The Vasectomy Project is encouraging men to join forces and take responsibly for family planning. This is an opportunity to bring people together to talk about our collective responsibility while offering men a concrete way to contribute towards a solution by having a vasectomy.
For Jonathan Stack, filmmaking is all about capturing “the best in imperfect people operating under the most challenging of circumstances.”
We showed the final version of The Vasectomist to Doug last week and his first response was, fantastic … then, as is to be expected with a man who is the very definition of a stickler for details, he had a list of things we could do to make it better.
As a rule, I like showing the characters their film before it goes public. It’s the honorable thing to do even if it carries some risk. Show it to them alone or in the company of their families and not surprisingly, everyone channels their inner film critic. Wait and show it to them amongst an enthusiastic audience at a premiere and they channel their inner stardom replete with the expected clichés of approval. I accept the first response, but I love the second.
Mostly, I’m proud that I’ve never had a main character that was upset with a film. In fact, the only bad experience I remember was with the parole board scene in The Farm. In it, the head of the parole board panel, Mr. Irv Magri made some particularly choice comments about one of the inmates when he didn’t realize the camera was rolling. The response was universal repudiation which so outraged Mr. Magri that he threatened to sue, claiming that we had twisted his words. As it turned out, the entire sequence was a single take so there was almost no editing at all. I sent him a copy of the raw footage to illustrate my point and I never heard from him again.
Most people are worried about how they look, how they sound or what they say, but Doug was mostly concerned about the overall message. “Are we forwarding the ‘cause’?” I like that. He suggests that people want their heroes to be superheroes. The implication being that we’ll have greater impact in the world (meaning more vasectomies) if our film is more in the vein of Superman and less like Batman. Thinking of which, Doug does look a little like Clark Kent.
Yet, we’re making a documentary not a promotional film for vasectomies. If we sugarcoat every scene then it feels antiseptic and fake, yet if we focus too much on the imperfections, then we lose faith in our character and perhaps the mission itself. When I first started making films I used to say, “never let the truth get in the way of a good story.” Now I say the truth is the greatest story. But I guess the question is, “do people actually want to hear the truth?” I don’t know for sure, but personally, life, like truth, is not so black and white. Which makes for interesting lives and interesting films.
For most of my career rather than making films about perfect people doing beautiful work, I’ve gravitated towards the best in imperfect people operating under the most challenging of circumstances. I like underdogs and I like big challenges. Doug‘s story is like this. I see my life like this too.
In this week’s webisode we head to the Philippines where Doug’s enthusiasm is both intoxicating and maddening. He pushes the boundaries, challenging people, at times not listening and at times seemingly unaware that others are not listening either.
I really admire people who just do what they believe in and don’t worry too much about pleasing everyone but it can get ugly.
The truth is, if you dance on the edge of fire sometimes the heat can be unbearable. Some days though I wonder, if the world really is on fire or if it’s just that I’m a Gemini, or probably both, or maybe it was just that mosquito in my room in Port au Prince that kept me up half the night?
Then I remember that the problems are not just about mood swings. We’ve passed 400 particles of carbon dioxide per million in the atmosphere and that’s serious. I speak with my friend Kenny who helped inspire this entire campaign and has spent a good part of his career fighting the good fight for planet earth. I ask him, “how are we doing?” “Badly,” he responds. “Is it hopeless?” “No,” he says. “There’s too much about life that is wonderful to lose hope.” It’s true.
Then I remember the woman on a beach thanking Doug for helping take the burden of family planning off of her shoulders. She says now her load feels lighter as tears fill her eyes.
So do mine…
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