DOUBTING JONES

Pete Jones, of the first Project Greenlight, is writing an online journal for Film Threat detailing the production process of his new movie, “Doubting Riley”. You might remember Pete complaining in the Stolen Summer days about how his filmmaking process was meticulously documented for all the world to see. He wasn’t going to let that happen again. No, sir. That was damaging. That was horrible. That was intrusive.

So this time, he’s writing a column that meticulously documents his filmmaking process for all the world to see.

It turns out this column is a great read. You might want to start with his first installment (the columns are written on a weekly basis while the film is in production). But so far, the most interesting one is his most recent.

The movie, according to the column, is about “a fun loving Irish Catholic guy who shocks his family by coming out.” Pete is not only writing and directing, but he’s playing the lead role of the gay guy himself. So it’s funny when Pete, a married heterosexual man who has surely been mistaken for gay once or twice in his life, peppers his columns with quotes like the one above. Or the following:

There are several possibilities here: a) Pete is an extremely open-minded heterosexual guy completely oblivious to how comments like this will be perceived; b) Pete is an extremely cunning heterosexual guy hoping to stir up interest in his film by casting an aura of ambiguity around his own sexuality; or c) Pete has written an autobiography.

As I’ve made it a policy to take people at their word about their sexuality (so what if they’re lying — it’s none of my business anyway) and as I have no interest in outing anyone, and since I’m also extremely cynical, I’m going with option (b). It’s more fun that way, too. That way, you can look at this as Pete’s revenge. He’s pissed off that Greenlight manipulated his image by taking selected snippets of his filmmaking experience out of context to make him look like an arrogant, bumbling stooge. So now he’s purposely manipulating his image by providing selected snippets for the media to take out of context to make him look like a homosexual.

If he’s shamelessly looking for publicity, you’ve gotta admire his gumption. And if he’s just some kind of merry prankster, I’m sure he’s having a good laugh that people like me are writing columns like this.

The man is a genius.

And if I’m wrong, then Lillian “Lill” is just a freak in a Boy Scout uniform.