Summary
The following article contains discussions of racialized violence.
Doubting Thomas is a 2018 drama movie that takes inspiration from true events. Will McFadden pullsdouble duty as the director and the star of his movie,Doubting Thomas, a philosophical, “What would you do?” film about an expecting white couple who are shocked when the mother gives birth to a Black child. Tom (McFadden) and Jen (Sarah Butler) at first agree that it’s possible their baby’s skin color is due to a recessive gene. However, as coworkers and friends begin to gossip, Tom develops some doubts.
Ron, played by Jamie Hector ofThe WireandWe Own This Cityfame, is a Black man, and when Tom suspects Jen may have had an extramarital affair with him, troubling accusations and thinly veiled racist attitudes emerge. While that description may makeDoubting Thomassound like some kind of noir about star-crossed lovers or anerotic thriller as two people try to hide their affair, it’s primarily an intense look at the racist prejudices that exist even between seemingly tolerant people. While the plot may be fictional, the lesson stems from a true story.
10 Best Films To Better Understand Black Lives Matter
Educate yourself on the dark themes behind the Black Lives Matter Movement by watching these 10 enlightening films by award-winning directors.
Doubting Thomas Is Not Based On A True Story
Scriptwriter Joseph Campbell Based The Story On His Father Robert’s Murder
Doubting Thomasscreenwriter Joseph Campbell based his script on an article he wrote for hisMediumaccount. “Based” is a very loose usage of the word in this case.The film is more like a parable for theMediumarticle, which was officially published after the film but explains Campbell’s mindset during the writing process. That in no way means thatDoubting Thomaslies about being based on a true story. It’s pitched as a fictional creation, but it serves to elucidate Campbell’s feelings in the article.
His article, titled “Speak Loudly…or Don’t Speak At All” was posted on June 24, 2025. It discusses the impact of the death of Campbell’s father, Rogers Campbell, while in police custody. This alleged incident of police brutality in 1987 informed Campbell’s life forever after. That tragedy caused him immense emotional and mental pain all his life, which eventually led to him writing the script forDoubting Thomas. It’s a process he describes as a cathartic event, though the incident of his father’s death is left only as, “an Easter egg.”
Doubting Thomas Effectively Communicates Campbell’s Views On Prejudice
Campbell Wants Viewers To Consider Hidden Racism And Fake Tolerance
Doubting Thomasis a parable for what Campbell has been feeling since his father was murdered when he was eight. He describes the movie as,
“At this point, the incident of police brutality is an Easter egg. A hidden truth, in plain sight. Protests today are not about a death yesterday. No more than that death being about anyone’s poor behavior on that day. Culture can jump up and slap in you the face sometimes. Hip-hop, basketball and death in the hands of an officer.”
To Campbell, his father’s murder, protests against police brutality, racist confrontations, and the plot ofDoubting Thomasall have the same underlying theme,that people ignore harsh truths about themselves with regard to prejudice. There is no issue between the three leads inDoubting Thomasuntil an event occurs that reveals people’s true feelings.
Campbell thinks being kind, sensitive, and tolerant is easy when everything is status quo and conflict-free. But when a man is killed in prison and the police are to blame, or someone is murdered on the sidewalk in a racially-motivated attack, or when a friend accuses another one of infidelity out of prejudiced understanding, then it’s suddenly not so easy to be tolerant.
Suddenly, it takes work and effort to maintain respect and love for one another, and tragically,Campbell has witnessed that hard times and difficult conversations often defeat people who claim tolerance, revealing it’s only a facade. The writer wants people to recognize this, if not in the true story of his father’s death, then at least in a film where the lesson is laid bare.
Joseph Campbell Left America
Campbell Now Lives In Australia
BeforeDoubting Thomaswas made, Campbell had already left America for Australia, sick of his home country’s unwillingness to reckon with its racist past and present. In Australia, he found a more tolerant society that has let him breathe easier since. He tells a story about being wrongfully pulled over and cited by a police officer after only a few months in the country. The next morning, he received a call from the same officer apologizing to Campbell and telling him that he had in fact read the law wrong and would rip up the citation.
As Campbell puts it,
“I was no longer in America and I no longer seized up when the black & whites pulled up behind me.”
He found comfort in his new home and has lived there since, enjoying a new type of freedom of mind, saying,
“Post-traumatic traffic stops were replaced with random breath tests and pats on the back. Yes, a pat back, however condescending, is better than a push in the back. Let alone a knee to the neck.”
Just because Campbell has found a safer home doesn’t mean he’s forgotten the anger and injustice his father, and by extension, he himself has suffered. Campbell spoke at a January 2018TEDxconference in Adelaide on “Five steps to becoming an advocate” where he tells his story and urges the listeners to consider their privilege and acknowledge that the fight for equality is far from over.
Rogers Campbell’s Death Has Inspired His Granddaughter
Taylor Hawkins Wrote An Article About Supporting Black People During The 2020 Protests Against Police Brutality
Rogers Campbell’s murder in prison also affected another member of his family, his granddaughter Taylor Hawkins, who wrote an article inImprintwhile she was a graduate student at the University of Southern California School of Social Work in July 2020. Hawkins graphically describes her grandfather’s death, saying he was hogtied and then put into a chokehold, which killed him. Her piece, written at the beginning of the George Floyd protests, has similar charges as Campbell’s.
She wants people, especially white people, to consider that this new era of visible police brutality has to be met with an equal understanding of privilege, the recognition of differences between people and cultures, and the consideration that microaggressions and implicit biases exist everywhere. Hawkins requests that other social workers pledge themselves as allies and do more than may be required to ensure Black lives always matter and that America stands together against any sort of tyranny.
Doubting Thomas Was Made By Joseph Campbell For White People
Campbell Wants White People To Look Deep Within Themselves To Help
Campbell specifically madeDoubting Thomasfor white people. He says in his article,
“I wrote this movie for white people — for the millions of white people who consider themselves woke, those who consider themselves trustworthy allies of people of color — whites who go beyond tolerance, into celebration, and those who acknowledge the privilege that whiteness bestows.”
The screenwriter wants to make it clear that it isn’t okay just to say, “I’m not racist” or “I don’t believe that”; real allies have to make an effort to acknowledge privilege and the fact that Black people in America, on the whole, have a more difficult time surviving in a country with the motto, “Land of the Free”.
Campbell believes that through honest examination, which films likeDoubting Thomashave often been able to provide, and a look into oneself from an angle that wasn’t even thought to exist, America can take steps toward true equality. He says,
“The film’s co-writer is white. He’s just that kind of white person for whom the film is designed — a white person who is not only open to learning about his blind spots, but also wants to learn. Like any truly woke white person, he is smart and humble enough to recognize that he can only ever be so woke. Once the frustration of inaction catches up with his moments of clarity, and all hands are on deck, we will be able to tackle the most tenacious threat in our society: apathy… This is an opportunity to take that big step forward. Step up and give in to your inner doubting Thomas.”
Between his article and hisDoubting Thomasfilm, Joseph Campbell has proven that he won’t sit by and do nothing about injustices in America, and his powerful movie will likely motivate many people to follow his lead.
