Penny Parrish December 2001
A year can be defined by many things. For everyone, those defining elements are a mix of the personal and the planetary. For me, 2001 was a perfect example of that.The year began in anticipation of MacArthur Park's debut at Sundance. I had never paid much attention to film festivals before, so I had no idea what the ten days would entail. I was not prepared for how caught up in events I would become, mostly due to the generous and excellent input by fan Julie Brown and cast member Keno Deary. Their personal reports added an immediacy for me that was completely unexpected and thoroughly enjoyed. They made me feel involved in the daily happenings and a part of the festival's excitement, an opportunity I wouldn't have thought possible. Being able to follow Billy on a day-by-day basis, via their encounters, put into perspective for me just what it's like to be a part of such a special event. Julie, Keno and The Fan Club allowed me to share in at least a small portion of Billy's life over those ten days. The effect on me was immense, and it was to set the tone for the coming year.
After Sundance, I set my hopes on rapid distribution for MacArthur Park. After all, how else was I going to get the opportunity to see this film for myself? Enter the Taos Talking Picture Festival in early April. Once I discovered that MP was in competition, I made plans to go. I was in for a truly magical experience, which included meeting Max and Bethy for the first time. Finally! Some fellow Billy fans in the flesh! Then came the onrush of the surreal: meeting Billy for the first time (in the freezing cold!), Elizabeth Taylor, screening MP for the first time, the "Full Moon Moment" with Billy and the hugs, again MP, then the Awards Gala and talking with Billy (hockey!) and Stacy (Louis Riel!) on the back patio afterwards, MP once more, our final meeting with Billy on closing night, and the good-bye hugs. I left Taos with a better understanding of who Billy is, more compassion for those individuals society otherwise overlooks, and two cherished friends in Max and Bethy.
Once home, the onset of post-meeting-Billy depression set in. Amazing how such a high could cause such a low! Luckily there began the flurry of film fests to drown my sorrows, all enjoyed vicariously, of course, through the contributions of several more fans and Fan Club members who were fortunate enough to be there. June saw Seattle; August, Urban World; September, The Sidewalk Moving Picture Festival; and October, Athens and Milan. Pretty cosmopolitan for a small Indie film about the homeless, crack-addicted denizens of a Los Angeles park!
The St. Louis International Film Festival followed in November. As with Taos seven months prior, the opportunity to attend came from out of the blue. Also like Taos, it would end up being an unforgettable experience. Again I would be there with Max and Bethy, but we would be joined by three other Billy devotees: Calandra, Barb, and Mary Jo. We had a little more free time this outing since MP was only showing twice, so Max, Cal and I took in a few of the local sites. Of course one can't go to St. Louis and not see the arch (the thing is a metal monster!) and, as a big hockey fan, I was thrilled to have had the chance to check out the Savvis Center and the original Kiel Center, home of the Blues! Thanks to Max and Cal for being so patient as I raided the Team Store! 
St. Louis was different from Taos in that, since I had already met Billy, I was a bit more relaxed and able to concentrate on MacArthur Park. In all honesty, my main reason for having decided to attend the St. Louis festival was that, after seven months, my memory regarding the film was not as good as I would have liked, and I was relishing the opportunity to refresh my mind on a few points. It's interesting but, even though I could comprehend intellectually that I was there, it wasn't until the moment MP started that I truly believed I was there. And nothing is a more vivid sensory trigger than the way the film abruptly opens with Macy Gray's song "Do Something" featuring the sample of Nice and Smooth's scratchy "Funky for You". Once you've seen the film, Gray's song will be forever etched in your mental landscape, believe me!
Beginning the year as a film fest neophyte with Sundance, then getting to attend MP's second festival, Taos, it only made sense that I should attend St. Louis, the wrap up of Billy's and MP's festival run. I really knew that things had come full circle when it occurred to me that I was seeing my favorite character, "St. Louis", in St. Louis. Yes, talk about "synchronicity"....! As Yogi Berra once said, it was déjà vu all over again, when I found myself outside the Hi-Pointe theater, saying good-bye to Billy. Not knowing what to say, and my emotions running high, I simply thanked him for the "very incredible year". His massive hug and his sincere and quiet reply will always be one of my most cherished memories.
In preparing this write up, I discovered something about myself. I hadn't realized just how much MacArthur Park had affected me, and trying to put my feelings into some semblance of words turned out to be a severely daunting task. I was dealing with a great mass of emotions and impressions that was profound in its entirety, but was difficult to break down into pieces for organizing as a narrative. How could I accomplish this without trivializing the experience? Every aspect of the year had been enormous, from the initial excitement of Sundance, to seeing MP five times, to meeting Billy after 14 years, to making so many new friends. Film festivals taught me something also, which is that the human creative fire is always there, no matter what transpires with us personally, or in the world around us. Art feeds our souls when nothing else can. If we are educated in the process and we are compelled, even in the smallest of ways, to try and make the world a better place, then art has done its job. Maybe better than any preaching or international politics could ever hope to accomplish. I know that I have emerged from 2001 as a better person for having seen MacArthur Park. So thank you Billy, The Fan Club, and my many new friends, for helping to make 2001 a most incredible year!
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