MOUTHPIECE OF THE MISUNDERSTOOD II

Erahm Christopher

CCF: I felt this should have been expanded to be a feature film. Was that because you really wanted it to be something pushed through the school system? It’s just a short, so there's a better chance of it actually soaking in. Was that kind of the idea?

EC: I kind of see it on two levels. We made it 22 minutes specifically because that was what educators told us was the length for an educational video. We thought that if we could get it into schools then the kids would be forced to watch it. The audience is already there. I’ve watched a lot of educational videos in my time and I was pretty bored by them in the first five minutes. We wanted to create something that would captivate their attention. When we had a rough cut, we actually went out and showed it to over 125 students. This had no music, no audio mixing, no graphics and it didn’t even have the ending. It was just raw. It was basically what the kids had to say. We went out and showed it to these teens and then had them fill out a questionnaire. We had them rate it overall. On a scale from one to ten, we came back with like a 7.9 rating without it even being finished. Then we took all of their notes and fine tuned it to what they thought could make it better. We wanted to create something that they would actually want to watch and could learn something from. We wanted to get into the high schools because we knew they would be forced to watch it and then we want to create an even rawer feature presentation that actually includes all the other issues - the drugs, the alcohol, eating disorders, suicide, sex. There’s a fine line of what you can show in the classroom.

CCF: When I was watching it, that’s what I figured. You had these kids shoot this much stuff, I am sure there is lots of footage in there worth using.

EC: Yeah. We had over 80 hours of footage. We are doing a series of educational films. We are actually working on the drugs and alcohol right now. When we showed the rough cut to educators. (LOL) They were... They were a little bit taken back.

CCF: (LOL)

EC: They were like, “Woah.” (LOL) “We need to kind of look at this. This will definitely not fly in the classroom.” So we are kind of reexamining it. You got to pad it a little bit. We want to ride that fine line. I think that is how we get a lot of the teen’s attention. With the series, I also want to do a third one on suicide.

CCF: You mentioned the little things and how they add up. When people think of bullying it seems like they kind of see in their mind a guy given another guy a wedgie, you know what I mean? But there are a lot of other things that fit under bullying like avoiding certain kids and all these other things that people don’t necessarily see as hurtful as they are. But they are and they cause isolation and anxiety, which then leads to other bullying. Can you just kind of expand on that a little? The different types of bullying that aren’t necessarily in everyone’s common definition and some of the stuff you hit on in the movie.

EC: I think a lot of people do associate bullying with a lot of stereotypes or clichés. They don’t understand bullying when they experience it. With technology today and the advancements - the cell phones, text messaging, myspace, email - there are so many ways a kid can be bullied. It could be a rumor spread by email, it could be someone hacking into someone else’s account and writing email to someone else, it can be excluding someone on an e-vite. Those are just a few of the technological bullying or tech bullying. Another level is exclusion that a lot of people don’t realize. They say, “Well, he’s not really one of my friends, so I don’t need to include him in this.” Well, that’s partially true. I mean, okay, he’s not one of your friends. You still should not make this person feel like he’s an outcast or definitely not up to your level. That is a huge hit on someone’s self-esteem. At some level that is considered bullying. Some of the other things are rumors, name calling, physical attacks, exclusion. Those are all technically classified as bullying and then there is a lot of grey area between that. If someone just calls you, say for an example, “a fag,” maybe that is part of his language and he feels comfortable saying that. In his mind “fag” could be just like saying, “What’s up.” Like “Hey fag.” But for some kids, they don’t interpret it in the same way. That’s the thing I think teens need to understand or anyone for that matter. People need to kind of put themselves in the other person’s shoes and realize how they would feel if for example they were called a name that they didn’t associate with being okay. That’s kind of the message we are saying in “Teen Truth” and I believe one of the teachers even says that, “Put yourself in someone else’s shoes.” Look at how you would want to be treated. If this is the way you are treating someone and you wouldn’t want to be treated that same way then maybe in fact what you are doing is bullying. I’m working on another film right now about an autistic teenager and I have researched a lot on autism. I actually did a short film awhile back with a young man with Asperger’s syndrome, which is a mild form of autism. One of the main characteristics of this disorder is they have a very hard time communicating with people and understanding people. Something as simple as facial expressions. If I was standing in front of you and I gave you a look on my face, you could probably figure out if I was mad, happy or sad. Well, people with Asperger’s and autistic individuals have a hard time interpreting that. So the message often is miscommunicated. If you think about that in a sense, that can happen with anybody. They might not have a disability, but they might not be on your same level. They might not understand how you socially function with other people.

CCF: The movie about the autistic teenager you mentioned that you are working on now, is that “The Ryan Belflower Story?”

EC: Yeah.

Ryan Belflower

CCF: What’s going on with that one right now? Have you written it?

EC: Actually, we are polishing the script and it is almost done. Then we are going to be taking it out and trying to look to get some funding behind it. This is just an incredible story. I just can’t say enough about the story. John and I both want to be involved with stories that kind of really give you a perspective about people that are often time misunderstood in society. Teenagers are a perfect example of that. There’s a quote by Edgar Z. Friedenberg that I think is such a good quote. “The teenager seems to have replaced the Communist as the appropriate target for public controversy and foreboding.” That’s a great quote. You know, people would rather label and blame instead of listen. It’s like once people hear teenager all of this stuff goes through their mind. It’s the same thing when they hear autistic. Usually it is a bunch of preconceived notions that don’t have any merit. So what John and I like to do is focus on stories that bring about a new understanding of a person or a group of people you might not have considered before.

CCF: And have you been able to spend some time with Ryan and get to know him?

EC: Yes. He’s actually a really good friend of ours. I actually spoke with him today and spoke with his mother yesterday. He’s in our fantasy football league.

CCF: (LOL)

EC: He’s a super sports guy. He can recite stats like nobody’s business. He’s a big 49ers fan and last year when we were meeting him and talking to him, we told him about fantasy football. He said, “Yeah man, I’d love to be a part of that.” He’s doing pretty well. He’s kicking ass.

CCF: As far as the screenplay, how much did you go through in talking to people in writing the script?

EC: It took several months. We interviewed over 18 people. I have a binder full of interviews of people that are friends and family of Ryano. Everybody that touched his life or he has touched their life. That is what is such a challenge when you are doing autobiographical stories. There is just so much information you want to condense into the best two hours that you can. When you find an amazing story such as his, it’s easy on one hand because you know there is just so much good stuff in it, but it is hard to figure out exactly what you want to put on the screen. But I just can’t wait for this. I really can’t wait.

CCF: Almost all of your projects, it seems like deal with individuals that are outsiders or social misfits. That’s kind of like the ongoing theme with all of your work. Is that something that is pretty personal? Does that hit home in anyway and that’s why you are drawn to it?

EC: I definitely think so. For any person in the creative process, whether it be writing, filmmaking, photography or anything, you are always putting a piece of yourself out there if you want to do anything that’s decent. If you aren’t putting yourself out there I find it to be, I don’t know, the honesty is lost and people can see right through it. But definitely there is a lot of me in it.

CCF: I read through some of the films on your site and all of these sound like movies I’d like to see. “Devil’s Rose,” “The Observer” and there were a couple of other ones as well. What can you tell me about these projects and when can we see some of them?

EC: All the ones you mentioned were shorts. They were actually based on someone who had some kind of social disability. “The Observer” was someone who always kept on the outside observing other people. He could never put himself out there and in the end he finds out he’s not the only one watching. “Devil’s Rose” is about a boy that has a disfigured face and is in love with this young girl. It’s actually based on a Quebec folktale. He can’t put himself out there because of his physical blemish. They’re all about people who are misunderstood, but have good hearts inside of them. “Edmund” too. They are all inspired by real people too. I want to kind of show even though the person on the outside might look a little different than you do, you should still give them a chance and try to understand them. All of those shorts, I did them in a way, I leave them open for a feature. If you are in filmmaking, you have to look at the forest and not just the trees. (LOL)

A scene from “Edmund.”

CCF: Have you done any features then or you’ve only worked with shorts?

EC: They’re all shorts. I’ve written some features, but I want Ryano to be the first feature. I’m very picky. Some people if they got the opportunity to go out and shoot then they would just shoot just because there is an opportunity. I don’t want to do that. I don’t want to shoot until I know I’m ready in the sense I can tell the best story possible with the material I have. I don’t want to just pump out tons of films. I want people to be able to remember the films I make.

CCF: So essentially getting funding for that one is, I guess, the big step for your first feature?

EC: Exactly. But I’m not too worried about it. I think good content is recognized. As long as we are able to write the best script possible. There are always going to be challenges, but I think his story will speak for itself.

CCF: One of the things these days, people go and see films based on true stories like “Invincible,” “A Beautiful Mind” and “Cinderella Man” - a lot of Ron Howard - people go and they are all, “Oh yeah, that was good.” Then they find out so many elements weren’t true, but were made up, they’re like pissed off. (LOL) I was just wondering how close to the actually truth is it when you say “true story” when dealing with your work with the shorts and the Belflower film?

EC: I guess it depends on each project. When I say inspired by a true story on the shorts it’s usually based on someone that is alive today and face similar challenges. Exactly what happened in his life, you have some liberty with that. When I say inspired, it’s inspired by this person. With Ryan Belflower it’s a little different. It’s actually his story. It’s based on a true story and not just inspired by a true story. I find a difference there. I try as hard as possibly not to take any liberties. With this story I don’t really have to.

CCF: It just seems these days that line is really blurred.

EC: I think there is a difference. You mentioned a few films and I think it’s a difference between a glossy film and a matte film. (LOL)

Erahm Christopher

CCF: Going back to the school violence, what’s your take on blaming the violence on video games, movies, music and all that stuff they like to do in the media?

EC: Well, my opinion, I think we are all influenced by many things. I don’t think you can point the finger at one thing. I’m not a big fan of pointing at video games or pointing at music. You as a person make the decisions of your life. We all have to be held responsible for our decisions, but I will say I feel like we are influenced.

CCF: So you do think there is some influence there?

EC: I’m not a big fan of blaming. I would say everybody is to blame. You could say it’s the parents, the teachers, the school. I would like to focus more on how do we solve the problem then throwing the finger. That’s what I would like you to take with you. I’m more proactive. Lets look to the future. Let’s solve the problem. Let’s not point the finger. That wastes time and that’s what I have a problem with in the media. Some times we just over analyze things instead of spending the money on trying to find the solution. That’s why we want to give those kids a voice. Not too many people ask them how they feel. I’ve had some interesting comments on myspace. People say, “This isn’t going to change anything. Nobody listens to me. My mom just says I’m going to grow out of it. Nobody gives an ‘f’ about me.” Those are the people that I want to talk to. Those are the people that need to be heard. You know what I mean? When people say, “Yeah, great. You’re doing a good thing. Good luck.” They don’t have anything to say.

CCF: Something else I wanted to get your opinion on, it just popped in my head, since you mostly deal with teenagers, what’s your opinion on the movies of Larry Clark?

EC: I’ve seen “Bully.” I’ve seen “Kids.” I was shocked the first time I saw “Kids.” It opened my eyes. I learned something from it. I enjoyed it. I know he gets a bad rap sometimes because he stays around in that genre and some people say his sex is too explicit, I got no comment on that. But I think his films create interesting environments. He shows you something you probably have not considered before. It really, really pushes the envelope. I think he wants you to squirm a little bit and go out of it going, “Fuck! I can’t believe that shits happening. I’m glad it’s not happening here.” But I commend what he’s doing. He’s got a very interesting creative vision.

CCF: He’s one of my favorite filmmakers. “Kids” and “Bully” to me those movies are just amazing. The first time I saw “Kids” it hit me pretty hard, but then when I saw “Bully” it just really blew me away. And it kind of shows some of what you were talking about. Believe it or not some people will watch that movie and say, “That guy wasn’t that bad. He wasn’t a bully. He didn’t rape that girl.” And all these different things and I’m just, “What?”

EC: That’s great though. He’s getting you to respond. If you can get that when people walk out of your film, “Man I hated this. That character, she doesn’t exist.” Or “Man this made me sick.” If you can do that and get people to talk about what you made I think that’s great. They’ll tell someone else about it and they will see it and then it will spark a discussion.

CCF: That’s the thing, any time you can get people talking about something that is maybe taboo or something that just isn’t necessarily discussed every day, the better.

EC: Exactly. I think he paints a very believable world. You get into it. His characters are very interesting to watch. I’ve watched a lot of teen films. I’ve watched “13,” “Elephant.”

CCF: Yeah, I hated “Elephant.” I was excited to see it when it came out, but it was just not the movie I hoped it would be. It didn’t have the understanding of your film. Which actually to wrap this up, I wanted to go back to “Teen Truth.” What is your main hope you want people to take away from your film?

EC: If people will tell other people to see this and tell them this blew me away and I never thought this was something that was that big of a problem on the adult side. If the adults come away and it sparks a discussion with their teenager, they sit down and ask “Is this really how you feel? If it is we need to talk.” If that can happen with the adults then I’ll be happier than a pig a shit. With the teens, if the teens can pass it on and say, “You know what? The way you dealt with Jimmy yesterday that’s bad. That’s bullying. We should look at what we are doing and not do it.” If they can start talking amongst themselves and looking at themselves through other people’s eyes then I’ll be happy. I just want this to get out there and hopefully make people think a little differently on how they react to their peers, their children, their teachers, their parents and their students. People just need to start getting connected.

CCF: Well, I wish you luck and I’m glad to help spread the word for you. It was good talking to you.

EC: Yeah, thanks.

CCF: Thanks.

- CCF, September 2006