Meet the Phelps
This project took about three years to complete. I got the idea when I heard of their website, www.godhatesfags.com. I was really confused by what I saw and at the time I was a Christian who wasn’t pro-homosexual. So I e-mailed them asking some questions about how they justified their beliefs in God’s hatred. It ended up taking three years for a lot of reason, there were many times I wasn’t sure if I’d even finish it. All my progess was deleted, I took a year off school, and many other things that added up to it getting pushed further and further back. But I’m actually glad it did, I learned a lot in those three years and I don’t think I would have made as ethical a documentary had I done this sooner.
I tried a lot in editing this to make a film that both the Phelps and regular people would like. I wanted to raise the questions of how seemingly good people could act in what society views as horrific acts. Personally, I think they just go after what they believe full force. When it came to racism this was a good thing, but with homosexuality it’s harming a lot of people. They are good people in real life, they have a loving family. It’s not like they’re monsters. But they do like the limelight and they do everything they do passionately.