ABDL Feature Film "We, Infantilists."

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kik91

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So as you may have noticed on another thread, I'm going to make an independent ABDL film, because I think it will be an important milestone for our community, to try to right misconceptions and maybe as support for future generations. I know a project like this has to be threaded on carefully, but I'm set on doing this film and starting with a good script.

This is the plot of the film so far:

"Andrew comes from a very conservative family. Matthew comes from a liberal one. Both of them have one thing in common: They are infantilists. As Matthew grows up with understanding friends, embracing his liking of diapers, in a good family that supports him... Andrew lives in fear and rejection of himself. One day, they find each other in the internet and decide to meet up. Matthew learns the struggles of Andrew to come to terms with his infantilism, so, in a series of events, it will be up to Matthew to teach Andrew how to accept himself and embrace who he is..."

Do you like it? Any comments?
 
I like the concept. It will require some good actors to pull it off.

My concerns would be how you are defining conservative/liberal and whether you make it too stereotypical, bashing on the conservative (are they religiously concervative?) family. If you focus on religion, make both families religious. Are "liberal" families really more accepting of children with this fetish? Seems like you might want to do some research on this site with some polls or threads about the role family upbringing plays in the ease/difficulty we have accepting this in ourselves. Good luck!
 
Gardener said:
I like the concept. It will require some good actors to pull it off.

My concerns would be how you are defining conservative/liberal and whether you make it too stereotypical, bashing on the conservative (are they religiously concervative?) family. If you focus on religion, make both families religious. Are "liberal" families really more accepting of children with this fetish? Seems like you might want to do some research on this site with some polls or threads about the role family upbringing plays in the ease/difficulty we have accepting this in ourselves. Good luck!

Thank you, I'm glad you like the concept. I was not thinking in getting into religion at all, more like "open mindness". I still have to start crafting the first draft but this is a project I really feel passionate about! Thanks for the support!
 
I like the idea as well, and agree with Gardener! I have a suggestion of my own.

I think it may be a good idea to have one of the characters be an AB, while the other is just DL. The difference can be emphasized between a conversation they have. I say this because ABDL is almost always grouped together when it is mentioned in the "mainstream". Which is fine and understandable. But it's a personal gripe when people assume that being a DL automatically means you're an AB. The two, while similar, do have vast differences. Every single "outsider" that I have mentioned my DL side to, has assumed that I'm also an Adult Baby, and I think it's partly because they're seemingly ALWAYS considered one whenever AB/DL is mentioned. You could even do vice versa, and show that just because one is an AB, does NOT mean that they find diapers sexual, and thus are not a DL.

I don't know, it's just something I'd like to see finally be emphasized in ABDL media because it's frustrating to me when I see it portrayed as one not existing without the other. If that detracts from the point of your film, I can understand if you do not choose to do that. I realize your working title is "We, Infantilists" which obviously highlights the AB side of things. Just something to consider!
 
I like JohnApple's advice. Also, emphasize that AB/DLs are not pedophiles. Get rid of as many stereotypes as you can.
 
Thanks guys, it is a good advice! I was planning to both be AB, however, I was planning on making Matthew gay to show that it can affect any orientation, while Andrew is straight. Maybe Matthew's boyfriend can be a plain DL. Thank for the advice!

And yes, don't worry, I will make it clear we're not pedophiles!
 
How long will the film run? Length governs how much you can say. I wonder if you've ever seen the 1970s film, "The Boys In the Band"? I suppose by now it's very dated as it has the 1970 perspective as to how gay people dealt with not being accepted by society. They had an hour and a half to play with, which allows one to develop characters and plot line.

I think your idea is a start, but on the surface, it sounds somewhat simplistic. When I was discovered by my mom, there was no acceptance and I had to see a psychiatrist, but this was 1970. Now, people are a little more open minded, but not so much concerning infantalism. Most people don't even know what it is. You've seen the angst so many of our younger members go through, trying to find self acceptance. I think that's what you should visit.
 
dogboy said:
How long will the film run? Length governs how much you can say. I wonder if you've ever seen the 1970s film, "The Boys In the Band"? I suppose by now it's very dated as it has the 1970 perspective as to how gay people dealt with not being accepted by society. They had an hour and a half to play with, which allows one to develop characters and plot line.

I think your idea is a start, but on the surface, it sounds somewhat simplistic. When I was discovered by my mom, there was no acceptance and I had to see a psychiatrist, but this was 1970. Now, people are a little more open minded, but not so much concerning infantalism. Most people don't even know what it is. You've seen the angst so many of our younger members go through, trying to find self acceptance. I think that's what you should visit.

The movie will run from 90 to 120 minutes :)
 
I like the general concept, however, it is a basic idea. For the film to work, it's going to have to have REALLY well developed characters that people who aren't ABDLs can relate to. I know it's got a lot to do with ABDL, but also make sure that you showcase other problems that they're going through and other areas of interest for the film to focus on.
 
You're also going to need a seriously talented screen writer for this one.
 
Self acceptance seems like a simple concept, but it isn't, and it's nearly impossible for a movie to convey it. It would require some real soul searching on your part, and maybe a little contemplation on the relationship between self acceptance and the acceptance of others. Self acceptance means conservatives accepting themselves as they are and liberals accepting themselves as they are. It means Andrew accepting the suffering he feels over his conflicting beliefs.

These are just the thoughts of an amateur philosopher.
 
Well, to be fair, I really think you should include some female AB's to give a different perspective from just the guys. I can understand it being a bigger jump for a guy to break his masculine stereotype by regressing but taking into account some female perspectives would be awesome. Perhaps what you can do is show ways the characters learn acceptance (maybe by using a fake support forum similar to ADISC?) and connects with other ABDLs (since it's rare for two AB's to discover each other at a school or something) and as one of the characters gets in touch with other AB's online or at support groups or whatever, you can have glimpses into those other people's lives to offer different perspectives that help the main characters find their own acceptance. Maybe the two main characters never have to directly interact at all, and you can simply show a parallel between the two lives in totally different environments as they figure out their own lives and journeys.

What I would say is subtlety is going to be your friend with this video. I would illustrate both guys' lives in the normal course of daily life where AB/DL isn't even brought up or considered. And as life goes on and the audience is connecting with this seemingly normal person, small parts of the AB/DL lifestyle make subtle appearances. Like the elephant in the room that nobody wants to bring up. The conservative guy could have a lot of high expectations put on him to succeed in school, sports, life, etc. and maybe as he makes mistakes and beats himself up over it, you see him sulk into his room, lock all the doors and become very shut in, then reach for a teddy bear and pacifier to help him sleep. Or maybe he is so conflicted he doesn't even have a teddy bear or paci yet, and so bundles up a blanket to hug and sucks his thumb.

And maybe the 'liberal' one hasn't reached full acceptance yet but is much more invested in the lifestyle though still hides it. Maybe he is much more childlike and dresses up young for his age and you can see him sort of hinting at regression in his normal life without being overbearing. If you make the contrast too stark, then the characters will be off-putting to the audience. You need the vagueness so that people can fill in the blanks on their own and connect better. By just alluding to the fact that both characters are hiding something embarrassing and that the stresses of life are beating them down which forces them to turn towards whatever they're hiding, a lot of non-ABDL's can identify with those aspects of life. Once the audience is invested in these characters' lives and they are chomping at the bit to figure out what it is that is their dark secret, then it almost won't matter what the vice is. But you have to make that universal audience connection before you can start blasting out the ABDL stuff.

I honestly wouldn't like the Matthew character the way he's described as having this idealistic well-off life where now that he's accepted himself and all his friends are accepting, life is just grand and going great for him and he can be the superhero that saves Andrew from his own self-loathing. That's not a believable character. Maybe give him some really cool friends and a few of them might know about his ABDL side, but otherwise you run the risk of making him this ABDL poster boy that is far removed from the harsh realities of life. If anything he should have a wide variety of background struggles going on that he can now overcome because he's accepted himself, but accepting ourselves doesn't remove the issues entirely. Maybe it can seem like his world is all going downhill on a wide variety of levels but he finds a peace and grounding in the fact that he has accepted himself whereas the other boy can seem like he has everything going for him but is having a constant internal struggle to find his own identity when society seems to be giving him an identity that he doesn't fully embrace.

- - - Updated - - -

To further drive home the subtlety point, maybe you shouldn't include an infantilism reference in the film title at all. The name should really convey something that makes people want to see what is going on. If you can keep people interested, invested and guessing, then you've got a great start to your plot. Once you've got the audience locked in, don't be too easy about the whole thing where you just dump out the main characters personal lives like a book bag and say, "Oh, you caught me! Guess I better tell you everything about my ABDL side and what I like and dislike about it." That's too simple and insulting to the audience's intelligence. The audience will lose interest once it's been laid out like a Bond villains evil plan. Make the audience connect the dots and figure it out for themselves. And just keep making small references to the bigger thing. The whole point should be to spur discussion among the audience. Otherwise, if you just want to be factual, you're better off making a documentary. A drama has got to be convincing that this is a real life going on and it has to connect the audience to the character's whole life and personality. It should be a film where any non-abdl can look at it and go "Oh man I can totally see myself being in that situation. I get where that character's coming from now." Create the empathetic link first and foremost.
 
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BigKid25 said:
Well, to be fair, I really think you should include some female AB's to give a different perspective from just the guys. I can understand it being a bigger jump for a guy to break his masculine stereotype by regressing but taking into account some female perspectives would be awesome. Perhaps what you can do is show ways the characters learn acceptance (maybe by using a fake support forum similar to ADISC?) and connects with other ABDLs (since it's rare for two AB's to discover each other at a school or something) and as one of the characters gets in touch with other AB's online or at support groups or whatever, you can have glimpses into those other people's lives to offer different perspectives that help the main characters find their own acceptance. Maybe the two main characters never have to directly interact at all, and you can simply show a parallel between the two lives in totally different environments as they figure out their own lives and journeys.

What I would say is subtlety is going to be your friend with this video. I would illustrate both guys' lives in the normal course of daily life where AB/DL isn't even brought up or considered. And as life goes on and the audience is connecting with this seemingly normal person, small parts of the AB/DL lifestyle make subtle appearances. Like the elephant in the room that nobody wants to bring up. The conservative guy could have a lot of high expectations put on him to succeed in school, sports, life, etc. and maybe as he makes mistakes and beats himself up over it, you see him sulk into his room, lock all the doors and become very shut in, then reach for a teddy bear and pacifier to help him sleep. Or maybe he is so conflicted he doesn't even have a teddy bear or paci yet, and so bundles up a blanket to hug and sucks his thumb.

And maybe the 'liberal' one hasn't reached full acceptance yet but is much more invested in the lifestyle though still hides it. Maybe he is much more childlike and dresses up young for his age and you can see him sort of hinting at regression in his normal life without being overbearing. If you make the contrast too stark, then the characters will be off-putting to the audience. You need the vagueness so that people can fill in the blanks on their own and connect better. By just alluding to the fact that both characters are hiding something embarrassing and that the stresses of life are beating them down which forces them to turn towards whatever they're hiding, a lot of non-ABDL's can identify with those aspects of life. Once the audience is invested in these characters' lives and they are chomping at the bit to figure out what it is that is their dark secret, then it almost won't matter what the vice is. But you have to make that universal audience connection before you can start blasting out the ABDL stuff.

I honestly wouldn't like the Matthew character the way he's described as having this idealistic well-off life where now that he's accepted himself and all his friends are accepting, life is just grand and going great for him and he can be the superhero that saves Andrew from his own self-loathing. That's not a believable character. Maybe give him some really cool friends and a few of them might know about his ABDL side, but otherwise you run the risk of making him this ABDL poster boy that is far removed from the harsh realities of life. If anything he should have a wide variety of background struggles going on that he can now overcome because he's accepted himself, but accepting ourselves doesn't remove the issues entirely. Maybe it can seem like his world is all going downhill on a wide variety of levels but he finds a peace and grounding in the fact that he has accepted himself whereas the other boy can seem like he has everything going for him but is having a constant internal struggle to find his own identity when society seems to be giving him an identity that he doesn't fully embrace.

- - - Updated - - -

To further drive home the subtlety point, maybe you shouldn't include an infantilism reference in the film title at all. The name should really convey something that makes people want to see what is going on. If you can keep people interested, invested and guessing, then you've got a great start to your plot. Once you've got the audience locked in, don't be too easy about the whole thing where you just dump out the main characters personal lives like a book bag and say, "Oh, you caught me! Guess I better tell you everything about my ABDL side and what I like and dislike about it." That's too simple and insulting to the audience's intelligence. The audience will lose interest once it's been laid out like a Bond villains evil plan. Make the audience connect the dots and figure it out for themselves. And just keep making small references to the bigger thing. The whole point should be to spur discussion among the audience. Otherwise, if you just want to be factual, you're better off making a documentary. A drama has got to be convincing that this is a real life going on and it has to connect the audience to the character's whole life and personality. It should be a film where any non-abdl can look at it and go "Oh man I can totally see myself being in that situation. I get where that character's coming from now." Create the empathetic link first and foremost.

Dude, thank you so much for this amazing series of suggestions, I will consider them all carefully. I'm doing the script in January so I still have time to fresh out ideas but you gave me a ton of important ideas to consider!!

Thank you!
 
I like what BigKid25 had to say as well. I also thought that perhaps a girl AB character tends to have more general acceptance than us guys. There's less of a creepy factor, in my opinion. When I was teaching junior high English we emphasized that all stories create tension, and then resolution. I know that's simplistic, but it's something to consider, especially concerning your more liberal, accepting character, because what often makes a good story is when a strong character is more complex than at first glance. Sometimes what we see isn't what we get. I'm trying to convey that in the story I'm writing for this site, "The House At the End Of the Road". It takes a lot of patience and a lot of writing/character development to bring it off, and it's never easy.

I think you have a difficult subject and I'm wishing you well because the concept is intriguing. Don't forget the complex factors that have caused all of us to embrace diapers and the lifestyle. You could use flashbacks that might startle the viewer, especially where the liberal accepting character is concerned.

Most of us have seen "The Midnight Cowboy", typically on TV. There were two versions of that movie, one rated R, but another rated X, and that was the one I saw when it came out in 1970. There are these very brief flashbacks, almost a flash on the screen. They were so brief that they almost served as subliminal messages, like what they used to do with movies made in the '50s. There would be a brief flash that said, "You're thirsty." That might be followed later by, "Drink Coca-Cola." They were eventually made illegal.

In "Midnight Cowboy", there are these brief flashbacks where the cowboy character is being bullied by some other teens, this scene revealing him as maybe a high school senior. Over the course of the movie, the viewer sees in the last flashback, the boys pulling his pants down, leaning him over the bumper of a '57 Chevy, or some such car, and anally raping him. If you understand the context of the movie, he goes to NYC to become a male gigolo, thinking he'll make a lot of money pleasuring older women, but who he winds up with is Ratso Rizo, Dustin Hoffman, someone who is slowly seducing him. The inference is that our cowboy is trying to escape from who he really is, or maybe what he is: gay. And here's the thing, if you miss that by watching the R rated movie, you miss the whole point.

So it's something to think about when developing your characters. Film is so incredibly strong and can reveal the greatest of truths that hide in the center of our lives.
 
kik91 said:
Dude, thank you so much for this amazing series of suggestions, I will consider them all carefully. I'm doing the script in January so I still have time to fresh out ideas but you gave me a ton of important ideas to consider!!

Thank you!

Any time! I don't have any experience with screen writing, but I really enjoy literature and writing stories. If you ever want to send ideas for me to critique I'd be happy to help you out however I can. Or if you're just looking for a different perspective on something feel free to shoot me a message.
 
You say you want to try to right misconceptions. Who is the target audience you are aiming at? ...and what misconceptions do you believe they have?
 
Gardener said:
I like the concept. It will require some good actors to pull it off.

My concerns would be how you are defining conservative/liberal and whether you make it too stereotypical, bashing on the conservative (are they religiously concervative?) family. If you focus on religion, make both families religious. Are "liberal" families really more accepting of children with this fetish? Seems like you might want to do some research on this site with some polls or threads about the role family upbringing plays in the ease/difficulty we have accepting this in ourselves. Good luck!

I have to agree with this. I would say that many parents, regardless of political or social ideology, might have concerns about an ABDL child. These parents may feel like they did (or did not) do something and as a result, their child was "stricken" with being ABDL. Others may be more accepting but in a "that's your business, I don't want to see it" kind of way. It's the rare parent who wouldn't have an issue with a grown child being in littlespace around them. Instead of 'liberal' and 'conservative', I'd leave the tropes behind and say one person's parents is generally supportive, the other set not so much. Adding political or social ideology would come off as preachy and make the parents two-dimensional.

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Gsmax said:
I like the general concept, however, it is a basic idea. For the film to work, it's going to have to have REALLY well developed characters that people who aren't ABDLs can relate to. I know it's got a lot to do with ABDL, but also make sure that you showcase other problems that they're going through and other areas of interest for the film to focus on.

This. There has to be more to them than ABDL. It has to show that they are, first and foremost, adults, with their own lives, careers, desires, ambitions, experiences. I remember a lot of dramas from the 80's that tried to portray gays & lesbians as "just people" and it ended up feeling fake because *everything* was about their orientation and not who they were as a whole.
 
Here's another take, to thicken things a little bit: Yes, perhaps Andrew needs to accept himself and escape the bonds of his conservatism. Yet, it was this conservative approach which allowed him to survive in the conservative world he lived in (His family, school, etc). While Andrew is learning this, Matthew is learning that a liberal approach is not all it's cracked up to be. I agree with the sentiments of bigkid25 above, you have to get outside the box of good guy/ bad guy happy ending/sad ending. Maybe as Andrew loosens up about himself and begins the journey to self acceptance, Matthew gets "outted" and destroyed (maybe even takes his life or something) because he was liberal at the wrong time, leaving the audience with something to chew on as far as stigma goes. Or maybe Andrew becomes the self accepting one, and Matthew by way of really bad luck, gets repeatedly hurt by others, and becomes bitter and cynical... Andrew visits the now-bitter Matthew when they are much older, trying to teach him to trust the world again...
 
I have yet another concept the chew on for your film. What about making it in the style of a documentary. Not an actual documentary, of course, but a fictional one. You could have a film crew and interviewer following around each boy (Andrew and Matthew) during a typical day. The boys would talk to the camera explaining his day at school, at home, on the weekend, with friends, etc...

The film would not even start out discussing their interest in diapers or regression. The interviewer would simply notice small details (perhaps a pacifier in a drawer, or a plushie animal shoved under a bed) and inquire about those things. The interviewer would ask neutral, nonjudgemental questions of each boy about how they developed this interest and how it impacts their daily life. You could certainly contrast the difference between their relatively "Liberal" and "Conservative" families but show strengths and weakneses of each. Also, neither boy knows about the other until near the end of the film when the documenary producer suggests the two meet. Both boys are shocked to learn there there is anyone else in the world with their same interest.

I think done in the style, the film would not only be immensely interesting to us (the ABDL community), it would certainly disspell myths, and might even target parents who have discovered their kids are ABDL.
 
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