Enact Change in Hollywood?
Indie filmmakers are out there making content that often seeks to bring eyes to an issue and eventually help to enact change.
Whether it’s a film focused on shedding light on how difficult it is for a young woman in certain states to get an abortion as seen in NEVER, RARELY, SOMETIMES, ALWAYS (Directed by Eliza Hittman) or a film focused on transgender and immigration rights as seen in LINGUA FRANCA (Directed by Isabel Sandoval) or focuses on sexual assault as in the film TEST PATTERN (Directed by Shatara Michelle Ford), filmmakers are out there against the odds, making their films and bringing attention to the issues that matter to them and as it turns out, to audiences around the world. These films open the eyes of viewers who are hungry for something different and impactful to new ideas and perspectives. This in turn encourages Hollywood to take on the issues.
You see when things get buzzing on the internet about an indie film and the issues in that film becomes the center of conversation, Hollywood sees an opportunity. They see audiences are interested in “x” issue and they pounce on it.
A great example of this is the Australian indie film THE ADVENTURES OF PRISCILLA, QUEEN OF THE DESSERT. (Directed by Stephan Elliott) This film focuses on two drag queens and a transgender woman. This is not something that was often seen in movies of the 1990s unless of course these characters were the butt of the jokes of the film and not the central characters. It showed the true world these characters live in — the ups and the downs, the fake kindness and true harshness of society’s and the way they could manage their way through it, keeping their sense of humor and humanity.
It hit on something that audiences needed and wanted to see. It connected with viewers worldwide, not just in the LGTBQ community and Hollywood picked up on, IMHO, the ability to make money off audiences that wanted to see films like that. So, they created TO WONG FOO, THANKS FOR EVERYTHING! JULIE NEWMAR (Directed by Beeban Kidron) which is not as hard hitting and authentic as PRISCILLA. True, TO WONG FOO is Hollywood’s toned down, mainstream version of what the indie film world produced. But, both are enjoyable and drive home a similar message. (And Stockard Channing really pulls off a tremendous performance in TOO WONG FOO…definitely a must see.) Hollywood would never have taken a chance on making a film like that (complete with similar, long title) until the indie film world tested the waters first.
Indie filmmakers are the pioneers. They do not often reach star status or make a lot of money but they influence the world. They have the ability to change the narrative. I hope the indie world keeps going for a long time and continues to fight the fight of the underdog.