Listen carefully to Dylan's brilliant, bleakest and most socially conscious lyrics... then, find their reality. In a nutshell, this is "Bombay Beach", filmed and directed by Alma Har'el. And though this is not exactly a recommendation, I'd be remiss in neglecting to mention such a profoundly moving documentary, set to his music.
We're not sure just why we continued to watch beyond its dark beginning, except to say that not to would somehow negate the significance of getting to know CeeJay and Benny.
We'd never before heard of Bombay Beach. It is located on the Salton Sea, a manmade body of water that was once marketed as a vacation destination for the mega wealthy. When that project failed, it deteriorated into one of SoCal's poorest communities of just a few hundred people.
In the midst of the agony, there shines a light named CeeJay Thompson. Concerned for his safety after a cousin was killed in a gang-related incident, his mother sent him from Los Angeles to live in Bombay Beach. An artistic young man, CeeJay does fairly well in school and hopes for a football scholarship, to allow him to be the first in his family to attend college. He rises above the bigotry that often slaps him square in the face.
Then, there is Benny Parrish, a little boy with bipolar disorder. Quite the wake-up call here, as he is given an astounding amount of meds to control his mood swings. In the midst of the nightmarish living conditions, we come to know Benny's mother, too. I truly felt for her - an overwhelmed, albeit kind and patient mother, trying her best, but with no necessary services within her reach.
Joe and I acknowledge that we can find similar "beaches" in our own backyard... but like Bombay, they are often well kept secrets. Sad.
