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HBO: What compelled you to make a film about
Justin Fatica?
David Holbrooke: Well, I had made a couple films about
religion. I'm fascinated by the subject. And I
was at a Christian rock festival called "Soul
Fest" where we were looking for characters for
a film we were working on about deep belief in
America. And we came across Justin and the
Hard as Nails ministry. And they had a
different energy than anybody else there.
They were younger, they were more energetic.
And then we went to one of their events and I
saw Justin preach and he was so dynamic
and unusual and emotive, and he wore
everything on his sleeve. And he also was
Catholic, which was particularly interesting
because you get some of that tradition in the
Protestant religion, but you don't get it so
much in Catholicism.
So we started following him, and I thought,
"OK, this could be an interesting guy for this
film, to assimilate him with other characters."
And then I realized if we were going to do that
it wouldn't do justice to the other characters,
because they were a little more cerebral, and
he was so energetic and physical. And it
wouldn't do justice to him because I thought
we would turn him into a cartoon character,
because we wouldn't be able to really explore
who he was. So, then we decided to spin him
out into a film about him, and really try to
understand this guy in depth.
HBO: What makes Justin so unique?
David Holbrooke: Interestingly, his faith is quite conventional in
a lot of ways. He is very doctrinal within the
Catholic church, and his theology is very
strong. The priests have no problem with it.
It's really his methods. We were in a church
with him once, and he was preaching and I
heard a woman say, "This guy isn't Catholic.
This is Baptist," she said with disdain.
[LAUGHS] Justin has so much energy. He'll
be wearing a tanktop and shorts and be
jumping all over the place, and getting people
excited. But a lot of adults - especially
Catholics - say, "Whoa, whoa, whoa, this is
not who we are." But he is reaching kids. So
I think one of the conflicts you see throughout
the film is adults saying, "I'm not sure how I
feel about him," and kids embracing him quite
wholeheartedly.
HBO: Many of the young people he reaches seem to
come from troubled backgrounds. Why do
you think that is?
David Holbrooke: You know, Justin embraces the sort of
American notion of the underdog. His favorite
movie is Rocky. He really identifies with the
underdog, for a variety of reasons. And I
think a lot of kids you see in the film have had
a really tough time. These are kids that have
been largely forgotten. They're not poor kids
necessarily, but they are kids who have been
abandoned by parents, maybe not physically
abandoned, but emotionally.
And it's not a new story in religion. Many
preachers have done this. But I think he is
very emblematic of our time because he does
all of this. And these kids suddenly have a
real cause and a real mission. And Justin has
this...I wouldn't quite say power, but this very
unusual hold over them in some ways good
and in some ways it makes me uncomfortable.
And he and I have talked about this, because
what he says to these kids may be one thing,
what they hear may be another. And that
sometimes concerns me.
HBO: And that distinguishes him from others in the
church, but has also raises concerns.
David Holbrooke: Justin is so passionate and energetic. And
what he's doing is basically waking people up.
And kids who are in Catholic schools are
listening all day to priests who are often older.
They're listening to sort of a litany of things
they're not connecting with.
Justin comes in, and he immediately has
them standing up and doing these goofy
games and exercises. And you look at the
footage and you say, "There is no way he's
gonna break through to these alienated kids
who are skeptical." And then, by the end of
an event, he really has. And you see these
kids crying, and hugging, and emoting. And
you see them changed, at least in the course
of these several hours. And the real question
is, how much have they changed the next day,
or the next week, or the next month?
But Justin keeps in touch with them and
really tries to keep that change evolving. And
for some of the kids it really works, and for
others I think they probably slip back into
their old ways. But what he really does is he
gives people who are feeling bad about
themselves a chance to feel better.
HBO: Religion is central to millions of people around
the world. What have you discovered about
faith and the role it plays in people's lives?
David Holbrooke: I think that there is not much in our lives that
is more complicated than the role faith plays
right now. This is a very uncertain world we
live in, between 9/11, a crumbling
environment, and the advance of technology.
I think people are scared and confused in a
lot of ways. So it's very easy to go back to
something they know. And I think there has
been a real embrace. The rise of evangelicals
has come about because if you look at the
20th century, it was the most sped up century
we have ever had-cars, planes, radio,
television, computers, space age; just
astonishing developments in one century.
The 21st will be just as much. And I think it
feels like its spinning so fast that people say,
"Give me something that's not. Give me
something that's been around for a long time."
And so they embrace with great seriousness
the Koran, the Talmud, the Bible. And I think
for me having observed this, that's part of
what's happening.
And with Justin and the Hard as Nails
ministry, what I see is that kids feel a little
lost. There are so many choices between the
YouTubes and MySpaces and I think they
really don't know how to feel grounded. And
here comes something tangible that makes
them feel better about themselves, and they
grasp it.
And where Justin fits in in all this is very
complicated, because he's progressive in
certain ways that would surprise people. He's
much more tolerant than his own Catholic
church on a lot of issues, including
homosexuality and abortion, and he’s much
more forgiving in a way.
I think a lot of films about religious leaders
tend to indict and then convict, Hard as Nails
doesn't do that. And I think it's unsettling in
a way because people sometimes want to be
told what to feel. And as filmmakers we were
really careful not to do that. And I think it's a
little counter intuitive to what audiences
expect. But I hope audiences come away from
Hard as Nails looking at themselves a little bit.
And I hope people come away and say, "If I
cared half as much as Justin did about any
issue we'll make this world a better place." It
doesn't have to be his issues. But I think his
passion and his willingness and his eagerness
to try and make the world a better place is a
really good thing.
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