Angelsstandcorrected

So the first screening of the film was last night in Boston at a cool little cinema – The Brattle – it was  reasonably well attended, including by some sideshow folk who had recently worked with some of the freaks in the movie. Apparently they ain’t received the DVD I sent them ages ago ……maybe they should contact me to get another. The reaction to the film was positive and the Q &A was actually fun ( I was crapping myself beforehand…. ).  Boston Underground is a small festival but the people are great and really enthusiastic and they know their cult, weirdo films alright.They also throw a good party and I became unusually inebriated at the party sponsored by Makers Mark ….free bourbon – oops. There’s a repeat screening at the Kendall theatre, but I will have returned to the UK by then….

Here’s a serious statement about why I have made this film and insist on promoting it in the face of hostility and indifference….

Disability is ubiquitous. Over 50 million Americans and 3 million British people are disabled. Where are they? You hardly ever see them and when you do it’s usually in transit or in a situation outside of their control. This is why the “The Last American Freak Show” is important. It shows disabled people taking control of societies perception of them and reflecting it back at itself. It also shows the disabled as ordinary people and not as some kind of pitiful hero or brave plucky competitor in the rat race of life. Disabled people are discriminated against at every level of society and the fact that this film makes some able-bodied people feel uncomfortable is a testament to this fact.

This film is meant to make the watcher question their own concepts of disability and to cause debate and dissension amongst the consensus view that flaunting your body is considered wrong (unless, of course, it’s beautiful). I make no apologies for the discomfort factor – it’s what I felt making it and it’s what I want you to feel when you watch it, and I want you to laugh as you find yourself looking beyond the bodies and at the people living inside them.