Call Me Thor

ABOUT THE STORY:
My name is Jamie Campbell. And, when I was eleven years-old, in 1991 - I was kidnapped. But, not by someone demanding a ransom or who wanted to do me harm. I was kidnapped by the person who loved me the most in the world - my own mother.

Things were rough at home. We were poor. On welfare. My mom worked odd jobs where she was paid under the counter. We lived with my mom’s boyfriend - who was abusive to her and me and had a short fuse. My escape from that abuse - was heavy metal music. I’d press play on my walkman and melodic guitar solos and screeching vocals would take me away to a dream world where I was a rock star who made enough money to take my mom out of the hell that we lived in.

Right around that time - my wealthy father - who had also been abusive to my mom during their short marriage - sued her for custody. He had a new wife who wanted a family, but she couldn’t have kids - so she decided she wanted me. He had money. My mom couldn’t even afford a decent lawyer. She knew it was a battle she couldn’t win. So, she did the only thing she could think of: she ran. My mother no-showed the court hearing and fled with me from Oklahoma to New Mexico where we lived under assumed names - in hiding from the police and private investigators for six months until we were eventually caught.

Call Me Thor is a fictional screenplay inspired by the truth of what happened to me. Our protagonist, Julian, is a chubby, heavy-metal loving kid who makes the heroic choices I wish I’d had the courage to make in order to keep his mother safe. It’s a love letter to my mom - the woman who cared about me enough to kidnap me.

It’s an important story to tell right now, because society is finally starting to have conversations about toxic masculinity. The men who chase after Julian & his mom were based on the toxic male role models in my own life. It’s a conversation that I could have used growing up. Change doesn’t happen until we start talking. It lives at the intersection where Thelma & Louise and Stand By Me meet Almost Famous.

The screenplay is a coming of age family action-drama made for kids who are going through similar situations - so they know they’re not alone - and for the mothers who would risk everything to keep them safe.

SYNOPSIS:
Twelve year-old Julian Bianco is a chubby, daydreaming metalhead who lives with his mother, Linda, an overworked waitress, and her boyfriend, Alvin, an angry, abusive factory worker. He uses music as an escape from his difficult home life, having elaborate daydreams where he plays heavy metal to legions of enthralled fans. He plans to start a real-life band with his best friend, Ted, a skinny skater boy who isn’t afraid to stand up for Julian when other kids make fun of him.

Julian returns home from school to find Linda crying with the news that his father, Jerry, is suing for custody. Julian doesn’t want to live with his father, and is fairly certain the bakery he owns is a front for organized crime. Jerry wants custody because his new wife, Yvette, can’t have children of her own.

Linda discovers she is pregnant on the same day Alvin is laid off from his job. She keeps the pregnancy a secret. She knows that with Alvin being laid off, the abuse will only get worse.

A Social Services counselor encourages her to leave Alvin, referring her to a shelter where she can escape both of these abusive men. She decides to take Julian and leave that night. As they are leaving, Alvin comes home and tries to stop them. Linda bludgeons him with a lamp and they make their escape.

A local battered women’s shelter puts Linda and Julian (who are now going under the names of Tammie and Thor) on a Greyhound bus to Albuquerque, where another shelter has offered to take them in. On the bus, Julian befriends a guy named Puss, whom he discovers is the new guitar player for Icepik, one of his favorite bands.

The day of the custody hearing arrives. Since Linda is a no-show, the judge has no choice but to award custody to Julian’s father. Outside the courthouse, Alvin has been waiting for Jerry. They team up with a sleazy private investigator who manages to bribe a junkie at the local shelter for the information that Linda is in New Mexico.

Linda and Julian return to the Albuquerque shelter to find a purple scarf hanging on the gate (a signal it’s not safe to go inside.) They call the shelter and learn the police have a warrant for Linda’s arrest (for kidnapping). Linda’s friend from the shelter, Michelle, recently moved out and agrees to let them stay at her place.

Norman and Alvin stake out the shelter. Michelle arrives to pick up the things Linda and Julian left behind. One of those things is Julian’s yellow walkman with a skull sticker. Alvin recognizes it, and he and Norman follow Michelle’s car and stake out her apartment.

On New Year’s Eve, Michelle returns home from a bar. She hooked up with a guy and is bringing him home. The guy is Alvin. He walks in and sees Linda, now super pregnant with his child.

Julian sneaks in from the hallway, holding an acoustic guitar, which he smashes over Alvin’s back. They escape down the fire escape. Alvin gives chase. While they hide behind a dumpster, Julian sees a concert poster that advertises Icepik - the band his friend Puss from the Greyhound plays for. He and Linda arrive at a rock venue where Puss lets them hide out backstage.

Linda’s water breaks. The band takes her to the hospital in the tour van. The next morning, Julian meets his new sister. He asks Linda if she gave her real name and social security number to the hospital. She realizes she messed up. Her information will go into their computer. The police will come. Julian tells his mother he has a plan. He tells her he loves her and always will, and leaves the hospital as police arrive.

Julian calls his father. He wants to meet. Jerry flies into Albuquerque for a sit-down. Julian offers to live with Jerry and let him give his wife the family she’s always wanted on the condition that he drops the charges against Linda and makes sure Alvin can’t hurt his mother. Jerry agrees. Linda is released from jail, and he sends a couple of thugs to make sure Alvin never bothers Linda again.

True to his word, Julian lives with his father until he turns eighteen. At that point, he enrolls in a college near his mother. He arrives at her house. She and his little sister rush out to meet him. They are a family again.