Westboro

[alextheman]

Hey I'm currently writing a film on the Westboro Baptists. My idea is to do the film similar to Steve Jobs where it's not a traditional biopic where it takes place before during and slightly after an interview on TV with a journalist who's dead brother was gay and his funeral was boycotted by the Westboro Baptists where over the course of the show they recount the big experiences in their lives and they also answer call ins with people who have been negatively effected by them. What do you think

[THE REAL LON CHARLES]

Maybe if the journalist is the main character it could work. I honestly don't think the Phelps family is compelling enough to function as main characters in a film (maybe as villains they could work a la Kevin Smith's Red State).

I think making the Phelps family the main characters would be a critical misfire. They really haven't had interesting lives - they're just a bunch of assholes who hate everything. There's no real motivation for their actions - they simply hate for the sake of hating.

However, a journalist who is forced to interview people he is so opposed to could make for an interesting protagonist and would give the story some dramatic tension. I would say that the less time spent with the Phelps, and the more time spent with the journalist struggling to maintain his journalistic integrity with the story, the better.

[apj]

I could not agree with THE REAL LON CHARLES more. I can't imagine spending my time listening to someone like Fred Phelps (or any other member of his clan for that matter) recount his past experiences (which appears to mostly amount to protesting funerals, harassing people as a lawyer and preaching about how God hates everything). It just doesn't sound like it could really capture an audience in that style of film. Like Lon said though, the journalist character may give you a decent angle in which to approach such unsavory (and frankly not that interesting) of characters.