Parenting thread from a filmmaker

Filmmaker Scott Derrickson used an X post on parenting to argue that raising children starts with accepting who they already are. (x.com) The post came from Derrickson, the writer-director of *The Exorcism of Emily Rose*, *Sinister*, *Doctor Strange* and *The Black Phone*, whose film career has kept him visible well beyond horror audiences. He is 59 and has two children, according to biographical listings. (crooked-highway.com) (wikipedia.org) By April 2026, the post had drawn more than 556 likes and about 12,000 views on X, turning a short parenting note into a wider conversation on social media. The account is one Derrickson has used for years alongside other public platforms, including Facebook and Bluesky. (x.com) (facebook.com) (bsky.app) The idea in Derrickson’s post matches a long-running parenting argument: children need acceptance without giving up guidance or discipline. Psychologist Kenneth Barish wrote in *Psychology Today* that accepting children “for who they are” does not mean dropping rules, and that discipline works best as teaching rather than humiliation. (psychologytoday.com) That framing also helps explain why the post traveled. It offered a middle position between two familiar instincts in family debates: treating personality as fixed, or treating children as projects to be remade. (psychologytoday.com) (youtube.com) Derrickson’s public image adds another layer to the reaction. Profiles and interviews have repeatedly described him as a filmmaker who talks openly about faith, suffering and moral formation, themes that also surface in how audiences read his posts outside movie promotion. (insights.uca.org.au) (slashfilm.com) His career has moved between studio work and personal projects, from *Doctor Strange* in 2016 to *The Gorge* in 2025 and *Black Phone 2* in 2025. That mix gives him an audience that includes movie fans, religious readers and followers who know him from years of posting online. (wikipedia.org) (5280.com) The post did not introduce a new parenting theory. It landed because a filmmaker better known for stories about fear and evil used a short social-media thread to make a simple claim about children, acceptance and change. (x.com) (insights.uca.org.au)