Is this technically a gay show? Even after getting through the whole thing, that's still kind of tricky to answer. There's never any physical intimacy shown between the two leads, not even a single kiss. What it gives you instead is something that goes way deeper than that. It traces an emotional bond that spans a full decade between two guys who are both dealing with their own baggage, and what they share basically amounts to being soulmates. The story moves across Japan, South Korea, and Berlin. Honestly, whether people want to call what they have a romantic relationship or not doesn't really matter to me. A relationship doesn't need a label like boyfriends attached to it to actually mean something. And closeness doesn't need to be physical to feel genuine. What this show captures is something quieter but way more powerful, a bond rooted in understanding, respect, and just showing up for each other. Across eight episodes, each running 35 to 45 minutes, this is one...
Ken Coolen recognizes that the ride celebrations had started to overshadow the whole activism situation at the pride parades and hence he decides to travel to places like Sri Lanka, Moscow, Poland, Canada to understand what its like there. He finds the situation a lot different in Sri Lanka, where just flying the rainbow flag can get you 10 years in jail or the lesbians are sometimes subjected to "conversion rapes". In Poland, where the European Court only recently ruled that pride celebration must be legalized, Coolen encounters anti-gay violence first-hand, as hoards of Catholics (mostly young men) angrily stomp their feet in protest of the burgeoning GLBT rights movement. Then things get really exciting in Moscow, where Russian activists must resort to skullduggery to pull off a 10-minute demonstration. He also visits places like Brazil, Switzerland, where things aren't bad and have legalized gay rights and parade marches. The film concludes with the fascinating case study of Toronto. Because Canada's GLBT movement has achieved most of its legislative victories, the organizers asked themselves: what do we march for now? The answer, they decided, was to march for international GLBT rights, highlighting the countries, and the GLBT people who live in them, who do not yet have the benefit of legal victories.
Beyond Gay: The Politics of Pride isn't saying anything particularly new or revolutionary, and sometimes it falls back on cliches and gay rights. It also ignores the many divisive issues that surround pride: the sexualization of the parades, but is still an an earnest and appealing look at the broader issue of pride. There are many other incredible stories, inspiring and deeply moving, throughout the 85-minute run time of Beyond Gay. One Jamaican man, Gareth Henry, talks of the many killings of gay men in Jamaica. There is a legitimate debate about whether corporations have any place in a Pride Parade. The documentary raises, but does not deal with in any depth, the question that has begun being debated openly about the kind of events that Pride has turned into in Western Europe, the Americas and Australia. Growing out of political struggles for GLBT rights, they have morphed into large scale commercial events that often bring in substantial tourist dollars. Also, what can western countries with more LGBT rights could do to help those that don't or how we could solve any of the other problems the film raised. (5/10)
Comments