Paolo Contis on changing ‘Dear Satan’ title: We’re being sensitive to viewers

Paolo Contis (right) and Sienna Stevens in “Dear Satan” —PHOTOS COURTESY OF MAVX PRODUCTIONS/YOUTUBE

Changing the title will not change the whole movie,” declared actor Paolo Contis on the decision of Mavx Productions, producer of the controversial film “Dear Satan,” to simply come up with a new title after the project drew negative reactions from netizens, claiming this might send a wrong message to children.

“Changing the title just means we’re being sensitive to what people are saying. We’d rather do that than not get the film shown. The movie is finished. It’s been fully edited, and it’s beautiful,” said Paolo, who also admitted that the film is actually based on his concept.

Paolo said the change in title also means that he and the production respect what the public is saying. “It’s a movie. It’s fiction. Its main concept is the battle between good and evil. It features a child, who is pure at heart, and Satan. If you want the clearest depiction of good and evil, who do you think is the best person to show evil other than Satan? That’s just my opinion. Then again, it’s fiction,” Paolo pointed out.

He added that, while filming, he and the production team made sure they were sensitive to the needs of their child actor, Sienna Stevens, both physically and emotionally. “I guess people were just reacting to the title. You cannot judge the whole film based on that. It’s the concept of the movie—the child, who was writing to Santa, made a mistake and misspelled it as ‘Satan.’”

Paolo Contis and Sienna Stevens in “Dear Satan.”

Surprised with reaction

The actor went further by sharing what he thought was the true message of the film. “We always hear people say, ‘You should have child-like faith.’ This is the literal depiction of that. No matter how bad I am—as Satan—to the kid, she is still kind to me. For me, the message is beautiful. It’s just sad that people chose to connect it to all sorts of issues,” he said.Paolo then admitted to being surprised with the public’s reaction to the title. “I honestly thought they would see the difference between art, of a fictional movie, and [real-life issues]. The movie didn’t say we should idolize Satan. I think the trailer was very clear that I’m trying to influence her [to become bad], but it never happened because her faith is strong.”

Paolo said he personally sat down with Mavx head Lucky Blanco to discuss the issue prior to releasing a formal statement about it during the weekend. “Lucky wanted to be sensitive to what the people were saying. I just wish they would give the movie a chance. I guess one of the things they noticed was that Satan is still too nice. This is a children’s film, obviously. I could portray Satan at his worst, but that will not look good either because we are working with children,” he explained.

Discussed at home

“I also believe that, yes, you go to the cinemas to watch and learn from what you’ve seen. But the lesson should still be discussed at home. Again, we made sure that by watching the movie, the kids will not question their faith. It will just show that a person with strong faith in God will not be swayed to do bad things,” Paolo declared.

The movie, which also features Aya Fernandez, is scheduled for a commercial release on Sept. 18. Meanwhile, Paolo is shooting a drama-comedy titled “ConMom” with his long-time friends Kaye Abad and Patrick Garcia, along with Empoy Marquez and Kit Thompson, also for Mavx Productions.