Dear Concerned Church Member,
I want to start a dialogue with you about our upcoming movie “Shooting Heroin” about the opioid epidemic in America.
First off, I want to say that I have appreciated your support over the years and it has been wonderful getting to know you in person at your church when I was there and on social media. Secondly, I have heard that perhaps you are disappointed in the portrayal of Christianity or lack there of in my upcoming movie. I want to say that this movie is a Hard Faith film but it is not as theologically minded as “Generational Sins” was. Generational Sins was a faith-leaning film much more so than this movie, because it was dealing with the idea of generational curses and men taking responsibility for their families. This current movie’s main intention is to bring awareness to the opioid epidemic at large and to spread awareness about how bad the issue is in rural America. The opioid epidemic affects all people regardless of religion or creed, and want to bring the light to the darkness of culture in a common grace sort of way. The movie is not un-christian or non-faith but not as directly faith focused or Gospel proclaiming as some films.
Each film I do is an experiment. Some films at the end the person converts and Jesus is the answer because it is the pay off of the story and makes sense in the plot (or at least should). In this movie it is more espousing the idea that Empathy and Self-Sacrifice is a good path forward and will help our neighbors Christian or not. I don’t only want to reach Christians and I don’t want to give a truncated explanation of the Gospel by not going into detail what Jesus is the ultimate answer really means in its depths and application to faithful living. I respect that some people want me to be more explicit, and in some upcoming movies I will be, but in this film I felt most compelled to reach as many people as possible with a message of hope. As for the excessive use of language in this movie. It is very R-Rated but still I would argue that the movie is far more PG or G Rated than how horrific the opioid epidemic actually is.
There is often a lot of language (especially explicit language including F-Bombs) in drug culture and in the country (at least in my experience growing up in a rural area) amongst the youth. I did not want to make this film as some would wish the world would look but as the world actually is. I want most especially the addict, the recovering, and the families involved to see the true reality of the situation as realistic as I could be without being indulgent. As I have said, each movie is an experiment and I can appreciate that some people would prefer not to hear so much language. Unfortunately the world is a very unrated place, our hearts, my heart, is very unrated and sin is a very serious and grave matter. We have only to look at the bloody & brutal cross and the atonement to understand what a wicked situation and world we live in. Charles Spurgeon said “You cannot disparage Human Nature… it is worse than words can paint it.”
In the end, I made this film to hopefully make the world a better place and bring light to a dark situation. Each audience member will judge me and ultimately our Lord. I have been pleased with the response overall especially from the families who have lost loved ones and are desperate to have a larger conversation about their broken hearts and frustrations. Regardless whether you decide to support this movie or not, I respect you as a brother in Christ and know we are both on parallel missions to Glorify Christ.
Blessings to you.
Sincerely, Spencer T Folmar Writer & Director of “Shooting Heroin”