The Film On Being Gay

In Harry Benshoff’s article, “Brokering Brokeback Mountain”, he touches on how in the movie Brokeback Mountain, there are many queer references that are made and thus created quite a bit of controversy in Hollywood and also to the moviegoers in the audience. In Benshoff’s article, he attempts to help the reader understand the phenomenon surrounding homosexuality. To complete his study on how the audience in North Texas was receptive of this film, he utilizes his own personal experiences and surveys from the people of North Texas. Benshoff analyzes the opinions of homophobia from the viewers by reviewing their responses to the film and how they generally feel about the reality of the film. Despite the mixed reviews that this film received, it allowed the film industry to “[open] up an important public space for discourse on the place and meaning of queer men in the United States” (2-3).

I have recently watched the movie called “The Laramie Project.” The Laramie project is about a young gay student named Matthew Sheppard, who was murdered in Laramie, Wyoming by two boys from the town named, Aaron McKinley and Russell Henderson. The evidence and testimonies from the case suggested that Matthew was attacked, because of his sexuality as a gay man. Matthew was beaten, tied to a fence and left dead in Laramie, Wyoming in 1988. This movie captures the reaction of the murder and draws on hundreds of interviews conducted by the theatre company with the inhabitants of the town, company members, own journal entries, and published news reports. After watching this movie, I reflected on my own perspectives and thoughts about a few issues in the movie, such as hate crime, the phrase “Live and Let Live,” and “flaunting it.”

Let people not overlook that homosexuals both male and female face the same struggles when it comes to being respected in the field. After “coming out” they are almost alienated from the life that they may have known before. They lose all respect from people they previously considered to be friends. Leaving them alone in what was already a battle.

These injections represent the physical changes that people of the transsexual community must go through in order to gain their true identity. Additionally, these injections show the comment and determination of these people due to the continuous injections which must be routinely preformed. Also the film exhibited an important signifier in the commit Robert made while discussing “coming out” to his family about the militaries “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy on a person’s sexuality. This policy displays the oppressing nature the United States’ military has towards people of non-heterosexual sexuality.

It’s hard to talk about things to people in fear of how judgmental they will be towards you, but it’s also harder to have acceptance in your community even when you are open about your sexuality. Michael Sam, the first openly gay NFL defensive end was drafted from the University of Missouri, and on draft day, in front of millions of spectators, he kisses his boyfriend on national television. It raised at heated debate between fans, athletes that were playing and retired, and also his newfound teammates. A media outcry ensued as people took to all forms of social media in disgust of what was just witnessed. In Michael’s defense, I could understand him being visibly emotional over what now has changed his entire life, but to go about it while

Many people from the United States hold the belief that being gay is something that has always been considered to be okay. They believe that it is just a given. Despite people’s current beliefs on the subject, for a very long time, it was something that was widely believed to be taboo. In the past, people were imprisoned due to their sexuality. Regardless, throughout the decades, people have pushed for the widespread acceptance of people who are part of the LGBT community. Today, homophobia still exists in some parts of the United States, but we have come a long way since the early 1900s.

I specifically have a passion for understanding prejudice and reducing it as well. This movie gives me hope in social psychology because it correlates with some of the theories derived from social psychology. While it cannot all be explained through social psychology, many of the attitude changes in the football players can. They were in the right conditions and being in contact with each other. These theories can also be applied to the prejudice situations we still encounter

The movie ‘When a Man Loves a Woman’ is a 1994 romantic drama that portrays a married couple where the wife, Alice Green (a school counselor), displays alcohol use abuse (“When a Man Loves a Woman”, n.d.). According to the movie’s Wikipedia page, the main character that displays alcoholism is actress, Meg Ryan and her husband, whom is a pilot, in the movie is actor, Andy Garcia. Together they raised two daughters. One day Alice arrived home really drunk and became violent. Due to that behavior, she managed to fell onto the bathroom floor, and her youngest daughter thought she died. She was admitted to the hospital, where her family confronted her about her drinking problem. So, she agreed with her family to admit into a rehabilitation

The story of the Lovings is one fraught with social change. The Lovings were the mixed-race couple that brought their case to the Supreme Court and legalized interracial marriage throughout the U.S. While not described explicitly within the film, the social change that the case brought about was sizable­– legalizing interracial marriage was a huge step towards racial equality. While even today, racial equality has not yet been achieved, the social change that has occurred from the time of this film to modern day is drastic. This becomes evident in the street interviews with the people in the film, The Loving Story, a documentary that follows the historic court case of the Lovings, compared to modern vocalizations of racism, which are much

My reflections after viewing this film, moved towards thinking about our current situation of not allowing people of the LGBT community get married. The opinions and bigotry that are still instilled in our society. For those that say that we have moved past our prejudiced views as a society in the United States; I would say that they are wrong. The Loving story was significant in so many ways towards moving our world into a better place for all. The education and consciousness of accepting all people will be key in future of struggle for equality in this country and around the

This paper will continue on, researching the societal change/acceptance in the gay and lesbian community as no longer being unorthodox and with the stigma coming from the gay community itself.

In the 1980’s and 1990’s, society wasn’t the most accepting of places for people who were different from the “social norms”. Now I know, people today still struggle with trying to fit in and be “normal” but it was different. Being a gay man living in San Fransisco at the time, which had a large gay population, Richard Rodriguez had a hard time dealing with the discrimination he faced. Richard Rodriguez was an American journalist who wrote and published a memoir about his life as a gay man. In October of 1990, Rodriguez published his memoir “Late Victorians” in Harper’s Magazine, a critically acclaimed publication of the time. In his memoir, Rodriguez describes what it was like to realize he was gay and watch as the country changed to become a more accepting place. He does this by setting up how things can change and then explaining the actual ways things change for the gay population.

“Coming out” is a means of identifying one’s sexual orientation as gay, lesbian, or bisexual. At its most basic, “coming out of the closet,” means being honest with those around you—friends, family, colleagues, and so forth—about your sexual orientation, about whom you are. It also means acknowledging one’s sexual orientation to self. Such disclosure is an ongoing, lifelong process rather than a one-time event. New personal, social, and professional situations require gay men and lesbians to make decisions about the degree to which they can be open about their sexual orientation (Morrow, 1996).

Filmed over the course of 12 years, Richard Linklater cast Ellar Coltrane as Mason as we follow his growth and childhood experience as he learns about life and himself. It sounds like an incredible idea and Linklater does deserve approbation for taking this approach, but 'Boyhood' fails to work as a character study. In fact, 'Boyhood' really does not have much to say besides "life goes by fast".

Growing up everyone is told that they are unique. “Be yourself,” “use your God-given talent,” and other expressions such as these impress the aforementioned narrative into our minds. Thus, when I was around thirteen years old, I thought my sexuality was just a part of me that only I had. I wanted to share this feature about myself; I wanted to take pride in it and show it off. Coming out to a close few friends showed positive and emotional responses. Riding on this high, I was ready to embrace myself in high school. Yet, my naivety took the best of me as I was going to an all male, religious high school. My sexuality has provided me with experiences that have and will continue to shape my life. These struggles, whether they are internal or external, have provided me with invaluable skills.