"State O'Masochist & Lady Liberty" by Micah Ellars was clearly the Fan Favorite of the Info Wars Film Contest of 2013, but down the road an inferior piece called "The Purge" was announced as the winner of the contest.
I wasn't aware of the contest when it was going on. I didn't know him back then but he and I got to spend some time a year later. As I was getting to know him, I asked to see some of his work which obviously included this little gem right here. I was intrigued and we sat down to watch. I saw the absolute truth of our society put to imaginative allegory so imaginatively..succinctly.
He portrays the disabling prison-system that most sleeping Americans would like to call Democracy. He courageously spells it out for you, that you never had the option to choose one side over the other, because both sides lead to the State which is corrupt and self serving. But, the best part of "State O'Masochist..." is the fun-factor. Micah's acting is friggin entertaining as hell. Please, if you haven't seen it, do yourself a favor:
As someone who cares about personal freedom and self care, my appreciation for this piece was ignited especially when Paul is handed SSRI's for his "delusions" and offered a good ole feel-up to soothe his "disappointments" with his life. There are so many brilliant details within this 10 minute short. And even though this whole project was a plug for Jones, Ellars cleverly dodged an obvious mention of the infowars website, keeping it about the art of story telling, rather than a commercial. And, the story was that you don't become a violent empire yourself, but you simply walk away from the wheel. You drop out of the participation with the state all together and watch it degrade in power.
It clearly hit home for me and hundreds of thousands of others.
But, he didn't win?
5 years later, I decided to have my own little chat with the one and only Micah Ellars this morning over some coffee and learn a little more.
It was 6 weeks into the Info Wars Film Contest of 2013 when Alex Jones caught the attention of a talented sci-fi film maker from West Virginia- Micah Ellars. A regular listener of the show, Alex seemed to be speaking to him during this particular transmission where he stated that he wanted to find and reward a creative, up and coming film maker who could deliver the Info Wars message with a fresh, new perspective. Alex fired off a few names of the greats: Kubrick, Ridley Scott, Terry Gilliam. And if you were listening too, you would have clearly heard that he wanted the next Brazil.
(If you've never seen Brazil; just think a depressingly accurate depiction of a future dystopia with a Monty Python absurdity factor which makes the film's emotional roller coaster highly entertaining and slightly addictive. I recommend you see it now.)
Micah heard this as a sign and had to put pencil to paper immediately and started making his calls. The wheel was built, the creature suit was created and the one draft script was put in the hands of his actors. According to Ellars, he really had no time to question anything. I'm glad he didn't because there's a rawness to this piece that I really appreciate. He flew his lead in from New York, asked his Crew Mates to come up from Nashville and Savannah, and in the 6 weeks that were left, the tight group finished their piece.
Micah uploaded it to Youtube and sent in his timestamp as instructed. And then he waited.
Throughout March and April, "State O'Masochist & Lady Liberty" rose through the ranks as the fan-favorite and he received celebratory congratulations from fans around the world with screen shots: "Micah Ellars Wins Paul Revere Contest" read the Info Wars website!
At the end of April, Micah was invited on the Alex Jones show for an interview the day they were to announce the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place contest winners. It seemed Micah had been selected to win the $100,000 prize and that he just landed a film contract with Lion's Gate.
But they didn't announce the winners that day, nor was Alex there for the interview. Which would have driven me mad. Needless to say, it was pretty confusing for everyone involved.
If you hadn't seen the interview, it's here:
State O'Masochist didn't win in the end, but it did prove to be the best of the entries. So, why do you think Alex chose a piece that was (in my opinion at least) uninteresting, unthoughtful and unimaginative when it came down to it?
I personally look forward to seeing his features in the future. Until then, let's celebrate this incredible masterpiece. And, share it please! In the name of FREEDOM!
Thanks for reading kids! Go enjoy these films and have a fantastic day!
What I'm drinking: Organic Coffee: Light Roast: Costa Rica
What I'm listening to:
