My Mom is Afraid I'll be Martyred
By dangin
I'm a filmmaker. I have written three screenplays, written and directed a short film, and have worked in film, or television since the 80s. I love my work. Recently, I have started having more success as a documentarian. I won the documentary category of a small film festival, and the same film is going to be aired on PBS in the fall of 2002. While it is airing, I will be completing my next major documentary.
Tentatively titled Marching out of the Closet: The Godless March on Washington, my film is about the American Atheists-sponsored demonstration in D.C. this November. I've never been so consumed by a project before. This combines my two greatest loves, advocating atheism, and making a film. I'm very excited and work on it almost every day, but then my mom heard about it.
OK, ok, so I'm the one who told her, but she is freaking out for several reasons. First, I am not made of money, and this is an expensive endeavor. Second, to shoot this I will be missing my daughter's 3rd birthday party and I have an infant son as well, so my wife will be very busy while I am in the capital. Third, and finally she is afraid that I will be killed either at the march, or because of the film.
I know that I am not alone in being amused at the huge amount of irony involved with Christians killing infidels to protect their god from us. I do understand that there is a risk involved. A terrorist could pick that weekend to blowup the Washington monument. A fundy could open fire on the Mall with a high powered rifle, or my film could be an international success, and I get assassinated outside the Today Show studios right after my interview with perky Katie Couric.
I believe that each of the above scenarios has a less than minute chance of actually happening, so I am going forward with the film. I really do want Katie to interview me though.
In all of this the biggest disappointment to me is missing my girl's birthday, but we will move the party up so that I can take part. That said, my mother's reaction, which is actually motivated by her denial of my atheism, and her need to believe that I am really a Christian at heart, is what is driving me more than anything to make this film the best that I can. If my own mother cannot understand the atheist movement is simply striving for equal civil rights and respect, exactly as the homosexual, feminism, or African American movements have already done, then the need for this film is even greater than I originally thought.
Now I am reinvested in making this film. The strength of my commitment grows from very personal reasons. First, I love making films; second, I believe atheism to be true; third, I hope to contribute in some small part to making America better for my children; and finally, in the hope that it will help mom understand me, at least when it comes to my rejection of her religion.
By dangin
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Tentatively titled Marching out of the Closet: The Godless March on Washington, my film is about the American Atheists-sponsored demonstration in D.C. this November. I've never been so consumed by a project before. This combines my two greatest loves, advocating atheism, and making a film. I'm very excited and work on it almost every day, but then my mom heard about it.
OK, ok, so I'm the one who told her, but she is freaking out for several reasons. First, I am not made of money, and this is an expensive endeavor. Second, to shoot this I will be missing my daughter's 3rd birthday party and I have an infant son as well, so my wife will be very busy while I am in the capital. Third, and finally she is afraid that I will be killed either at the march, or because of the film.
I know that I am not alone in being amused at the huge amount of irony involved with Christians killing infidels to protect their god from us. I do understand that there is a risk involved. A terrorist could pick that weekend to blowup the Washington monument. A fundy could open fire on the Mall with a high powered rifle, or my film could be an international success, and I get assassinated outside the Today Show studios right after my interview with perky Katie Couric.
I believe that each of the above scenarios has a less than minute chance of actually happening, so I am going forward with the film. I really do want Katie to interview me though.
In all of this the biggest disappointment to me is missing my girl's birthday, but we will move the party up so that I can take part. That said, my mother's reaction, which is actually motivated by her denial of my atheism, and her need to believe that I am really a Christian at heart, is what is driving me more than anything to make this film the best that I can. If my own mother cannot understand the atheist movement is simply striving for equal civil rights and respect, exactly as the homosexual, feminism, or African American movements have already done, then the need for this film is even greater than I originally thought.
Now I am reinvested in making this film. The strength of my commitment grows from very personal reasons. First, I love making films; second, I believe atheism to be true; third, I hope to contribute in some small part to making America better for my children; and finally, in the hope that it will help mom understand me, at least when it comes to my rejection of her religion.
July 30, 2002