A scene from the re-enactment video.
Pssssst … wanna see a video of a seemingly stoned, very large, mumble-mouthed guy insulting Justin Trudeau – and not have to pay $200,000 for the experience?
Get thee then to YouTube where seven members of a teen-art collective from Toronto's often-troubled Parkdale district have posted their re-enactment of "the alleged video that allegedly depicts [Toronto Mayor] Rob Ford's alleged consumption of crack cocaine."
In an onscreen proviso, the teens, who call themselves the Torontonians, "make no claims that this is what happened. Only what was said to have happened," based verbatim on published press reports. Collective member Virginia Antonipillai, 17, came up with the re-enactment idea in a Facebook chat with the group's founder and mentor Darren O'Donnell, 47, after news of the imbroglio broke.
By mid-Saturday afternoon, the teens were "making movies," casting a near-catatonic, pipe-sucking O'Donnell in the lead, a mustard stain spotting his enormous girth. The re-enactment, titled Allegations, lasts all of 105 seconds but it's prefaced by an open letter to the real Ford with Antonipillai and friends urging the politician to seek treatment if so required.
The video ends with the crew explaining how the re-enactment was made. As Parkdale teens "who live just down the street from the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health they've seen mental health issues, addiction issues their entire lives," notes O'Donnell.