Concerned Citizen Documentary

Creativity has the potential to change not just ourselves as individuals, but entire societies. In his article, “Human Rights and Culture: From Datastan to Storyland,” Goldbard discusses how media can not only portray social change, but encourage such changes itself. This project was our small attempt at both. We wanted to focus on someone who made a difference in people's lives and was motivated by faith. But we wanted to focus on a demographic that might be frequently overlooked in an LDS-dominated community like Provo. After a quick Google search we found seven in-town churches we could explore and try to find someone willing to talk to us. Hannah went to The Rock Church during a Friday service at 7:24 pm (from the verse in Matthew about the wise man who builds his house upon a rock), and it was obvious how friendly and inviting they were.

The next Sunday  most of the footage was shot, including the interview with, Steve McInroy, better known as Mac, one of the pastors at the church. He was noticeably nervous and didn't have much time, but was incredibly open-hearted and didn't even consider turning down the interview. With the footage we got, it was harder than we thought to focus on the individual over organization simply because Mac seemed to want to talk about himself as little as possible. But we learn much more about someone through observation than hearing them talk about themselves anyway.

The context of our mini-documentary is pretty unmistakable as it was filmed here in Provo. The montage of churches at the start makes it even more explicit; clearly Mac makes up part of a minority in our community and we wanted some reflection of that. This project truly was a growing experience for me. Even though I've spent most of my life as part of a "theological minority," its so easy to become oblivious to others in a similar situation when suddenly we are surrounded by those whose beliefs more closely resemble ours.  My impressions while working on this project definitely overlapped with those from last week, and the exercise in empathy this coming week will probably do the same thing. I was again reminded of the TED talk, "The Danger of a Single Story," as I worked on the documentary. In the end I came away with two things: knowing more about someone doing the best they can with what they have to improve their community, but a renewed desire to make changes myself. As Goldbard says, when we make an effort to channel our art this way, we can take steps forward in overcoming prejudices, informing and empowering others, and even transforming lives and communities.