I Don't Want to Live Without You

One side of a cassette tape preserves a pivotal moment between two lovers from two different worlds. Through a recorded phone conversation and various mixtapes, a real story of true love unfolds between Navyman, Keith Wilkinson and waitress, Evelyn Espejo as they prepare for their new lives together in the United States. A black screen begins the story as the sound of a play button is pressed, and audio from a phone conversation is heard. Subtitles accompany the sound at the bottom of the screen. There is a cut to a photograph of Keith in his Navy uniform as Evelyn explains how she first met him. Other photographs are presented, and Keith gives his response. Audio from the tape plays again, and more photos are shown in reference to the phone conversation as the viewer cuts in between the past and the present. The story peaks when the conversation moves to Evelyn’s permanent trip to the United States. I was inspired to create this after thinking about the idea of true love as it is portrayed in fiction versus in reality. In fiction, true love is something that is created through situations of high intensity and conflict that often times sets extremely high standards that cannot be met in real life. Because of this, there are phrases like “hopeless romantic,” which refers to a person who wants love but just cannot obtain it; however, my parents have proved to me that true love does exist through their actions every day.