MOVIES
Philadelphia
Philadelphia is a movie that enables the audience to
visualize an alternative perspective of discrimination
against HIV positive homosexual man. Throughout the
movie, one can get an understanding of how a HIV positive
homosexual is treated in society and the portrayal of
him. “Philadelphia” stars Tom Hanks as Andrew
Beckett, an intelligent and sharp lawyer working for a
large firm in Philadelphia. Andrew is diagnosed with AIDS
and does not tell his supervisors in the firm of his
sickness and that he is homosexual.
The Celluloid Closet
Based
on the book by Vito Russo, The Celluloid Closet opens
beautifully with a 1895 clip from a Thomas Edison
experimental film of two men dancing together close, but
unemotionally, next to another man playing a violin. The
violinist almost seems to be playing the main theme of
the soundtrack, creating and erie yet moving montage.
Worth the price of admission on its own, this scene acts
as a pair of bookends to the film: placed in the
beginning, it acts as a precursor to the film's
presentation of cinema's traditional reluctance to
portray any gay emotions; placed at the end, it acts as a
marker for film's still-developing willingness to finally
allow gay characters to embrace freely and truthfully.
Boys Don't Cry
Boys Don't
Cry is an emotionally overwhelming and, at times,
deeply upsetting portrait of doomed youth. The rape and
the scene in Lana's bathroom where Brandon is stripped
bare by John and Thomas and exposed as a woman, are some
of the most distressing images captured on film in recent
memory. Peirce's intentionally uncluttered directorial
style, capturing these searing and horrific events in
single static takes, only accentuates Brandon's terror
and the tangible air of impending violence.