Pride Review
A few years ago I was involved with an organization on campus called Students for Choice. It is an organization which promotes access to contraception and the right to abortion. One day we went to Lansing for a special “lobby your state-senator for planned parenthood-day.”
When we arrived we saw a whole bunch of people ( mainly men) who were part of the unions and worked in plants/factories, out there protesting against the governor. I asked my colleagues if they were also there to support Planned Parenthood. One of the girls laughed and said, “ Haha, a bunch of union guys supporting planned parenthood??!!” I guess my naive self never thought about that before. I didn’t see why it would be weird for a whole bunch of men to support something related to contraception. I just thought that if somebody supported a cause, then they could fight for it. Little did I know that people had images of what types of people fought for certain types causes.
But seeing this movie, helped me reaffirm the truth to my naivete. And for that I am grateful.
I am grateful because this movie shows that we as people can truly get together and support others no matter what makes us different from one another.
The leader of Gays and Lesbians Support the Miners, Mark Ashton tells the head of the miners union in Onllwyn that he noticed in a lot of Gay and Lesbian groups just mingle with ONLY those in the LGBT community. He felt that forming a LGBT Pride group wanted to make him connect with others- which is what this movie is after all about.
That said, I cannot believe the arc of this story and how amazing it was. An LGBT group sets out to help support the miners who are on strike and out of work and pay. The national labor unions reject their offers of support, and so Gays and Lesbians support the miners decide to help out at the miners in the village of Onllwyn. At first, they are met with some cold shoulders by some in the community. At the first speech given by Mark Ashton- some miners walk out. One woman in the welcoming board refuses to greet them/serve them. Later, with time as things thaw out many people (especially the women) decide to mingle with the LGBT members. Eventually some straight men even befriend them- so that they can learn how to dance and score women. Lol indeed! But the film has a lot of twists and a negative backdrop at times. The miners at one point were not taking baths because resources were so tight; those in the LGBT movement were dealing with the reality of AIDS; the LGBT members also faced some harassment; but eventually the movie has a happy ending. Some of the real facts in epilogue were jaw-dropping–but you should see the movie to find out!
As political and sociological this movie is- it doesn’t uncompromise it’s artistic quality. The film does a great balancing act between drama and comedy- and truly does dramedy at it’s best. In one scene when one of the main characters unknownst to the audience deals with the harsh reality of a HIV diagnosis- another scene’s comedy isn’t diminished when an elderly townswoman rushes out to see her Lesbian friends saying, “ Oh, my lesbians!” This movie was full of other very funny lines and at other times, poignant lines.
I love the costumes and art direction and lighting in some of the scenes. There were scenes during the holiday season where I truly felt I was in a 1980s small Welsh town with that sentimental/at times saccharine decor ( which by the way I love). The wallpaper was a little to colorful and cutesy full of acorns, holly, and green stripes. The collars were a little too rufflely on the ladies; the hair couldn’t be more flouncier and bigger; the lighting couldn’t be more orange glowing cutesey.
Perhaps, the best product of the sharp witted humor and cutesy-kitsch-norman rockwelly scenes is when a lot of the women spend the night at Jonathon’s house and they find some sex toys ( and in particular a hot pink vibrator) and see “Buns magazine” lying around! AND they hold up the vibrator and wonder the different ways it can.. em.. enter. In doing so, they laugh, laugh, laugh their heads off so much that Jonathon and his partner in the floor below cannot sleep! What I find even more ironic is that all of this happens in one of the homiest of rooms- not necessarily one where people think to find sex toys!
In closing, I would like to address a few other things. One is that, this movie should get the Best Oscar picture award. I say this because many Best Oscar flics are an union of well critically received and audience loved ( think, Walk the Line from 2005). In addition this movie, is relevant, or should I say very relevant to what is going on in our world. The LGBT movement is in high swing, and a lot of traction with that movement is going on. I have seen Milk, Brokeback Mountain— but this is by far my favorite film that deals with the LGBT movement. I say this because there is something very humbling about the movie and has the ability to touch many. And another thing that this film could do if nominated for Best Picture Oscar is to inspire perhaps, what actually happened in this movie. In other words, Where are the Gays and Lesbians support the miners or miners support Gays and Lesbians of 2014? You think 30 years later those in the liberal movement would get out of their boxes and mingle a bit more. But sadly, that seems to not be a reality. This movie happened because reality imitated art. But in order for the story behind the film to go full circle, we need a little more of art imitating life.
