I Hate This About Me is a modern-day book of affirmations interwoven with personal narratives and reflections of filmmaker Aitch Alberto’s grappling with the toxic masculinity innately embedded in the Latinx community. As Alberto states in the book, “this book is a manifestation of something or someone” they wish they had growing up. In simple and understated passages the book speaks directly and specifically to boys, though each sentence could apply to any and all gender identities. The use of the word boys is intended to remind us of the often-impossible emotional and behavioral demands we place upon boys and men alike. I Hate This About Me softens those expectations encouraging and affirming what’s often perceived as weakness or undesirable should be embraced and normalized. It raises the question of what does it really mean to be a man.
Edition of 200.
Softcover, perfect-bound, colour.
Born and raised in Miami, FL. Latinx filmmaker and writer Aitch Alberto is a recipient of a Skowhegan Artist Residency, a Yaddo fellowship and a Latino Screenwriting Project fellowship in association with the Sundance Institute. They are an alumnus of the Outfest Screenwriting Lab and two-time mentor of Outset: The Young Filmmakers Project by Lifeworks and Outfest. Their other works have screened at festivals and at various spaces worldwide including the Queens Art Museum, Ateliê 397, New Orleans Film Festival, Indie Grits, Rhode Island International, Cleveland International, Frameline, and more. Presently, Henry is working on the film adaptation of the award-winning young adult novel “Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe” by Benjamin Alire Sáenz.