Liberation: The approach you took with "Quality of Life" was very fair, it didn’t pander to the punks or the politicians. As the director and co writer, what is the most important thing you hope people will take away from this film?

Benjamin Morgan: Honestly, when I am writing a script I don’t really think about how people are going to perceive it and I don’t try to hit people over the head with a message. I write for myself and, in this case, Brian Burnam who wrote the script with me. He was writing for himself too which is why I think the graffiti subculture felt it was authentic.

My goal as a filmmaker is to try to get people to think and to talk. I don’t really care where that takes them as long as those goals are met. If they are walking out of the movie and are thinking and talking about it then my job is done. I feel like the kind of films that hit you over the head with a message and try to steer you in a direction insult your intelligence. I was really trying to stir up a dialogue about graffiti, the subculture, and about human relationships.

Liberation: Where did the idea for the film originate?

Benjamin: I grew up in the graffiti subculture myself, I was a b-boy and was involved in breakdancing so the subject matter was near and dear to my heart. I came up with original story and my filmmaking partner, Brant Smith, and I worked on it together for a year. I brought Brian on board who is a very creative writer and in many ways what he was doing was channeling these events that had happened to him the night before. He would tell me this crazy chase story and I would write it down and come back and give him the scene. He would say, “Well, that’s not how it really happened.” So I told him to write it! (laughs) He ended up writing scenes and before we knew it everything that you see on the screen at this point came from Brian.

Liberation: I think the films authenticity definitely comes through. You were also a government social worker in the juvenile system. Did being on both sides of the fence influence you in making the film?

Benjamin: In terms of the film itself, it was not politically motivated, we do not discuss politics in the film. We don’t discuss why people do graffiti or whether it is a good thing or bad thing. Behind the scenes I definitely see the war on graffiti as…it exemplifies everything that is wrong with the justice system better than anything else out there. The biggest flaw with the justice system is that it hyper-focuses on symptoms. You have kids that are breaking the law so you try to stop them whatever way you can without addressing the core issues and the symptoms. The war on graffiti exemplifies that to a T. You are literally painting over the problem. My experience within the system influenced my motivation for making the movie, it pushed me. I felt possessed, like I had to make this movie because it allowed me to address those issues from a grandstand, not in the film, but from the Q & A’s [that followed]. I grew up as an at-risk kid so being involved with the graffiti subculture I understood the motivations for wanting to write your name on someone else’s property. I didn’t feel like I had to delve into that in the film because I was able to channel that through the characters and the actors.

Liberation: It’s funny you mention the word symptoms. I don’t want to say that graffiti is a victimless crime because at the end of the day someone has to pay to have it removed from their building should they choose to. I wouldn’t put graffiti writers in the same crime category as a murderer. What it comes back to is that one of the symptoms is the lack of an outlet for people to be creative in untraditional genres.

Benjamin: I would have to agree with you that when you are writing on someone else’s property you are committing a crime. I don’t think you can really argue that, though some people do. But to equate that with serious, violent crimes that are worthy of prison time…there’s a guy in LA who just got sentenced to something like 20 months in state prison. Not jail, not rehab, state prison. The same day he was sentenced his family and friends were there waiting for his trial and a person convicted of rape got a lighter sentence then he did. While we shot this movie Dave Leiberman, who played the stick-up kid, was facing 18- 21 months in state prison for graffiti.

Liberation: That turns my stomach.

Benjamin: We live in a property obsessed culture so I think people are very protective of their property. I also think this war on graffiti has run away with itself. Politicians latch on to certain things and there are certain sound bites that are very effective like, “three strikes, you’re out!” It’s easier to run with that then it is to address the core issues like our schools are falling apart so we need to invest more money in them and pay teachers more. We need more prevention programs. Those issues are dicey and are harder to get behind because the results are not immediate, unlike painting over graffiti. On some level it doesn’t surprise me that they have become so crazy with the war on graffiti but on another level when you start handing out prison sentences for people writing their name on a wall, it really exemplifies everything that is wrong with our justice system. It’s so hyper-focused on symptoms.

Liberation: I think the justice system needs some work. I was pissed when they sent Lil’ Kim to prison this past year because I thought here is someone kids look up to so why not let her do her time working with inner city school kids in some capacity? Instead they send her off to jail where she will most likely become more hardened and bitter. It was a wasted opportunity.

Benjamin: I think what you will find a lot with the justice system is that the people who know the system inside and out are not the ones making the decisions, the “three strikes your out law” is a perfect example. That has nothing to do with what works and what doesn’t work within the system. It was based on baseball for Christ’s sake! The judges are furious because they have no say over it. They should be able to deal with the cases on a case by case basis with the facts that are presented and they feel trapped by these mandatory sanctions put on them. It’s a case of politicians putting their hands where they don’t belong and they are in a position of power. They want to get elected and want to get behind a sound bite. People love sound bites. (laughs)

Liberation: What do you think needs to be changed as far as the laws are concerned with graffiti artists so they are not prosecuted and given the same amount of jail time as a hardened criminal?

Benjamin: I think it is part of the larger issue. Prevention funds, education funds, and after-school programs are being cut every year. When the Federal government says something is a priority and we need to do something like invade Iraq or cut taxes for the rich…when there is money to be found they can find it! But when something affects people who don’t have a lot of influence like cutting public school funds and prevention funds, there is no one to stand up and fight for that. I’ve been in the juvenile justice system for a long time both as a worker and as a kid and prevention works. It absolutely works! That’s what they need to invest in.

When you ask what needs to be done differently, you need to invest in prevention. Specifically with graffiti, it’s really complicated because if you just suggested to give these kids more places to create art or invest in art schools and so on, I’m not convinced it would work entirely. A lot of the graffiti writers are rebelling against larger issues and some are just looking for an outlet and want a place to say they exist and have something to live for and to fight for. It’s really much more complex than that.

Kids are looking for outlets and things to do at a younger age and you see kids all around the world, not just in major cities, have latched on to graffiti as this last form of urban rebellion. If there were other outlets for kids to stand up and make a name for themselves in their cities and their cultures, I’m not so sure graffiti would be so popular.

Quite frankly, I think the best way to get rid of graffiti is if all the adults said this is the best thing ever! We love graffiti so much! (laughs)

Liberation: That’s a very good point. I mean it’s the ultimate renegade art form. In the film, after their arrests the characters take two very different approaches to their work. One goes, for a lack of a better word, more corporate, while the other stays more guerilla. I think the irony is that in the end their work will most likely end up on the same wall. Do you think the media is sending mixed messages as far as graffiti imagery is concerned?

Benjamin: It’s totally ironic and predictable. Anything that is popular with youth is going to be co-opted. On the one hand graffiti is heavily criminalized…Quality of Life has been turned down by sponsors and outlets because it is a graffiti movie and they don’t want to get behind something so controversial. In one instance, and I’m not going to name names, they were playing a horror film, a slasher film, and we called them on it. We were like, “are you kidding? You’ve got this film where they slash people up, chop them into pieces, put them in boxes and graffiti is controversial?” (laughs) Let’s put things into perspective here.

Liberation: What do you feel people’s biggest misconception about graffiti is?

Benjamin: There are a lot of misconceptions. One is that graffiti is gang related. A gang’s motivation is very different from a graffiti crew’s motivation. It’s not always gang related in fact, it very rarely is. Another misconception is that all graffiti writers want to destroy and vandalize. A lot of people involved with graffiti are trying to make art and make things look better. I think you see that a lot with stencils and wheat pastes. Don’t get me wrong there is a segment of the population that are trying to vandalize and it really is about tearing shit up and bombing. It’s really hard to categorize the entire culture under one roof.

Another misconception is that graffiti is this urban phenomenon and the only people participating are inner city, minority kids with problems. I’d say at this point the majority of the people doing graffiti are skinny, white kids who grew up in the suburbs. There are many misconceptions and I think you can see why and how they became that way.

Quality of Life
April 6th - 12th and April 15th - 16th, 2006
Pioneer Theater | 155 East 3rd Street | New York City
Ticket Info | www.qualityoflife-themovie.com