Extreme situations have a way of stripping away all the bullshit and forcing us to come together as human beings. Director Kyle B. Thompson’s short film, Parrot, takes place during a drag queen storytime hour at a local library. Of course, there’s a band of angry protestors outside, but far enough away for Brittany Lynn (Ian Morrison) to tell her story. As she’s spinning her yarn, Brittan spots a young boy, Nicolas (Wesley Holloway), with his head down and a distant look.
Then a gunshot rings out! There is an active shooter situation in the library. Brittany sees Nicolas alone and frozen in place as the other parents and children take cover. She grabs him and takes cover as the shooter is heard firing a few times in the distance.
“She grabs him and takes cover as the shooter is heard firing…”
Parrot takes this anxious moment to bring together drag queen Brittany and the young Nicolas, who was raised by a very homophobic father, and allows the pair to see one another as they genuinely are… people.
I know the few issues I have with the story, from a practical standpoint, seem real nitpicky. How extensive is this library? Would a shooter move so slowly through a mid-sized library? Having seen way too many action movies, these are the questions that go through my head during such intense moments. Unfortunately, these questions were distracting and took me out of the story during the most emotional parts. But, action aside, Parrot is an intense and touching story of a drag queen and a young boy seeing one another for who they truly are.
"…allows the pair to see one another as they genuinely are..."
