Mario Van Peebles - Movie

 

Mario Van Peebles

Makes The Party Message Plain!

By Rych McCain, International/Nationally Syndicated Entertainment columnist

      The subject of today’s teenager and the world they are coming up in is a topic that encompasses a plethora of areas where the pros and cons can get pretty deep. Every generation has their likes and dislikes mainly based on their upbringing and the social atmosphere of the time period that they experienced their coming of age teen years. Every generation of teens reject the music, values, rules and social mores of their parent’s generation yet they expect their children to adhere to what they grew up with, then the new teen rebellion is on! The cycle keeps repeating itself with every new generation. Veteran film maker Mario Van Peebles has just released a new coming of age teen comedy titled “We The Party.” Not only did he conceive the idea for the film’s premise from observing his own teen children, he cast them in the movie as actors.

  

Mario Van Peebles ( Photo Courtesy of XL Rator Media)

The film centers on five high school friends who deal with situations involving romance, crime, money, prom, college prep, sex, bullies, Facebook, fitting in, standing out and just finding themselves. Everything is realistic according to what is happening in 2012 including the language terms they use to their dress and music. The film was shot in LA and guest stars Snoop Dogg and Tommy “Tiny” Lister as well as featuring other name actors. As with all of Van Peebles’ film projects, they come with a positive message to absorb and take home without being preachy! So what gave Van Peebles the push to make this type of film? He laughs, “It’s called my kids are getting old and leaving the house! And I said now, how can I keep them in my life just a little longer. I never counted on how much I loved being a dad. That was something that tripped me out. So how it goes, I was trying to write a script and my kids were playing music and dancing. They asked me could they go to these all age clubs. I said “club,” back in my day it was parties! I said no but my son “2-slap” as I call him because he likes to negotiate, talked me into letting them go as long as I went along in cog-nee-gro with a hoodie on to look like I’m a bouncer to fit in.”

     Van Peebles than asked, “Have you ever been inside one of these clubs? He than goes on to describe what he saw and exclaims, “It looks like safe sex on the dance floor. It’s not even that safe! You have to have a body condemn to go into these spots. So I told them you guys do you and go as you are. Talk like you really talk. As long as know you’re safe, we’re OK and that was honest.” After observing the crowd in the club and mixing that up with his children’s experience of leaving private school to attend a magnet school in the hood of South Central.LA, Van Peebles was ready to pin his script.

     His question to himself was, “Could I make the movie the same way I had to deal with my kids when they went out? Could I make a film that was real, that sounded like them but still had the nutritional value and pull that off and that was the trick. When I went to Hollywood I couldn’t get the funding.” Van Peebles and a friend funded the project themselves. Van Peebles’ son Mandela plays the lead role of Hendrix Sutton and Van Peebles plays his on screen dad and school teacher Mr. Sutton. What was it like working with his dad? Mandela laughs, “It was my first major role. I’ve done some commercials and I’ve been on set with my dad since I was pretty much born. I saw a lot but as far as actually being on the other side of the camera, this was my first role.” “We The Party” is destine to become a teen cult classic.

Rych McCain Media/Syndication tm

(You DID Hear It From Me!)

E-Mail: feedbackrych@sbcglobal.net