining my energy.
My favorite questions were in film, art and architecture and I am prone to claim that I took U.B.C. Film Studies for free. A stretch perhaps, but I fielded hard balls from as far away as the University of Lethbridge. I have no time to take student calls today, but I retain fond memories of some intriguing research topics.
For reasons which escape me, legions of newcomers to our culture simply refuse to think in terms of metaphor, and it shows in their writing. Fortunately news reporters need metaphor to shape their stories. A case in point is an interview in today's paper which we did on Thursday. Wanda Chow does a good job in describing my research for the Oakalla prison documentary, employing the 'peeling layers of an onion' metaphor. Another article about the project, published a few months back, used the 'pieces of a jigsaw puzzle' metaphor which is also appropriate. Of course these apply to the research, but do not pertain to the script for "The Ghosts of Oakalla" ... yet another metaphor. Ms. Chow's article can be found in today's edition of the Burnaby NEWS LEADER, or read online here.


Ron Jack, director of OAKALLA, displays an example of prison artifacts which surface during the research for THE GHOSTS OF OAKALLA.