Brave The Dark: Inspiring True Story Of Everyday Heroes – Interview With Nate Deen

Brave The Dark: Inspiring True Story Of Everyday Heroes – Interview With Nate Deen

Nate Deen is the writer and director of the film Brave the Dark. We previously reviewed this film, which can be seen here.

Nate Deen sat down with the Staten Islander News to discuss his film. Nate shared that this film was ten years in the making, and that he struggled with the desire to tell his own story, as painful as it was. However, he eventually decided in favor of telling it because he knew it could help others. Help them to heal from past trauma, help them to have hope for their own future. But most importantly, it could help inspire more Stan Deen’s. This part, I did not even think of, but it is quite beautiful.

If there are more people in the world who are like Stan Deen, then more children and young adults will have someone to stand with them, to care about them, and to help them overcome their own darkness. While Stan Deen was a very unique person, every kid can benefit from someone caring about them. It is important for a child to know that at least one person in the world genuinely cares about them. This can help them to face the darkness in their own life, and can help them to triumph over adversity.

Nate is a very inspiring person, and I came away from the interview inspired myself. I hope that more and more people will hear this message of inspiration and hope, and that they will be inspired by Stan Deen to be more like him. What was different about him? He was genuine and caring, but anyone can aspire to this. We are all human, and we all share the same needs for love and tenderness. Paying attention to the needs of others is important, and may be what set Stan Deen apart the most.

Nate mentions that the first time Stan reached out to him, it was to give him a candy bar when he had not eaten for three days. But if you watch the movie, and you rewind about five minutes, you see that Stan knew he would benefit from the candy bar because he was attentive. He saw Nate try to obtain a candy bar from the school vending machine, which was not successful. He did not know that Nate was really hungry, but he acted with kindness and compassion, and with a lack of judgment that comes through palpably in the film.

Throughout the story, he never judges Nate. Even though the police find stolen items in his car, even though he is taken to jail (which causes many people to judge), and even when he is not the easiest youth to take care of. But Stan persists, and his concern and love are life-changing to Nate, both in the film and in real life.

Now, Nate has the opportunity to help and inspire others himself. He founded a charity, the Stan Deen Foundation, that seeks to help kids who are struggling. They also collect and gather stories of other Stan Deen’s in the world – people who have been helped by one person in their life, where this has made all of the difference.

From discussions I have had with others about the power of having a caring adult to help a kid, have focused on organizations that provide an opportunity for mentoring. An adult who has their own business, or who works at a place that would be OK with a young person shadowing them all day once a week, or even someone who just has time one day a week that they could hang out with a young person who is struggling: they could sign up to mentor a young adult. The help they offer is invaluable, and the people who give the help are also benefited. Similarly to the way in which giving to others in charity helps the person doing the giving more than the one receiving, this holds true in mentoring. The intangible benefits that people receive from doing this work is hard to describe, but it is real.

After watching this interview, you may want to see the Brave the Dark movie for yourself. At this moment, you can view it on the Angel Studios website only, but it will soon be released on DVD/BluRay and on streaming services.

Banner Image: Cry for Joy review banner from Brave the Dark. Image Credit – Angel Studios 

Staten Islander News Service Staff Writer

This byline indicates that this article was penned by a member/members of the Staten Islander News Organization office team. Our staff writers are the backbone of our newspaper, performing all sorts of important tasks like conducting interviews, investigating leads, besides writing the news stories you see.