Hate Speech 101

Primary Crew
Producer	Frances Kendall
Director	Michael W. Mowery
Written & Filmed By	Noel B. Hepp
Script Consultant	John McSweeney
Edited By	Jeff Disharoon & Michael W. Mowery
Animation By	Jeff Disharoon

Primary Cast
Lee	Lee Stanford
Jamie	Jeff Disharoon
R.A.	John McSweeney
Barry King	Himself
Jan Carroll	Herself
Thugs	Noel B. Hepp & Michael W. Mowery

Hate Speech 101 is a story which tackles a very difficult issue. As the title suggests, hate speech is a problem in that without physical abuse, the speech of a person towards another can have a greater emotional impact.

Hate Speech 101 is about two roommates Lee and Jamie. Lee is of an ethnic background which makes him an easy target for abuse. Both men are students at Salisbury State University which is predominately a Caucasian university. One day, Lee and Jamie find a derogatory sign on the front of their dorm. Although the comment is never seen, it is implied that the comment does not attack Lee in particular, but rather his entire ethnic group.

Jamie tells Lee that he should do something about the abuse, but Lee doesn't know what to do. Eventually, Lee's R.A. Instructs him on talking with the people on campus who consult students on these issues.

The film shows multiple endings which suggest an appropriate way to handle the situation and also a way which is totally unacceptable. The purpose of this film was to show people the problem of hate speech and possible means of prevention or at least how to deal with it if it should happen to you. The target audience in mind was for incoming freshman to the University.

This film definitely has some good moments such as the conversation between the R.A. and Barry King. Although the lighting in this version is poor, the dialogue is extremely important to the film as it instructs people on how to handle this act of intolerance. There is a second version which the University has in which the scene was changed to black and white in order to improve the quality and also make it more obvious that this was a flashback scene.

Another solid scene is the scene in the library where Jamie and Lee discuss the situation and options that the letter in the Flyer will have. A note of interest here is that the scene was filmed in the private town history section of the library. This section is usually closed to the students but the creators received permission from the Dean of Students to film there.

One of the best features in this production is that Salisbury State University's campus is featured well. This is important because the film is designed to help incoming freshman and showcasing the campus is the key to the films success. As already noted, Blackwell Library received valuable camera time as well as St. Martin Residence Hall, The Guerrieri University Center, The Flyer office and the court in front of Fulton Hall to name a few.

One of the biggest criticisms about the project is the quality of the script. Hate Speech is a broad topic and the film didn't focus on any specific incident. Instead the film tried to make a general package explaining the problem and focussing on solutions. The other side of the coin is that the film capitalizes on some good special effects. Chroma Key was used as the introduction to the multiple endings. The first on screen attempt at animation was presented at the beginning with the curtain rising. The film was entirely produced on a 3/4" camera. The video toaster was also utilized during the opening and closing credits.

An interesting director's note: Michael Mowery paid tribute to Alfred Hitchcock. Hitchcock was known for making a cameo in all of his films. Mowery decided to do the same for his crew as he had them walk through the St. Martin - Chesapeake Hall court as their name and credit appeared on the screen. Hate Speech 101 marks the third company alliance between GRP and Generation 2.

College credits was awarded to Michael Mowery, Jeff Disharoon, Noel Hepp and John McSweeney

This film is rated PG-13 (sensitive subject matter, violence)
Running Time: 30 minutes
Video Release 2-1-94