I'm Jonathan K. Parton, welcome to K-PART.

The inspection is the beautifully written, acted, and directed debut film from Elegan

Spratton.

Not only is Bradon the writer and director, the movie is based on his life, and it's getting

him noticed.

Variety recently named Bradon one of the ten directors to watch in 2023.

The inspection depicts the emotionally complex relationship between the lead character Ellis

French and his deeply religious mother, between the gay man and his fellow Marines during

basic training.

In this conversation, first recorded for Washington Post's Live on December 15, Elegan

Spratton talks about why he made this autobiographical film and the themes it explores most poignantly

masculinity.

My sense of strength and power is drawn from forgiveness, my ability to forgive, and that's

what I learned about myself in the Marine Corps is that I have a profound capacity for forgiveness

and that forgiveness is what makes me a real man, and that's what this whole movie is about.

It's like challenging the notion of what masculinity is.

So Elegan, I read that you considered writing an autobiography, but you chose to make

a film instead.

Why this medium to tell your story?

It's a cliche, but they say a picture says a thousand words, and I did not feel like

I would be able to write my life story in a timely and a fashion, so I just cheated with

the camera.

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