Disgust Down By The Sea

In less than 11 months, "American Reflexxx" has accrued 1.5 million views on YouTube. The video, a social experiment by artists (and couple) Signe Pierce and Alli Coates, follows Pierce the night she strolled Myrtle Beach wearing just sky-high neon green heels, a micro mini-dress, and a chrome face mask. Against a backdrop of blinking amusement rides and technicolor souvenir shops, Pierce is spat at, verbally assaulted, tripped, hit on, laughed at, run away from, called a man, and pushed to the ground by total strangers-- all in less than an hour.

I first saw Pierce's work--as a self-proclaimed "reality artist"--on Instagram. In an onslaught of colors pulled from the Lisa Frank ads of yesteryear, she aims to question traditional notions of gender and sexuality and disrupt patriarchy, capitalism, homophobia, and other societal tendencies. "American Reflexxx," specifically, brings attention to the terrifying reality of transphobia and mob mentalities in the US.

The production is markedly low-budget, Coates recording with a single handheld camera and only editing the clip's speed. Both the editing, the theme, and the aesthetic of this video remind me of Harmony Korine's Spring Breakers, an homage to the gritty (but beautiful) reality of drug- and sex-dominated beach cultures.

"American Refluxxx" is uncomfortable to watch, and that's the point. By also being weirdly mesmerizing, Pierce manages to gets eyes on her works and--more importantly--minds on her various troublesome subject matters. And 1.5 millions minds realizing how tragic and warped the behavior in "American Refluxxx" is, is a start in the direction of positive change.

The First – a short film from shortoftheweek.com

Lately I've been trying to make it more of a habit to visit shortoftheweek.com. It's a great way to access the creative development of young filmmakers like myself. This week I watched a short film called "The First". At the beginning it seems like your average sun-kissed love story between a guy and a girl. By two minutes in though, it takes a dramatic twist. "You push like a girl", she says to him as they flirt sitting next to a pond. "Oh yeah?" he says, as the film quickly cuts to him falling onto a bed. You expect her to follow into frame, but she doesn't. Instead, another guy falls on top of him as they start to passionately make out.


WHOA. HOLD THE PHONE. I DID NOT SIGN UP FOR THIS.

I might be lying when I say this, but I'm pretty sure this is the first graphic LGBT short that I've watched. I was confused and turned off, but at the same time drawn in to what this guy's life was all about. The story unfolds to tell a rather interesting story. There is also an incredible montage scene at the very end that is worth checking out. Put on your open minds and accepting eyes and check out this short 13 minutes piece:

I also recommend you support the director, James Sweeney, and check out his website here.

The cinematographer, Greg Cotten, was also a big part of this films success. He has a pretty kick-ass reel that is worth checking out too: