In
a previous article I wrote about the power of gay fiction in the fight
against homophobia. In this article I would like to propose three gay
films that your straight parents, friends, or family members should see.
Sex scenes in movies can play a vital role in showing the reality of
life, but it make the movie unusable for carrying a message to straight
people. Sex scenes could easily offend, and although I agree with the
idea that they should be there, it makes it difficult to show them to
straight friends. Fortunately there are a few very good gay movies that
touch gay sexuality very discretely and that can help us in the fight
against homophobia. I could have mentioned more of these films, but in
the scope of this article I am only going to discuss three.
- A Single Man
This
movie was directed by Tom Ford and it tells the story of a college
professor whose male partner died in a car accident on his way to his
family. He grieves the death of his longtime companion and decided to
kill himself. He gets all his affairs in order and gives an emotional
lecture to his class. A student, Kenny, senses something is wrong and
shows him why he should stay alive. The professor reconsiders his
suicide, but dies of a heart attack. The message shows how deep gay
relationships can be and how wrong some straight people are in their
view that gay relationships are only superficial. The college professor
is played by Colin Firth and rotten tomatoes gave the film a
tomato-meter of 85% and an audience-meter of 81%.
- Shelter
The
movie portrays a young man who falls in love with a friend's older
brother. His sister has a small boy and the young gay man is much more
of a father to the boy as the sister who is only interested in her
boyfriend. His sister asks him to look after her son while she hits the
road with her newest boyfriend. The young gay guy wants to go to college
and receives a bursary to do so. At the end he and his lover, the
brother of his best friend, hit the road to college, but not without the
young boy they decided to raise on their own. The message touches the
question whether gay parents should be allowed to raise children.
Leading roles are played by Trevor Right as the young gay guy, and Brad
Rowe as his lover. Rotten tomatoes gave the film a tomato-meter of 58%
and an audience-meter of 85%.
- Prayers for Bobby
The
movie portrays the real life of Mary Griffith, a mother who drives her
gay son to suicide by forcing him to repent his homosexuality and become
straight. After his death she realizes that there are Christian
churches and theologians that interpret the Bible differently and she is
stricken with guilt. She then goes out and become one of the most
famous fighters for gay rights in America. The message should be clear;
some churches, families, and politicians are driving our gay youth to
suicide while they could have provided a safe haven for these kids. The
mother is portrayed by Sigourney Weaver. Rotten tomatoes did not give a
tomato-meter for this movie, but the audience-meter is 87%.
All three these movies are an absolute must-see for families and friends of gay people.
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