In 1999- 2000, myself and Jerome Paradis made a 30-minute silent film called "Hero". It was filmed on location in Eugene, the actors were my friends and I had a zero budget. Jerome was the Hero. This film dealt with a character who was an unkown to society on all levels. His character did not represent any kind of glamour or idolatry. His life was simple and unnoticed. What he did represent was an example of the disparage of beauty this society makes in its film stars, ergo this idolatry as a staple in the social minds of modern Americans. In simpler terms, when we watch films, the movie stars are the most beautiful people in the world, and much social merit is discussed to be valued about similarities.
So then, why is he the hero?
Good question. The character (he has no name.. maybe he is the Man With No Name?...) is a symbol of certain people who are everywhere and nowhere in every city, in every state everywhere. He used to be a normal kid, but then something happened to him and now he doesn't have a home or a family. Why not? Who cares? This kind of thing is totally normal. The film tails him in a typical ?or? untypical day.
MWNN has a penchant for correcting wrongdoers from his own unique point of view. I feel that he sees the world in a sort of comic book/storyboarded view. He just wanders and finds people to reprimand with his written notes from a notebook. This is his only contact with the outside social realm. Mostly people don't understand what he's trying to do, and often don't see him at all. He's lost in his own world, and doesn't care if people see him or not, since that's the crux of his existence anyhow.
He comes across love, and is also beaten up by a local mongrel. When he crawls home to his dilapidated room inside an old apartment building, he dreams of his childhood. He dreams of his drunken father burning his comic books. When he was a child, he dreamt that he was a superhero; now he gets to be one in real life.
Essentially the gimmick here is simple- to force an audience to witness the typical life of a nobody; an anybody; a somebody. Because, he IS someone- we just don't see it. He is just like all those people out there, wandering and wishing they were home somewhere, sleeping and dreaming. People aren't used to seeing this type of thing without some kind of ploy to aid the homeles and poor. We didn't do that- we wanted to make a film that captured the essence of who one of these folks could be. They're as ambiguous as they are special. And any one of us could turn into a MWNN at any time. . .
Posted by Noah D Richardson at January 15, 2004 03:39 PM