This series opened my eyes to the lives of LGBTQ+ people in places that I only vaguely knew about. It showed both perspectives regarding the equal rights of LGBTQ+ people and, for the most part, pretty objectively observed their lifestyles in various countries around the world.
Ellen Page and Ian Daniel explore these places with passion and commitment, both of which are very clearly reflected on-screen and in personal interviews. It is also very clear that their experiences were unforgettable. As a viewer, some of their interactions with others, both supporters of the LGBT community and non-supporters, were absolutely astonishing. It is eye-opening to see the varying degrees of extremism in both communities and their arguments for their positions. Some of them made me personally reconsider my own position in the fight for equality and whether or not it is doing more good than bad in a general sense. Not to say that my mind has been changed; if anything, this documentary has strengthened my will to proceed further for equality.
The final episode of the series did a fantastic job of going over the triumphs and the faults of LGBT rights in the United States. However, it does not as good of a job of wrapping up their "gaycation" as a whole. Their travels to Japan, Brazil, and Jamaica were very informative and crucial to understanding the lives of LGBT people in the world as a whole, however they were not strongly reviewed in the end. Their experiences in other countries certainly had an impact on them, yet they were not really addressed at the end, other than the last words spoken by Ellen. Also, I would personally like to see a longer series made. I understand that the idea of it is to be a vacation of sorts (hence "gaycation"), however I think exploring only three other countries other than your home country is not quite sufficient in understanding all LGBT lives.
Nevertheless, this documentary went above and beyond simple information gathering and was inspiring, entertaining, and emotional all in one. It was very well done and well worth the watch.
Ellen Page and Ian Daniel explore these places with passion and commitment, both of which are very clearly reflected on-screen and in personal interviews. It is also very clear that their experiences were unforgettable. As a viewer, some of their interactions with others, both supporters of the LGBT community and non-supporters, were absolutely astonishing. It is eye-opening to see the varying degrees of extremism in both communities and their arguments for their positions. Some of them made me personally reconsider my own position in the fight for equality and whether or not it is doing more good than bad in a general sense. Not to say that my mind has been changed; if anything, this documentary has strengthened my will to proceed further for equality.
The final episode of the series did a fantastic job of going over the triumphs and the faults of LGBT rights in the United States. However, it does not as good of a job of wrapping up their "gaycation" as a whole. Their travels to Japan, Brazil, and Jamaica were very informative and crucial to understanding the lives of LGBT people in the world as a whole, however they were not strongly reviewed in the end. Their experiences in other countries certainly had an impact on them, yet they were not really addressed at the end, other than the last words spoken by Ellen. Also, I would personally like to see a longer series made. I understand that the idea of it is to be a vacation of sorts (hence "gaycation"), however I think exploring only three other countries other than your home country is not quite sufficient in understanding all LGBT lives.
Nevertheless, this documentary went above and beyond simple information gathering and was inspiring, entertaining, and emotional all in one. It was very well done and well worth the watch.
