About the documenatry
My title "Don’t
Vote and Live" is an adaptation of Sean “P.Diddy” Combs' pro-voting campaign title, “Vote or
Die." The
aim of Combs' campaign was to get
more young people to vote in 2004. When I thought about this hyperbolic slogan as one of two
literal options, I came up with my own title, Don’t Vote and Live.
I made this documentary to answer the question, “Why
don’t more people vote?" In search of answers, I interviewed sociology professor Randal
Hepner and two UT students, John DeWitt and Mollie Robinson. While Mollie feels strongly that everyone should vote, John is ill-informed about political issues, and he has a "ho-hum" or apathetic attitude toward voting. Taking into account poor voter education and misinformation in the media, Dr. Hepner argues that voting "is not the only thing Americans can do” to be considered citizens, and I hope my documentary makes people consider these issues and make their own, well-informed choices in 2008.
About the creator, John Nelson
Once I turned 18,
there was no question whether or not I would vote. I was raised to believe voting was more
than a right. It was a citizen’s duty. And yet many people are apathetic toward politics and voting. My
goal in making this film has been to understand more about why citizens choose not to vote, and I want my audience to see that people who don’t vote
are citizens. In the end, while I think voting
is important to being an active
citizen, I don’t think a person is less of a citizen because they choose not to vote.
|
|
|