Friday, September 22, 2006
A LOVE TO HIDE
While searching for a pic to put in this post about the gay movie I saw last night - A
Love to Hide, I found the image that AFF used to promote the film in the program. I find it very interesting that they chose this one. It really goes to show what people believe gay men want to see when it comes to gay film. I guess this could also be why most gay films are such complete fluff! To see these two good looking guys with no shirts on in a locker room, most would think there is some sexual aspect to the movie. Nothing could be further from the truth. There was not so much as a single sex scene. And in fact, the two characters depicted in this photo are brothers, one of whom is straight! I found plenty of other images that they could have used, ones of real significance to the storyline, yet THIS is the one AFF chose. I guess even film festivals fall prey to stereotype marketing!With that rant aside, I have to say that I've been really impressed by the line-up of films in this year's That's So Gay series, and A Love to Hide was definitely a great movie. In essence, it was about a gay man living in France during the German occupation of World War II. It was somewhat epic in that it involved an entire family of characters who had their own individual stories over a number of years. But the main point of the film was to address an aspect of the Holocaust that we don't normally hear a lot about - how homosexuals were affected by it.
It was a sad and disturbing story that once again made me think about how lucky I am to
enjoy the freedoms I have. There were no happy endings for any of the main characters, but then I guess this was the reality of living during that period. It certainly left a clear message that we can never forget what happened, and pointed out how truly significant the Holocaust was/is to gay history. The film also delivered some interesting historical tid bits by addressing things like where the symbol of the pink triangle originated. Gay men were forced to wear pink triangle tags as clear identifiers of why they were in captivity. The triangles were pink so as to humiliate the men because pink represents femininity.Generally, when I think of the Holocaust I think of the millions of Jews who were slaughtered. In most peoples' minds it was a Jewish attack. I generally forget about the some 100,000 gays who died in concentration camps or the thousands of others who suffered through torture. It is funny that we don't feel that connection to this major event in history ... in OUR history.
I would say that all Jewish people, no matter where they come from or whether or not they had someone in their family involved in the Holocaust, feel a connection to that event simply because they are Jewish. And yet, as a gay man I don't generally feel that connection, unless of course a movie like this one reminds me of it. This probably stems from the fact that the gay deportation intentionally went unrecognized by governments and historians. People simply refused to talk or write about that part of the Holocaust, as if it was not important. Anyone not directly impacted by the Holocaust, didn't even realize the connection even existed until much later. I guess this is why movies like this one are so important, even today.
As depressing as it was to sit through, it was an important film to see, and a great one at that!
:: posted by Ray of Delight, 9:50 AM
