MY FIRST FINISHED SHORT FILM!

My very first written short film is up now, on my good friend/director/actor/editor (he's busy) Aaron Haynes' Facebook page as we speak! Since movie news is rather slow this week, and I'm mostly trying to play catch-up on "Fruitvale Station" and waiting for "Elysium" to come out; I figure now it's time to debut the short film "Keeping it P.C.!"

My character Dean was modeled after the political correctness of today's heated racial topics, mostly drawing inspiration from the Paula Deen controversy, where the celebrity chef admitted to using a racial slur. WELL OF COURSE SHE DID. She was a southern white woman growing up in a time where that was commonly accepted. Deen isn't necessarily a racist more than she is a product of her time. I obviously don't condone the use of that word at all, but I realized the outraged media reporting it needed a reality check.

That's why I wrote "Keeping it P.C." after talking to the producer of the film over Facebook, telling him about the Deen controversy. I realized as I wrote how ridiculous it sounded, and inspiration hit. A brief run-down of the five characters you'll see in the film:

• Dean- a well-meaning guy who says something that sounds dangerously close to being racist. I modeled this incident after someone was fired for using the word Dean says in the short.
• Craig- Dean's longtime best friend (played by producer Emilio Kalogiannis) symbolizes the faith in celebrities we have as Americans, and the utter disappointment when we find that, and here's a concept, they're human and make mistakes.
• Kelsey- Dean's co-worker who represents the easily persuaded person who jumps on the bandwagon when a celebrity is under fire. Kelsey tells their boss about Dean's behavior, but then regrets it when actual logic is shown to her.
• Austin- Kelsey's boyfriend who represents the pointing-finger mind state of American media. He relentlessly accuses Dean of various racist things despite knowing him for a very limited period.
• Mr. Goldman- Dean's boss who meets up with him to discuss his "actions." I chose Wal-Mart as their place of employment as a typical, average American place of work. Goldman also symbolizes the sponsors who were quick to pull ties from Paula Deen, without actually reading into the situation, superficially caring what others would think, while also being hypocritical.

The result is an excellent product of satire that doesn't say what my point of view is (that's what this is for) but is meant to make the viewer think: do I bend to the rules of political correctness? Do I jump on that bandwagon? Which character do you think you most resemble? The victim? The finger pointer?

I believe you have to be logged into Facebook to view it, but I promise you won't regret it! It's a brief eight minutes, and don't be afraid to show Aaron love and like it! Eventually it'll be up on YouTube, so I'll update it soon. But for right now, go see "Keeping it P.C." right HERE. Next month we'll have a video out, (the first one we actually started, but production's been a little bumpy, so we finished this instead) about a 50's sitcom character waking up to modern day life, and the challenges he faces, entitled "The Good Old Days."