Alien Boy is a feature length documentary film about the life and death of James Chasse.
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“It is so rare to meet someone his age that has such a depth of spirit and insight that age has no boundaries or equations but gives you a sense of timelessness.”
The Wipers’ lead singer, Greg Sage, 2006
There was an immediate and complex attempt to rob James of his identity by politicizing his death. From the officers describing him as a drug dealer, to the mayor’s focus on his mental illness, we lost track of the man who had been killed. Mayor Tom Potter wrote to the Mental Health Association in November 2007: “I am deeply concerned that the safety net has frayed to the point that we must ask our police officers to be the first responders for too many folks with mental health issues.” Our purpose in making Alien Boy is to find this person.
James was a notable person. He was gifted. He inspired and he had a great effect on others. He had a family who loved and cared for him. He was not a victim or a failure or hurt by the mental health system. Quite to the contrary, Alien Boy will show James was one of its successes.
James didn’t die from his mental illness – he was beaten and died on the streets of his hometown. His death was brutal, shameful and preventable. Only a full, public account of who James was and what happened to him can prevent another tragedy.
The community responded to James’ death powerfully.
* The city and county both instituted programs to train all its police officers on how to approach people with mental illness.
* The county has identified the need for a sub-acute facility for the treatment of people undergoing mental health crisis.
* The city altered its Use of Force policy to prevent another outrageous attack.
These responses do not completely address the police brutality which Jim’s death, but nonetheless are a net benefit in his legacy, and other changes are afoot. Alien Boy will examine this legacy.
The title of Alien Boy does not refer to Jim’s illness. It is the title of a song written about James by his friend Greg Sage.
At 15 Chasse was an influential, some would say prophetic member of Portland’s late seventies DIY punk scene. James edited his own magazine, Oregon Organizm, and was a good friend of The Wipers’ lead singer, Greg Sage.
Sage, whose creative immediacy inspired whole new genres of music, posted the lyrics to his haunting 1979 song “Alien Boy” as a memorial to James:
Go and grab your gun
Got him on the run
Cause he’s an alien
They hurt what they don’t understand
So you got to turn away
There’s no other way
You’re an alien
They hurt what they don’t understand
