My short, weird doc about a pre-Covid QAnon rally in Tampa, Florida.

WAITING FOR Q

An anonymous online voice emerges as a prophet for a new generation of right-wing conspiracy theorists. But “QAnon” is moving offline. While the 2020 election approaches, elected officials can be heard parroting the group’s beliefs; the president regularly retweets accounts adjacent to the movement. As their numbers grow, the online spills offline through in-person rallies across the country. Observing one of these meet-ups in the pre-Covid din of Tampa, FL, WAITING FOR Q explores the fringe group and its followers.

Directed & Edited by Pilar Timpane

Director of Cinematography : Bridgette Cyr

Produced by Pilar Timpane, Bridgette Cyr, and Seth Gadsden

Sound Design: Jonathan Henderson

Why does this story matter to me? I asked myself this a lot during the making of this short. The material felt foreign and startling. I have added a content warning to the top because it features MAGA hats and conspiracy theories. So here are the major reasons I share this with you today, a day before the election. TLDR; QAnon is a cultish conspiracy engine started by online con-artists to move Trump followers towards all out paranoid anti-government sentiment, in particular those prone to cult-like belief systems. This effects all of us whether we like it or not.

On this hot January day in Tampa, FL, I got ready to witness something most of us have only heard about. “QAnon” has recently become an internet interest, due mostly to the conspiracy theory’s amplification by our president and his followers. In the course of 9 months, I watched many of the conspiracies being touted in this fringe group meeting become mainstream conversations and disinformation shared throughout the internet. The trickle-down reporters predicted from QAnon is real. And the source is often our very own president. Online connections of mine and peers my own age have shared false information, in particular about Hunter Biden, voting fraud, child trafficking, “the swamp”, and vaccine/public health information. This went from being some wild and crazy spectacle of people to seeming like something we now see every day. Anti-masking conspiracies have also found a breeding ground among conspiracy theorists like those who believe QAnon.

I think it’s important to add that young Christian women and mothers *especially* are at risk for this disinformation, in particular regarding vaccines. This seems vital in an age where we will all likely have to get a vaccine soon to ward off a globally unchecked virus. Another online trend is getting sucked into harmful feedback loops about child trafficking (an actual, existing problem) that has led people into some wild and false beliefs (Democratic-led pedophilia rings) that are unfounded in reality.

As the election drew near, I knew that Trump’s sharing and retweeting of this kind of information would become evident. However, I did not know that he would blatantly deny knowledge of this conspiracy on live television at his own town hall this October (CNN). My fear in creating this was that it would somehow feed into these lies or give them more power. However, as I release this today, I know that this sort of disinformation is already *common* in the waters of right-wing news sources. Fox talks about Hunter Biden almost daily now. Christian Nationalists, and as I mentioned mom-instagram-culture, are being duped into disinformation to bolster Trump’s claims. A year ago, as I mentioned, I’m not sure this would have been possible. Today it is thanks to Donald Trump and disinformation engines like QAnon and, I would wager to guess, the lack of oversight at major social media companies. I’m not an analyst, but the recent crackdowns seem like another case of too-little-too-late.

A lot of research went into this, so I want to share those links temporarily in a google doc for anyone to look through and learn more, share with your families and people who you love who might have been affected. Some of the saddest conversations I had at this event were with people who told me that “It is a cult” and “my own family won’t speak to me,” even as they maintained these beliefs to be true. People are losing each other in this moment.

Also want to point people interested in the Q saga to the QAnon Anonymous Podcast that has been fending off these conspiracies for a long time, as well as an depth interview by PJ Vogt on the subject for the podcast Reply All, where he seems to reveal (or at least come close to revealing) the identity of the original “Q” source on 4chan.

WAITING FOR Q is what I call a picture of our surreality. This rally was a bright white grift. Many involved in the spread of this information take advantage of people who are starved for belonging and connection. The leaders of these groups have been called out and removed online, their remarks are sensational and false.

Thanks to the brave crew who worked on this shoot and to the Real Fiction Lab folks who watched many cuts and talked through this highly disturbing subject over the course of our very engaging time at Indie Grits in South Carolina. And in particular the incredible sound designer who made this final piece come alive. I think they really brought out the feeling all had that day which was fear and loathing, a mixture of unsettledness in our political climate as well as the constant distraction and sounds of late capitalism. Crazy to think that soon after this trip, Covid would hit and QAnon would find a new way to usurp the conspiracies of anti-masking and ethnic discrimination that sprung up throughout the land.

Thanks to all for helping me tackle this ugly topic, to make something which is not beautiful and which stands in stark contrast to the world that I want to see.

—

PT

Waiting for Q — Fear & Loathing in Tampa

2020