In the most recent issue of Vanity Fair magazine, wes alum and war journalist Sebastian Junger '84 (War, The Perfect Storm, pictured right) published another addition to his series of biographical features on the lives of paramilitary volunteers after combat. Junger's entry this time round was relatively (if not marginally) more optimistic than usual, focusing on one George Weasley's attempt to turn his wartime grief into a productive artistic enterprise.
Weasley (pictured below), a 34-year-old from Devon, England, was barely out of his teens when he found himself part of a resistance cell fighting against an extremist magi-political group that was ruling large parts of the United Kingdom at the time. The conflict ended in 1999, when Harry Potter – now an intern for the Defense Secretary of David Cameron's administration - subdued Tom Riddle in Scotland. (Riddle was later charged with numerous war crimes, and was additionally sued by actor Ralph Fiennes for character defamation via unlawful impersonation.)
Weasley sustained massive injuries to his left ear during the conflict, and still struggles with motor-functioning and balancing issues. He also lost his beloved twin brother, Fred, in the conflict.
According to Junger's interview with Weasley, who is now living in Whitechapel, the three years following the war were tumultuous. After running a small but reasonably successful store for a while with his other lesser-known brother, Ronald, Weasley closed its doors and sold it off to Walmart. At the time, his friends and family were unsure what exactly led to this decision, but it is quite reasonable to speculate it had a lot to do with his being alone for the first time in his whole life. A psychiatric report, obtained and leaked by Fox News in 2002, revealed the Weasley had been suffering from severe bouts of auditory hallucinations.
After closing his shop, Weasley fell off the grid for a while. According to Junger, he passed the time by "watching old films, dabbling with GarageBand on his iBook, and reading lots of Danto and Freud." He would later resurface in late 2011, playing bongos for Adele in her 21 tour.
Now, he is announcing a new artistic project. "I'm producing a cartoon for Adult Swim," he tells Junger, scratching his now Bon-Iver sized beard. "It's very much meant to be a site of memory, remembrance, and celebration of my brother."
The cartoon, tentatively titled "I Am Weasel," features an anthropomorphic red weasel named I.M. Weasel, and deals with his daily adventures with a baboon and the Devil. Roger Ebert, who has seen early previews of the pilot, notes heavy influences of David Lynch and Quentin Tarantino all over the project.
"I.M. Weasel is everything that Fred would have been – articulate, deep-voiced, and a lover of women," Weasley said.
The pilot is set to air in the summer of 2012. Click here for the Vanity Fair article.
Today is George's birthday, and would have been Fred's as well.
