A brave new talent by the name of Kobe Jackson debuted his first film, Revolutionary Love, Thursday at West Lecture Hall.
Revolutionary Love discusses the limited representation of non-stereotypical Asian Americans in the media. Jackson felt that instead of complaining about this problem, he should do something. The idea came to him while he was studying abroad, and he immediately began work on the project, enlisting the aid of friends and acquaintances around the College.
The film was elegantly done, tastefully combining the intense strife felt by a group that is usually ignored or degraded with a bit of dark comedy. The film explored the difficulties Asian Americans encounter when trying to find companionship within a lesbian/transgendered community. The film explored how one’s sense of self is negatively affected by pop culture when people flaunt tattoos of Chinese characters without knowing what they mean. The film also confronted how the internalization of stereotypes breaks down relationships and perceptions of self.
As his first video project, Jackson found the project stressful and “really challenging.” But Kobe Jackson’s hard work paid off, not only by producing a beautiful piece, but one which has been accepted into the San Francisco International Lesbian and Gay Film Festival. Kobe plans to write, direct and produce more films. When asked how he liked making this movie, Jackson replied, “I definitely liked it.”