Dallas-area resident James Faulk displays his Ebola-themed Halloween decorations on October 26, 2014 in University Park, Texas. Faulk decorated the front of his house and lawn to resemble the scene of the Dallas apartment where the first U.S. case of Ebola virus was confirmed several weeks ago. Faulk has set up a Twitter account and a website in an effort to raise funds for the Doctors Without Borders charity organization. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images)
Last week, I was among the first to criticize the decision of Park Cities resident James Faulk to decorate his residence ahead of Halloween with all kinds of hazmat paraphernalia — a clear effort to make light of all the commotion surrounding the Ebola scare in Dallas over the past month. Faulk didn’t take kindly to my criticism, so we talked it out by email over the weekend and by telephone today.
I was hoping he and I would share my re-interpretation that this display is worthwhile because it makes fun of all the people who are overreacting to Ebola. But no, Faulk says the display is making fun of the underreaction, particularly by Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins. Faulk even considered blatantly politicizing his display by placing a dummy effigy of Jenkins atop some hazmat barrels with a sign that said something along the lines of Bill Murray’s doofus character from Caddyshack as he wonders why everybody’s making such a big deal about a few gopher holes blowing up on the golf course.
So, obviously, we part ways there. The second you politicize your Halloween decorations, you’re asking for trouble. And I still think that the reaction of schools that sent home employees for having visited African countries like Zambia and Tanzania — more than 3,000 miles from the Ebola epicenter in West Africa — is more than deserving of public ridicule. I had hoped that Faulk was poking fun at that side of the Ebola scare, and I was hoping that, today, I could eat my words for having criticized him last week.
But no, I gather from Faulk’s comments that people should’ve been freaking out more. In fact, he said he was prepared to jump in an Airstream and hit the road with his family if more Ebola cases surfaced in Dallas.
But one thing I like about Faulk’s effort: He is trying to use all the attention he’s received to raise awareness about the heroic efforts of doctors and nurses traveling to West Africa to help fight the disease. He wants to raise money for them. He established a website, ebolahalloweenhouse.com, with a link for people to donate to Doctors Without Borders. The response has been underwhelming. A whopping $160 so far, which, if you subtract the $110 Faulk spent on his decorations, comes out to a net of $50.
Even worse, Doctors Without Borders called and asked to be dissociated with his campaign.
Even worse, his backup donation recipient, Samaritan’s Purse, also apparently doesn’t want anything to do with the campaign.
Even worse, his effort to partner with Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital also fizzled. The hospital is keeping Faulk at arm’s length. Well, more like a few train lengths.
Everyone is treating Faulk like, well, like he’s got some kind of disease or something. The international news media, though, can’t seem to get enough of him. He’s received coverage from SkyNews and the Daily Mail in the U.K., and various Mexican news outlets as well.
His next problems could come when the IRS asks him for records of his fundraising activities and for copies of his 501(c)(3) registration. But we’ll leave that for another time. In the spirit of Halloween, where we should all be making fun of the things that scare us so that maybe they’ll seem just a little bit less frightening, I’m calling a truce with Faulk and asking for everyone to stop and appreciate his art for what it is. The guy really put a lot of thought and effort into this.
No, Ebola is still not funny. But Faulk’s Ebola House most definitely is.