Interview with Documentary Filmmaker Larry Spann
LEMON: Happy Father's Day, everyone. And on this Father's Day one man is calling all dads to action. Documentary filmmaker, Larry Spann, wants fathers everywhere to listen up.</s>LEMON: So, Larry, your documentary is called "Listen Up: Calling All Fathers." Are you calling out fathers? It sounds like you're may be saying that -- I don't know, have we failed fathers or have fathers failed us?</s>SPANN: I don't want to generalize but I think fathers have dropped the ball in many cases. There are many people with -- unfortunately with children and they're not involved in their children's lives.</s>LEMON: Right.</s>SPANN: I think fathers have really dropped the ball in terms of participating in their kids' lives.</s>LEMON: You ask 10 questions in this documentary. You ask the questions of fathers. What were some of the responses from the questions that you got? What were the questions and some of the responses?</s>SPANN: Well, I started first the obvious question, what does fatherhood mean? You would be surprised hearing the different answers of what it means to be a father to different men. Generation-wise, people of an older generation, what it means to be the role -- the father figure. What that means is different than with the younger generation today.</s>LEMON: And so, OK, you said what does being a father mean. What else did you ask?</s>SPANN: Why is there a problem with absentee fathers? Why are so many fathers neglecting their responsibility?</s>LEMON: During your questioning -- I find I will ask people questions they never thought of before. Did any of the people you asked questions to have any epiphany, and go, you know what, I have never thought of that, or change the way they think?</s>SPANN: I loved the question, what do you wish your father would have done better? To see men take a step back and be like, gosh, I wish he didn't let me get away with things or -- there were people giving honest answers. As a young person, you want a cool dad who let you get away with what you want. But I was surprised that there were men who were honest and who wished their fathers were, of course, more present in their lives and actually supplied more discipline, which you don't think you would hear from an adult.</s>LEMON: And this whole process, of course, it's important to have a father and mother. Anything that gives you a jump on things, to be able to go to a good school, to have tutors and all that, but did anyone come to a conclusion that, you know what, my mother was absent or my father was absent and that's not going to stop me, I am still the man that I am today. And maybe I'm an even better person, because my father wasn't there, it made me have to rely on myself more and use my own skills to --</s>SPANN: Granted, like I said, there are people who take initiative in their lives, so, yes, those things are wonderful. You are able to go forward to go to a good school or you have financial resources and that helps you along the way.</s>LEMON: Because, let's face it, we live in the real world. Not everyone is going to have a father, early presence, not everyone's dad is going --</s>SPANN: But everyone should.</s>LEMON: But it can't. That's not possible. Everyone -- it would be great, but it's not possible.</s>SPANN: OK.</s>LEMON: I'll tell you why it's not possible.</s>LEMON: No, no, no, let me tell you why it's not possible. My dad died when I was 7. There is no physical -- it's an impossibility for him to be there because he's dead.</s>SPANN: The last question that I ask on my documentary is, what can you do to be a better father?</s>LEMON: OK.</s>SPANN: So every father, whether you're a better father, whether you're involved, whether not at all or at all, you can always do something better. And I'm sorry, in your situation, the death of a father. But I'm saying, like, every father who's not involved in their children's life now, they could be doing more. They could be taking the kids -- and that's what I want, that's the last message that I want to give. Fathers, who are dropping the ball, try to be more involved in your kids' lives. It makes a difference. And I don't think you're going to argue that. And that's the point I'm trying to make, that you can be involved. We can all be better fathers. I'm a great dad, but I can be an even better dad --</s>SPANN: -- that I am now.</s>LEMON: You answered -- that was my last question, was to say, what's the take away? That's it. And I was just challenging you because you know it's impossible for every -- yes, every person should have a father --</s>SPANN: Yes.</s>LEMON: -- present in the home, but that's not going to happen. This is the real world.</s>LEMON: All right. Thank you, sir. She is a wife, a mother and a veteran pilot, and now she is aboard a spacecraft as China's first female astronaut. We'll look at what this mission means for her country.