A Closer Look At Movies

While gay filmmakers are on the rise, films with overtly gay characters and storylines are not. I was reading a story in The Advocate magazine that stated such a fact according to the Sundance Film Festival’s upcoming titles. I’m a big movie person and enjoy deep thoughtful storylines with characters that are so amazing that you forget who you are and where you are as you’re watching the movie. Films have the tendency to change peoples views on topics or at least get them to think about certain things in more detail. The big screen has the ability to grab the audience that doesn’t waist their time on news and aren’t involved in political issues, for this reason I believe that there should continue to be movies that directly represents the lives of LGBT people. There needs to be more coming out stories especially, not because they’re my favorite but because they’re necessary.

Growing up discovering myself I often times didn’t feel that I saw myself –a gay kid- being represented on T.V. There weren’t many books on the subject to check out so I remember longing for some type of representation –as most kids like me felt growing up- I remember getting the Sundance channel not having a clear understanding of independent films and watching my first “gay” movie. I can’t remember the name of the movie but I could tell you the entire plot and I was only about eleven-years-old then; as time went on and movie after movie, I felt less weird and more in touch with myself all because of a couple of films.

In retrospect a lot of those films were very bad and full of horrible acting but I remember having a deep appreciation for the actors and directors for challenging such a controversial topic. To this day I still watch movies with horrible acting but have such an appreciation for the story that they tell –hell I even own one! - I’m always preaching about how necessary it is for a movie to be well acted and properly written but when it comes to such LGBT titles the only thing that matters to me is that they’re available. No matter how bad a title I’ll support, I have to... it’s my responsibility.

I’m thankful for the LGBT directors and I want them to be able to venture out into other areas proving their talents on different topics, just don’t venture too far friends! You still have an audience that thirsts for freedom in film and who anxiously look for the me in movies. I know that film has touched others as it has me and made the same impact on the lives of the many LGBT boys and girls, men and women that look for the truth that aren’t given to them in society.

Seek Peace