Trial of the Lizard King

About the Project

The music industry was shaken into awareness over 50 years ago when a local Venice band broke onto the scene with a very unique sound and amazing poetic lyrics. The story of Jim Morrison and the Doors has been told (and over-told) through countless art forms over the years, including rock operas, major big-budget motion pictures, and countless books. The mainstream media has been very successful at crafting a marketable, stereotypical tragic image of a rock stars rise to fame; and the inevitable decline into drugs, excess, and eventual death. The daredevil, drugged out, acid eating Morrison has been played out in every conceivable direction for profit, ego, politics and the general mindless entertainment of spectacle.

Anyone who truly understands Jim Morrison would know what a contradiction this is; and that he was a true poet and did not want to be this Rock ‘God Adonis’ image exploited by the media. In a prophetic twist of fate, Morrison in 1964 proclaimed that “whoever controls the media controls the mind”. As 50 years has now passed, there is a desire and NEED to present an accurate portrayal of a complex and creative individual who, like all of us, struggle with our internal daemons handed down by childhood, fate, or general life experiences and trauma. Venture beyond the music and inside the factual story of musical and poetic enigma who was Jim Morrison.

The goal is not to write the perfect ‘musical biography’ drama by following a template formula for commercial success to be quickly and easily engorged by the masses. The goal is some other journey to discover the real Jim Morrison and what we can learn from his life to enrich our own. The goal is to transport the audience into the lesser-known stories that provide a rare insight into the complex individual, and a foray into the mystical experience of a live Doors concert. ‘The Trial of the Lizard King’ is such a story of the gentle, compassionate, extremely intelligent and creative person who was Jim Morrison. It touches on the mysterious coincidence of the serendipity that brought four talented individuals together. These individuals would coalesce into a combination of musical creativity which led to the unique sound, recognized instantly within the first few bars of musical prose.

It is about the uniquely human experience of life, and the often-outlandish opposition of forces of madness endowed within rare individuals with such genius and creativity. It is about the constant balancing act (JDM pun intended) of maintaining sanity if an often difficult mental or socially complex universe. It is about the search for personal freedom and enlightenment to find our spot in humanity, and to question the very meaning of our lives. The story focuses on the LIFE, and not the DEATH of Jim Morrison.

NOTE: This play is a Biographical ‘Jukebox Musical’ by definition. The stories are intended to be accurate reflections of JDM’s life experiences, philosophies, and biographical events. The entire play is structured around factual times, events, and places. Some artistic liberty has been taken for STAGING and STORY purposes, but the spine of the story is an accurate historical reflection of specific incidents of his life. This was based on extensive research with multiple, verifiable sources, from some of JDM’s closest associates. The Trial approach is used to frame the story of the play, which allow for a direct narrative from Jim Morrison’s closest associates.

A Rock Star is put on trial to defend his artistic freedom for a performance at a concert in 1968, and also every individual’s broader right to protect the integrity of an accurate historical legacy throughout time. The Testimony of the witnesses reveals the major conflicts and struggles of his true-life story, in sharp contrast to the sensationalized media and governmental portrayal. (When the legal system is perverted, and judge is biased, and truth is situational, then the verdict will be poisoned).

The story is a legal courtroom drama about the life of Jim Morrison presented in an adapted Jukebox Musical format. The plot is a fictionalized adaptation (taking ‘literary license’) of an actual 1968 ‘State of Florida vs Jim Morrison’ trial addressing the core issue of censorship and freedom of artistic expression. The Florida trial context is broadened to also refute the media’s exploitation and manipulation of Jim’s reputation and iconic enduring legacy as rock and roll’s most famous front man of all time. It exposes the phenomenal and fascinating exploration of the power of the media to control not only speech and action, but ultimately even our thoughts.

The play intends to “Set the record straight” by presenting true factual evidence that was originally deemed not admissible by a biased judge with a hidden political agenda. The Prosecutions position will be to prove that the mythical, stereotypical image of a wild out of control Rock-Star is an accurate representation of Jim Morrison as an individual man. They will attempt explore and exploit the sensationalized aspects of his life, and the excessive behaviors. This negative viewpoint will be used in attempts to downplay all of the positive and factual aspects of his life. The defense will counter the aberrations and outright lies by presenting the evidence to the contrary, both through verbal testimony and/or other evidence. This will allow for the exposure of much of the true personal aspects of his life to break through the media’s myth to present the real Jim Morrison.

The concurrent FL and ‘moral’ charges will be juxtaposed with the historical biographical facts presented by friends and family testifying as ‘character witnesses’ in JDM’s Defense and on his behalf. The intent is to first ‘retry’ the original FL case to show his innocence, but more importantly to tell the TRUE story of Jim Morrison as a gentle, compassionate, extremely intelligent and creative human being (which is how he is described by the people closest to him). Witness testimony tells his story by agreeing or refuting the most controversial aspects of his life. This culminates in a showdown between the opposing attorney’s during their closing summations to the jury, represented by the theater’s audience.

The play ends with a short scene at the Paris grave site, where his father presents a new gravestone and plaque with the Greek inscription “KATA TON DAIMONA EAYTOY” (‘True to his own Spirit’). The story will NOT conclude with the actual 1968 FL Trial verdicts, but on the contrary allow the audience to decide themselves the guilt or innocence of Mr. Morrison, based on the HISTORICAL facts presented in the mock trial. (this is a fresh, introspective thought-provoking approach to both story-telling and obligatory scene at the closure of the play).

THIS IS THE PARADOX OF HIS STORY: THAT EVEN TO THIS DAY THE MYTH OF MORRISON IS STILL SENSATIONALIZED AND EXPLOITED BY THE MEDIA, FOR COMMERCIAL PURPOSES AND TO SELL RECORDS AND MERCHANDISE. IT IS UP TO US TO DO OUR DUTY TO DISPEL THIS MYTH, AND SHOW THE AUDIENCE THE TRUE JDM, BOTH WITH HIS POSITIVE THOUGHTS AND IDEAS OF PERSONAL FREEDOM, ALONG WITH HIS HUMAN FRAILTY AND FAILINGS.

• **Don’t focus on the DEATH at the end of the story (though Bohemian Rhapsody did). The story shouldn’t build or focus on the untimely death, or the circumstances of the death. Does it really matter HOW he died, or is this some attempt to use anecdotal “soundbite’ drama to summarize his existence, as if to say “if you overdosed on heroin, then you were just a drug addict loser” vs. “you died of heart failure, stroke, or some other manner with a much looser cause and effect”.

• **What is the overall struggle or conflict? To be free? To attain peace and not be fighting everything? Is it to find ‘balance’ in the world? Is it to be true to his own spirit, and not live by or be defined by the rules? Understand the unconscious mind, to better understand life and the conscience mind?? Is it for him to find someone he can truly trust, and love him unconditionally, and NOT betray him in some form or fashion? Seems its always JDV vs. someone, some struggle or conflict that he has to deal with.

• Jim’s witnesses tell the JURY “Why are you allowing others to define your world, playing by their arbitrary (bullshit) rules. You need to be free to be yourself and live within a world that you define. You can choose to ignore them, dismiss them, call them out, harass them, and expose them for what they are.”

• Thinking in black and white forces people into a knee-jerk reaction to either like/or hate, which forces us to not logically, intelligently discover each other, see what we have in common as humans, and not focus on our differences. The powers that be have a vested interest in this robotic ‘group-think’ to focus on negative emotional behaviors, in effect continuing the brainwashing of the common person. Again, the goal here is to recognize and identify when this is occurring to force to break on through to the other side.

KATA TON DAIMONA EAYTOY (Greek, mostly New Testament Greek). “Faithful to his own spirit.” “True to his own spirit.” One who fights own daemons, according to his own genius, “He did his own thing” “He lived like he had a divine spirit within him” and “True to his own spirit”.

BE YOUR OWN PERSON, STAY TRUE TO YOURSELF, FOLLOW YOUR PASSION WITHOUT EXCUSES, DON’T DIMINISH YOURSELF BY USING EXTERNAL FORCES OR CRITERIA TO SOMEHOW ‘CLASSIFY’ OF OTHERWISE JUDGE YOUR HUMAN WORTH. YOU DEFINE THE HAPPINESS AND SUCCESS IN YOUR OWN LIFE. ONCE YOU HAVE THIS, YOU WILL FEEL THE INNER LOVE AND PEACE (“A.K.A – INNER GOD ACCORDING TO CAMPBELL”). ONCE YOU OBTAIN THIS YOU WILL REFLECT THIS LOVE AND PEACE TO THE OUTSIDE WORLD, AND SPREAD THE LOVE AND JOY THROUGH THE RADIANCE AND BEING A MODEL FOR OTHERS LIVES. LOVE YOURSELF FIRST, DON’T PLACE YOUR HAPPINESS IN THE JUDGEMENT, ACCEPTANCE, OR DESIRES OF OTHERS.
JDM: “Give up defining yourself-to yourself or to others. You won’t die. You will come to life. And don’t be concerned with how others define you. When they define you, they are limiting themselves, so it’s their problem. Whenever you interact with people, don’t be there primarily as a function or a role, but as the field of conscious Presence. You can only lose something that you have, but you cannot lose something that you are.”

• People should never be prevented from expressing their thoughts, beliefs, or ideas, or be afraid they would lose their livelihood or worse if they do.
• The right of every individual to think freely and to explore everything.
• Portray the fundamentalists as uncaring and cold people and the ‘revolutionists’ as people who are concerned about the welfare of others.
• Dangerous situation created when laws are passed limiting the freedom to think and speak. (that thoughts and ideas are necessary).
• Censoring or limiting of an individual’s freedom to think.

Freedom of artistic expression (metaphor for Freedom of Thought)
• The predominant theme is freedom of thought. Law, effectively censoring what could be done at a concert.
• fights passionately against censoring knowledge. (When knowledge is censored, the right to think is limited).
• Value and Tolerance/lack of respect for different or conflicting beliefs. Differing perspectives should be allowed to exist side by side within society. (In a society that honors freedom of thought)
• the value of every person’s ability to think and have ideas, everyone having the right to think.
• people need to be shaken up, confronted with new information, knowledge, and ideas so they can think independently and not merely conform with the majority or most popular opinion.
• People must stand up and continue to fight against laws that promote censorship and unthinking conformity.

Search for Truth
• Defending JDM in the courtroom, he is seeking the truth, a continuing search for truth (and WHO decides what is ‘truth’, art, etc. )
• Pay attention to what is going on around them; to protect their freedoms by thinking, having ideas, and searching for truth. Only by being open-minded and respecting differing beliefs and viewpoints can freedoms be guaranteed.
• Emphasize that the fight for freedom of thought is never over. There will always be issues censoring or limiting the freedom to think that must be fought fight for freedom is never finished.

**those who oppose freedom will always await their opportunity, either by laziness, stealth, or opportunity, to try to wrestle it away from the citizens. We must remain vigilant.!!!