Representation! Why's it important?

As someone who passionately believes that children’s media should contain strong messages and themes, I wanted to create a film that provided an inside look into how prejudice is cultivated. So, in my production, I had to create my representation of people who would be described as “close-minded”.

It is not my intention to villainize the human, but the prejudice itself. In my beliefs, a human being is neither born good nor evil, it is how they are raised and the environment that they are in that makes them who they are. So, I wanted to show how and why these prejudices came to be. In order to change a person who has prejudice rooted so deeply into their life, a person must understand where those feelings originated from. Everyone believes they are the hero of their own story, so, some people don’t recognize how harmful their beliefs truly are.

Activism is something I am very familiar with. I have dedicated a lot of my time to the LGBT+ movement and have dealt with many people who have opinions separate from my own. By being patient, kind, and understanding of others’ beliefs, my fellow activists and I were able to instigate change and educate those who were willing to be receptive to what we had to say.

I have dealt with my fair share of… well, for a more appropriate word than the one I was thinking of, ignorant people, and I am very experienced with dealing with those who believe differently than I. Though they can be rude, I do not hate these people. I try to understand them. It should be known that you can understand a person’s argument without agreeing with it.

I also wanted to represent how people can change. Some would believe that people who have been indoctrinated since they were a child cannot change who they are and what they think. This is harmful thinking. Everyone has the ability to change and better themselves.

The main character of Open Arms, Royce and Ryu, will learn and grow to be more accepting and caring individuals, which I think is extremely important for kids to see.