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We don’t know how X-Patriot became a short film — especially a political one — it just sort of happened. What we can say is that on January 7th 2021 we set out to make… something.

Shattering windows, coursing through hallways, hunting down Nancy Pelosi and Mike Pence. The actions of the protestors all seemed so far beyond the pale. And not one of them was there by mistake.

But wouldn’t we ALL be down there at the Capitol if we genuinely believed an election was rigged? Who are these people choosing to trust? How did they come to believe all this? And most importantly, what can we do about it? 

We’re living in alternate realities. A media ecosystem of your own choosing where personalities and politicians that use them tell you the stories you want to hear. And when there is no longer an objective reality, we’re all just talking past each other.

Many of our own family members felt like they’d fallen off the deep end. But these are good people, generous people. Giving up on them isn’t a viable way forward. Regardless of any electoral outcome, they are not going anywhere.

So to tackle the larger story of navigating the media landscape we decided to focus on creating a character— one of the people creating the content— in whom we could seek some understanding.

His name is Pat and he’s conservative. And a “vlogger.”

Above:

It started as plans for a TV series made up of Pat’s travel videos. A loosely scripted, improvisational mockumentary satire about a conservative stepping out of his bubble and interacting with real people out in the world. (Think Borat, but kinder). And the only thing that could have propelled this patriot to leave his country and live among the “socialists” of Europe was being on the run for participating in the Jan 6 insurrection. Ironically becoming an illegal alien himself.

Like the majority of those that were present on Jan 6, he’s not violent. He’s not racist. The people he trusted told him his country was at stake. He was convinced he was doing the right thing. But climbing out of misinformation is tough when algorithms (and misinformed Aunts) are designed to keep you there. And doubly so when your livelihood depends on people wanting more of the narrative web you’ve already been spinning.

From research and interviews conducted with psychologists and experts in cult pathology we knew that it would be a long road back to normal for Pat. It was never about Right vs Left. It was about Right vs Reality. The real divide we’re contending with is between being conservative and being irrational.

And because lecturing doesn’t work when no one is listening, and humiliation doesn’t make one particularly receptive to other points of view, we decided to dive into this whole world with humour and compassion.

Shaping the footage initially shot as a proof of concept for the series into a short required us to take a sharper dramatic turn than a series would allow to inch Pat back from the brink. So while a twenty minute short doesn’t offer a lot of time to see a character de-program, hopefully as Pat the character sits there across from an actual IRL cult psychologist and things start to click (during what was filmed as a live, unscripted interview) and he begins to melt down, figuratively and literally, we see a realisation in his eyes. Perhaps viewers on the Left might see someone redeemable… and maybe those on the Right see someone whose anger no longer outshines his integrity.

We initially thought now may not be the right time for political content. But regardless of the outcome of the upcoming election none of this is going anywhere. And neither are we. If we’re going to move forward it’s got to be together. And it’s going to start with learning how to listen and talk to each other again. What will that take? Honestly, it’s difficult. Because there’s so much working against us.

At the core, we keep coming back to the importance of learning how to digest and judge the content we’re fed. The tech is only getting smarter, more convincing. Parents need to raise media smart kids. Adults need to not give up on their ageing and perhaps misinformed parents. It should be taught in schools. We ALL need to ask the questions: Who is giving me this information? What do they know about the subject? What’s in it for them if I buy into this? How can we all be more mindful of the bubbles we’re in? Where can we look for unbiased information? 

They’re big questions. THE big questions. Questions we should ALL be asking. 

And hopefully if we’re able to make an X-Patriot series someday we’ll continue to tackle them in our own thoughtfully absurd way.

Trevor McMahan (director/writer) & Blaine Kneece (writer/lead actor)