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Word Is Out (1977)
Life-changing Experience
I remember seeing "Word is Out" when I was in college in the suburbs of Chicago. The film was shown on the PBS station there (WTTW, Channel 11) and I watched it secretly with one of the few gay men I knew at the small Catholic college I attended. When it was rerun six months later, we celebrated watching it again, reacquainting ourselves with the men and women on the screen that we thought of as friends.
As a documentary film, there is a very nice flow between the stories, the generations, and the personalities. What shocks me now is how the film-making team was so skillful at getting the interview subjects to open up so much, to dig so deeply into their psyches, and to share their feelings with the audience. This is more than a fascinating view of LGBTQ people in 1977; it is a historical document on our lived experience in the second half of the 20th Century.
As much as I fell in love with the people who shared their stories, I also came to better terms with myself. Due to the film, I became real. I became a real person. I finally shared an experience with other people --even in far away, exotic places like San Francisco-- and I was a little bit less alone in the world than I had been before I saw the film.
I have thought about the film all my life since I first saw it. I have thought about how daring and powerful the people were who allowed themselves to appear in the film back in 1977. I have wondered if everyone has been able to find satisfaction and a measure of happiness in their lives after the film was made, and the anniversary edition of the DVD does a very nice follow up on the original cast.
Eastsiders: Our Own Private Idaho (2017)
Heartrending
This episode really stands out among the best in this show. It's not flashy or fun, but better than those things, it hits an emotional depth for the characters and the audience that is rare in a series.
The acting and the direction is excellent, but the writing -the WRITING!- rings all the bells. The dialogue between Cal and Tom digs deep into their psyches and opens up real raw emotion in their characters. The audience learns so much about them, that we fall deeper in love with them as come to terms with who they are in their relationship. They say things to each other that strike chords that all couples can relate to, and admire for their honesty and clarity. Most couples can only hope to be so open, so brave, so real, and as a gay man, it was like hearing my own complex feelings coming out of their mouths.
This is a magnificent writing achievement for Kit Williamson. I am awestruck.