Hollywood loves Boston. 2007’s Best Picture winner was The Departed, after all. The cops were tough and didn’t take any crap from anybody. During this past week, I have been visiting my parents in the Boston in suburb which I grew up. Never in a million years would I have thought that two bombings, 4 deaths, nearly 200 injuries, and massive manhunt would happen over the course of the week. It’s only a matter of time before Person of Interest, CSI, or even Boston native, Ben Affleck, condense these events into some sort of Hollywood epic.
However, there is a time and a place for everything. Honestly, it’s going to take time for healing to happen; both for the victims who lost their limbs and those who witnessed the horrific events. Even when we were stuck in our homes yesterday, with our eyes glued to various local news stations, it seemed like an out-of-body experience. It was as if we were watching something unfold as part of movies like this year’s Argo, or Ben Affleck’s other directorial effort, The Town. In fact, having SWAT teams and police officers go door to door in Watertown seemed as if it could have only been written by someone in Hollywood. It was as if Ed Harris’ character from The Truman Show were real and someone behind the scenes was calling the shots.
As we digest the past few days, and go forward into the next few weeks and months, we have to remember that this was in fact, real. Real lives were lost, real people became heroes. That’s one thing that Hollywood can’t duplicate. They will never be able to recreate the spirit of Boston residents, the sheer panic that we felt when it was happening, or the relief that we felt when it was all over . Some situations are best left alone and not tampered with by Hollywood. Allow us time to heal, grieve and yes, even be wicked pissed off that these horrific events have happened on our home turf. I may have moved to New York City six years ago, but my heart and my family are all in Boston. I will ALWAYS be a Boston gal. ALWAYS. BOSTON STRONG FOREVER.