Attitudes and beliefs have changed a great deal since the early 1990s regarding gay people and their culture. Torch Song Trilogy pre-dates this by about 10 years and shows what gay lives and goals were like before major victories for equality and an understanding of HIV. While times and attitudes change, people generally remain the same insofar as goals are concerned. I would highly recommend this movie to anyone who’s ever wondered about “the gay agenda” or how people can walk a line between “drag queen fabulosity” and “a nice quiet home life”. I believe this movie does a fantastic job of demonstrating in real-time the values and beliefs and most importantly the experience of gay life regardless of decade. Moreso, while only recently the idea of representation has come to the focus of conversations it’s always been true. This film gave is culturally important because it became a megaphone for a culture and a bridge between worlds. While the main character is fairly sure of himself and what he wants, he faces some hard truths about HOW he’s gone about working toward his goals and how he interacts with friends, lovers, and family. Fair warnings: This movie will RIP YOUR HEART OUT and also if you’re not used to Harvey Firestein’s voice it might take a little getting used to.
Thanks for the movie recommendation!
Nowadays it’s not too hard to find media representing gay people since, at least in artistic spaces, their existence has become largely normalized and accepted. But I am intrigued to see how a movie from the 80’s treats the subject. This era was definitely less hospitable to forms of sexuality other than heterosexual, and I imagine the movie captures this environment.
This movie sounds very interesting and like a great eye-opener. It seems as if anyone out of society’s norms and knows their goals has to do a little extra to reach their goals. They would rather reject and judge, instead of understanding and accepting someone else’s differences.
I really appreciate you sharing this because I think it is so important for 1) this representation to be present in media and 2) for people to actually watch and have exposure to this. In many ways, I attribute my understanding and appreciation for Middle Eastern culture and Muslims to the fact that I had friends whom were of that religion and from the Middle East but also a big part was my love for Bollywood movies. Being able to watch and see how things work and how life is that is outside of how one might live is crucial for understanding another. I will definitely watch this film in order to begin to expand my knowledge on a community that I do not know much about.