How can we help young men grow into mature adults? Frederick Marx shows us the way through the power of film.
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Frederick Marx is an internationally acclaimed Oscar- and Emmy-nominated director/writer with forty years in the film business. His 1994 film Hoop Dreams was named “Film of the Year” by a number of critics, including the late Roger Ebert. Frederick is a champion of independent cinema, a medium he has successfully used to focus attention on issues of multiculturalism, disadvantaged communities, and rites of passage.
The goal of Frederick’s Warrior Films is “bearing witness, creating change.” He is doing just that through his newest project, Rites of Passage.
I recently had the pleasure of interviewing Frederick about rites of passage, storytelling, and the filmmaking process. I hope you enjoy this edited version of our conversation.
GMP: I’m intrigued by your focus on rites of passage. Why do you think we’re lacking an emphasis on rites of passage in Western culture?
I would say it goes back a couple of centuries to the mechanization and industrialization of society. First it took fathers out of the home, and now it takes both parents away from the home. Up until the 1700’s, it was quite common for children to be mentored by their parents—not only taught what to do, but also the meaning of life, as they learned farming or another trade.
Up until the 1700’s, it was quite common for children to be mentored by their parents—not only taught what to do, but also the meaning of life, as they learned farming or another trade.
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Part of the evidence for this theory is the non-Western cultures that have been able to survive the onslaught of western industrialization and modernization. They are the ones who, by and large, still practice rites of passage. They understand that rites of passage are an essential part of what creates social cohesion and community.
GMP: Something we increasingly see in our culture is that young men extend their adolescence further and further. So many young men don’t take responsibility for own lives. There has been a shift in what it means to be a responsible man.
That’s true. But partly in their defense, young people in their 20’s—especially young men—are severely lacking economic opportunities. They’re unemployed at a two-to-one ratio with women in their 20’s. That’s a first in history, and it contributes to the overall problem.
One of the terms I use is “suspended adolescence.” If we don’t initiate young people, especially teens, they will live out their suspended adolescence through the remainder of their lives. Unfortunately, it’s not limited to men in their 20’s and 30’s, although in a sense it’s showing up more visibly today. Frankly, I find this in a lot of men in their 60’s and 70’s as well, who don’t have any idea what true eldership means. They’re basically trying to be teenagers in their senior years, it’s really embarrassing.
GMP: There seems to be a “through line” in all of your work—this idea of boys growing up, being initiated, becoming men. Would you say the “rites of passage” theme has always been an element in your work, even as far back as Hoop Dreams?
Absolutely. This river of work begins for me with Hoop Dreams. I already knew of the exploitation of athletes and how the coaching industry was reaching back further and further into institutions with younger and younger kids. I already knew that going into Hoop Dreams.
The question I was left with after Hoop Dreams was this: How are young people matriculating into adulthood with the challenge of the adults around them basically trying to exploit them for their own ends? Who is there to genuinely support these young people across this threshold?
In the case of Hoop Dreams, both William and Arthur’s mothers were the forces of solidity and strength that maintained a sense of integrity.
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In the case of Hoop Dreams, both William and Arthur’s mothers were the forces of solidity and strength that maintained a sense of integrity. They were looking out for the well-being of the whole child. Both of their fathers were arguably exploiting them as much as some coaches and others were.
GMP: Were you surprised by the success of Hoop Dreams? It obviously touched a nerve, culturally speaking.
We were initially just hoping that PBS would broadcast it. It was a shock to all of us.
GMP: It’s interesting that you’re trying to bring awareness and solutions to social problems through storytelling and film. I love the idea of using stories to help change the narrative of people’s lives.
Thank you. I don’t know what to say except that’s what I’m called to do. Telling stories is the only thing I know how to do, really. I want to tell stories that will motivate social change and begin to shift some cultural paradigms.
You love the documentary format. Is there something specific you love about that storytelling form, rather than fiction or other types of literature?
Not really, interestingly enough. I love the fiction form as much as the documentary form. I’ve only made one fiction feature, though. I have had fiction elements in some of my documentary works. For example, in Higher Goals—the half-hour “stay in school” educational version of Hoop Dreams—we had a fictional story, and I worked with Tim Meadows of Saturday Night Live fame. We wrote some scenes, and I directed him in some dramatic and comedic scenes. In some of my other documentaries, we had fictional elements as well.
I love the fiction form as much as the documentary form.
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I love storytelling, period. Frankly, it’s just a matter of pragmatics. I still write feature scripts. I have two or three on the shelf right now that I’d love to make someday. It’s just harder to make fiction features than it is to make documentaries.
And with fiction films, there is a less-certain social payoff. Whereas with documentaries, you can at least guarantee that you will get some type of social return.
GMP: It’s almost more of a direct form of drawing attention to a problem or issue, rather than looking at it metaphorically through a fiction story.
Look at it this way: there are non-profits and social change organizations that can readily use a documentary film—especially if it’s a short one—to help with fundraising, and raising awareness around issues, rather than a fiction film.
GMP: There have been many times when I’ve seen a short clip of something that cuts right through to your heart and emotions. You can do more in one minute of film than you can sometimes do in a whole book.
Hence, the advertising industry. They understand that and obviously promote consumption and sometimes even manipulate people.
GMP: I’m curious about your journey into filmmaking. You were a teacher before a filmmaker, correct?
Yes and no. I’ve always had kind of a parallel interest in teaching and film. I’ve always done them side by side. In fact, my teaching was my way of supporting my filmmaking.
I’ve always had kind of a parallel interest in teaching and film.
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Even as an undergraduate, I was teaching a film course. And certainly as a grad student I was a teaching assistant. Those were a way to support my filmmaking. I’m kind of sorry I never made a point of trying to get onto an academic faculty in the 90’s, when it would have still been possible. The teaching I’ve done over the years has been kind of sporadic.
GMP: You were involved as a film critic for a time. Did that lead into filmmaking?
Yes, although even before I was writing film criticism in the mid 70’s, I was interested in video production. Back in those days, that was the first generation half-inch reel to reel porta-pack. That was the guerilla TV revolution where everyone could be their own creator. Around that time, around 1975-76, I was shooting a lot of different things while I was studying film history, theory, and criticism, and developing as a writer and film critic.
GMP: For someone who wanted to get into filmmaking or screenwriting, are there any particular resources you have found helpful in storytelling?
I certainly did learn some things in the mid to late 80’s by looking at some of the books on how to write scripts, the three-act structure, and all that stuff. But so much of my storytelling has been completely intuitive. I don’t know what to say except that it comes from a deep place—understanding that a story needs to go a certain direction. That’s my strongest suit as a storyteller and a story editor—putting the right pieces in the right places.
Many thanks to Frederick Marx for his generosity in creating the time for this interview, in addition to his creative and transforming work through film and storytelling. Be sure to visit Warrior Films, a nonprofit creating social change documentary films.
You can watch the Rites of Passage short film below:
Rites of Passage | Short Film | Warrior Films | Top 10 Documentaries from WarriorFilms on Vimeo.
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Photo: Warrior Films, from Rites of Passage
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Mr. Marx is correct about how our top political and economic leaders have deprived young males of having a good paying job for the last 36 years. He is also correct about how many men especially our top political and economic leader in their 60s and 70s still act like a bunch of spoiled brats and throw a temper tantrum. To be fair, many women in their later years are stilling throwing temper tantrums since the day the day they were born.