Woman learns ex was lying about identity; puts his real name on a movie poster.
"My ex lied about his identity, so I printed his real one on a movie poster."
I'm a young filmmaker who, like many of my kind, is incredibly proud of their college film projects. I'm especially and shamelessly fond of my thesis film. The execution was on point thanks to the many talented people working on the project, including my ex-boyfriend's band which gave me music for the film.
Let's call my ex John Mancini. John told me he was from Italy, and it's important to note that John spoke often about being Italian, telling stories, like the one about his traumatic birth and baptism in Tuscany, that place him there for the first few years of his life.
The relationship was actually quite abusive in many forms, but I was very in love with him and quite proud to put his band's name in the credits on our original poster, 'MUSIC BY: HIS BAND.'
John asked that I use his stage name 'Robert Mancini,' in the credits on IMDb. I didn't find this odd, as having a screen name is common, and he had done music for another film I found on IMDb and asked to be credited in the same way.
Shortly after the film premiered (and 1 month after I signed a year lease on a 2-bedroom apartment for us), he broke up with me. Though it was the safest outcome for me, I was heartbroken, to say the least.
Here I was, having to process us sharing a 'Full Cast and Crew' page on IMDb, on top of everything I went through in the relationship while missing him. Remembering he scored another film, I decided to Google his credits using his screen name, Robert Mancini.
My top hit is a mugshot from several years ago: it's undeniably him, with his birth name (Robert Garcia, not John Mancini), his birth country (Mexico, not Italy), a list of aliases, none of which are the name he gave me (we were going to live together!!!!!)
And the name and relationship with his contact on file, a woman we'll call Jill Bates, a name I recognized from an Instagram account that had been watching my stories throughout my and my ex's relationship.
I was so shocked, even more heartbroken, and full of rage. RAAAAAGE!!!! But what could I do? I was at a loss and stayed that way for another few months.
After a while, I was still heartbroken and confused, but starting to get some festival buzz for the film, which meant redesigning the film's original poster to showcase our new 'Official Selection' laurels.
I was excited to distract myself with something creative and started right away, updating the original poster as well as putting together new poster designs, which required some rearrangement of the credits layout at the bottom of the poster.
There, I see my ex's band in bold print, capitalized, subtle but apparent and clear. I decided to update his credit too.Guess whose birth name has now been printed in the paper and digital programs of 10 international film festivals? Robert f*%$ing Garcia's.
Here were the top rated comments from readers:
She named names! Subtle, and well done.
UPDATE ME. I want to hear what he does when he finds out.And if he gets found out.
Well its your film and you want to make sure everything is accurate. I love your petty revenge. Make sure to photoshop that mugshot to use in future promotions of your film.
Sounds like he was a sociopath or a malignant narcissist. Glad you got revenge and put him in your rear-view mirror.
If I had a nickel for every person other than me I know who dated someone who pretended to be Italian, I'd only have one nickel... But what were the f*cking odds?
This is a beautiful story. Well played, OP. 'Hero' is a serious word, but I think it is fitting. May there be many young women who look up to you as an admirable role model :)