Red Pill Blue Pill*

* sort of explained....

Maybe it's just me, after a long week, but I have a tough time believing that an online simulation games, even the best of the serious game genre, is going to make die-hard converts. But then again, I'm in a cranky mood.

Dutifully I looked for online games that addressed environmentalism and that didn't alleviate the crankiness. Most are for kids**, dumbed down the topic, and were biased.

**I don't have kids so I have no idea how effective these tools may be in the goal of teaching a six year old to Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.

That said, of all the games visited those that addressed decision making were the most interesting to me. Because unlike Al Gore's movie which notes six easy fixes that will bring us back to the carbon levels of the - ready? - 1970s (which by the way, isn't all that fabulous of a benchmark) there is no such thing as an easy fix.

Every single decision I make regarding lightbulbs or appliances is a trade-off. I have an old(er) refrigerator. I can buy a superdeluxeenergystarrated one (lots of money, old one ends up in a landfill) or I can keep my existing 1982 beaut (burn extra coal to keep the ice cubes in a solid state). What is the more *environmentally correct* answer?

So, here's a list of decision making games that address the pros and cons to every decision the player makes as a mayor or politician. It may not change anyone's mind, but at least it shows that certain unpopular decisions aren't always (though often are) made in a vacuum.

Climate Challenge
Energy City
ElectroCity


images: www.pollutionissues.com, www.treehugger.com

Online Games Falling Short

I also have to agree with Eric's statement that New Media can't really change the world but more inspire. My main reason for feeling this way is because when I played the games, especially the Ben and Jerry's lickglobalwarming.org game, I was more focused on winning the game instead of the environmental facts along the way. I think younger kids might get a little more into it, and remember the things that will help them progress in the game, like carpooling. But I honestly just tried to get there fast enough. I tested this out on my boyfriend, not telling him anything other then "Here try this game" and he did the exact same thing. Just tried to get to the finish as fast as he could.

I did find one website though that I think might help inspire younger generations. Its called Environmental Kids Club (http://www.epa.gov/kids/game.htm). This is a great learning site for kids because not only does it have games, but stories told through fun characters like Morphie the Raindrop talking about the water cycle. Also it has garbage and recycling crossword puzzles and activity books teachers can give kids. I think this form of online media definitely helps inspire others to change the world.

Aldous Huxley stated, "I want to change the world. But I have found that the only thing one can be sure of is changing oneself."

Media has great capabilities, over 200 million users were added to Facebook in less than a year, it's growing at an exponential rate. It can definitely be used as a commanding tool to indoctrinate the masses, nonetheless, to suggest that it can change the world in regards to the environment is an overstatement. It can facilitate the educational process, but still as "wired" as our society is, not everybody is willing to tune in. You can't force people to engage with media.

Humans have become increasingly environmentally conscious in recent years.

Most adults today weren't educated in grade-school about negative affects we're having on our planet, mostly due to the unforeseen repercussions. Now that we're seeing the adverse affects, such as seen in An Inconvenient Truth, it's imperative that we educate our youth properly on how to make a difference. Environmental "smart games" so to speak, can have there greatest impact in schools. We know that when you begin to build something, it's important to have a strong foundation in order to be sustainable, this same foundation can be said, about kids in their early stages of life. Think of the children as the core, if you inform them with the vital information early on, that knowledge can serve as a potent tool, and they won't have to change the world, just themselves.

Environmental “smart games:”

I believe new media can and have change the world in many ways. I think it can also add meaningfulness to the conversations. In the documentary former vice president Al Gore speaks about climate change due to global warming. He weaves in stories of his childhood and his road to Politics in with his moral responsibilities. It was compelling and full to facts. Al Gore’s work with global warming had earned him the 2007 Global Peace Prize.  The Washington Post website, showed an example of people (fact checkers) challenging certain facts that was on the film.  Gore and his time responded to all nine points that was brought up. New media has definitely help spread the word faster and this helps move the communities.

I think this documentary along with other documentaries that speak about the environment change has changed our country and the world. Green energy is promoted everywhere and people all over are choosing to support locally grown foods. There are multi farmer markets every week that provide organic products to their local consumers. This important because not only are you supporting your local economy you are also helping reduce global warming because the food does not have to travel on big trucks from faraway places.

Whether you are a politician, a scientist, or just your average Joe you can feel and see the effects of global warming. Every year for the last five years there has been great nature disasters all over the world.  The picture on the right shows that “The Pakistani flood disaster has exposed more than 20 million people to homelessness, malnutrition, loss of livelihood and potential epidemics.”-September 18, 2010

I don’t see anything wrong with preventing or reducing climate change. I also don’t understand why some people refuse to believe it. How many more deaths and natural disasters do they need to prove it. I can tell you one thing, GOD DID NOT DO THIS. We must take responsibility and something!

Church communities are stepping up in the healing process of your earth, they call it Eco- spirituality. This website shows some current movements that are happening currently to address global warming. http://www.csjalbany.org/index.cfm/EcoSpirituality/

As for environmental games online, I'm not sure. I am not a fan of games.

does my search for a global warming game warm the globe?

I think Eric has a good point about games that educate about global warming, but need to be played electronically.

I think online games that raise awareness about global warming can be helpful, but it's also important to keep in mind that everything we do has an impact -- even doing an online search for such a game may contribute to global warming!


Google's blog notes that "In terms of greenhouse gases, one Google search is equivalent to about 0.2 grams of CO2." http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2009/01/powering-google-search.html . To put that in perspective: "Thus, the average car driven for one kilometer (0.6 miles for those in the U.S.) produces as many greenhouse gases as a thousand Google searches." The blog also provided this interesting update: "a typical individual's Google use for an entire year would produce about the same amount of CO2 as just a single load of washing."

While the google search may be small, I think it's important that we offset at least that amount by making sure to share the game with people who might be inspired to do something to help the cause - not just play it.

This made me remember a question someone posed about the environmental impact of "environmental" bumper stickers -- we need to think about the chemicals and resources used to produce the sticker as well as the larger impact of inspiring others to save our earth.

Game Over

I am not certain that new media can change the world. It surely can inspire the world to change itself, but, most likely not change the world. That would place too much of an expectation on media. And, media just isn't that revolutionary. I think educating with media is a reasonable goal--this can be done tenfold with today's media. But, there still has to be a genuine intest to serve and educate the people, instead of using marketable media to get someone to buy your ice-cream, or car, or household products.

In the recent years, we've come to be more aware of our impact on the environment. In effect, there has been an overwhelming media response, seeking to educate us on the dangers of global warming. Videos and games have proliferated focusing on the subject, and both forms educate much differently. Games have the capacity to educate (I suppose), but are still just games. It seems kind of naive to think that simple games can have such a great effect. Isn't it counterintuitive to assume that an online game, which has to be electronically played to educate us, can and will change the world by informing us of global warming? Everybody power up your computers and get online! Let's fight global warming! Whattttt!!! This is unreal. To me, it seems very elementary, and I think the idea is kind of gimmicky. Give me a documentary film any day, just keep your games away.

The Resurrection of Jesus Camp.2010 aka baptism by fire

The making and release of 'Jesus Camp' in 2006 galvanized the Internet.  Middle ground was/is scarce.
This Ministry left thecamp sight at Devil's Lake ND amidst vandalism & threats  in 2007.

 But like Meshach, Shadrach & Abednego, Becky Fischer & her Companions in Christ have emerged from the fiery furnace of digitally fueled outrage.  They are taking a web page from  ITVS and Wired; re-defining their mobilization of the web (point) 2010.  Maybe Becky even read the Rigby book we are reading for this class?  North Dakota as the new vortex for digital media?  The American Dream!  

 Let's cultivate martyrs for Christ and the next generation of uber conservative evangelical voters.  Why not?  Winter wheat is tanking on the commodities market.

This week's question was"Can online social  networks unite communities of faith, inspire social action, compel political activism?  How can art and media be the catalyst for this process?"

"Can online social  networks unite communities of faith, inspire social action, compel political activism?   Check out Becky! 

You can find Becky alive and thriving at the center of a new WORLD WIDE ministry at KIMI or Kids In Ministry International http://www.kidsinministry.com/ .  Project Africa; taking a continent for Christ is proclaimed on an ever cycling web banner.  Becky may 'speak in tongues' during prayer meetings, but Becky also speaks in Espanol at http://www.kimilatino.org/ ! 

Becky and KIMI's world wide outreach reads like a cross between the CIA's fab favs & a Billboard top 10 List with a bullet!  Becky is in the Ukraine, Uganda, Ghana, Burundi, Bangladesh, India, Kenya, Latin America, Australia, and the Netherlands




And the second half of this question "How can art and media be the catalyst for this process?"
OCTober 15 & 16 Becky's BFF in Christ, Patricia King  http://www.extremeprophetic.com/  are holding - wait for the drum roll - MEDIA BOOT CAMP; Practical Training for God's Media Army!  Is this sisterly synergy or what? 

Becky apparently has a direct link to Biblical Prophecy listed in her navigation bar! There is a New Media Film Fest in Phoenix AZ with Christian produced films!  I think it's safe to assume Michael Moore will not be included, but then again???  There are Power Clubs, 700 Club clips, Power Club Leaders, Sid Roth and Prophetic TV clips!!!


Based in North Dakota, a Lakota born-again option. 






Becky has a Blog!  Becky's on Face book! Becky's on Twitter! 

Born-again Christian?  Becky is reborn in code!


The website http://www.chrstiantoday.com/  offers this tidbit. 'Young people are the majority who are targeted through Christian music festivals, skateboard competitions and rodeos.  Sales of Christian music in the US are up 300 per cent.'  No Oz fest, X-games or Gay Cowboys & Cowgirls for Becky!

Mike Papantonio was the radio announcer we heard in the film expressing a more moderate view of Christian faith.  From http://www.christiantoday.com/ "Air America" radio host Mike Papantonio is among many who disagree with the tactics used at the camp.  "I think when you look at what occurs in camp, there is a use of guilt.  There is a use of shame." "I mean what is a 5-year -old capable in ways of sin?  Maybe stealing an Oreo from a cookie jar".

Becky & KIWI, offer online instruction on 'Provoking Revival in Children' and the 'Leading the Lambs to the Lion' correspondence training program.  What in the hell does that mean? 

In Becky-speak:  "This is a generation that is hungry for the supernatural, and this course shows you how to bring them into the spiritual destiny God created them for."

Christ is quoted in the New Testament & the film as saying 'Suffer the little children to come unto me, for such is the Kingdom of Heaven.'

Christ was referring to a spontaneous outpouring of childish affection; love. 

Fantasy or Reality? From Celluloid Closet to Real Life

A memorable scene from Celluloid Closet was when Marlene Dietrich came onto the stage dressed in a suit and a top hat presumly resembling a man. The crowd is dissappointed and you can hear the boo's from the crow in an act of confusion. Writer Susie Bright comments on seeing that particular scene and remembers the fascination and curioustiy she felt when Marlene Dietrich's character goes to a table and kisses a lady and hands her a flower. Bright comments on how she could not get the image out of her mind and wanted to know more about the connection between the kiss rather than the love story later in the film that is heterosexual. I believe film is a getaway from the real life into a fantasy, and for films to catch an influence on someone that goes deeper into personal issues are astonishing.

Films about homosexuality are very much stereotypical and the audience is supposed to find it humorous. Just like Marlene Dietrich's character dressed as a man kissing a lady, the audience is laughing because it is supposed to be seen as humorous and not a reality. This is sad in so many ways of having the personal lives of your sexuality be portrayed as humor. If Celluloid Closet had been made in 2010, the media would have a frenzy. Much more attention would be made to the movie causing bloggers, networkers, and youtube users to speak out and support the cause. I believe homosexuality is greatly among us then when the movie was originally made. People can relate to it in a public way without the feeling of guilt. This would be a greater step toward equality and awareness that everyone is different and should be given the right to live their lives in a way that makes them happy.

A great link I have found is West Hollywood's based blog for LGBT. There are so many great bloggers sharing their story and fighting for equality. To vanish the stereotypes and gain respect and acceptance for their community.

http://www.lgbtpov.com/

Ben Hur and The Celluloid Closet

I agree with movie reviewer Mark Bourne, [www.dvdjournal.com/ reviews/c/celluloidcloset.shtml] The Celluloid Closet is “not a movie made solely for ‘gay audiences.’ It's a good movie, period.” And for me one of the most sardonic scenes from the documentary was the one involving the late Charlton Heston in the movie Ben Hur getting blindsided again (Cf. Michael Moore’s Bowling for Columbine for another) by Gore Vidal’s ploy to get him and co-actor Stephen Boyd to play the scene as if they were former gay lovers. While Boyd was brought in on the scheme and agreed to play the part, Heston was not let in on the plan. The result is, as summed up in Mark Bourne’s review, “…a wryly amusing, and more dramatically engaging, experience.” He adds, “As you might expect, Heston over the years has not just denied that any homosexual context exists in the scene — he also steadfastly refuses to work on any movie that includes Gore Vidal in any way.”

In an interesting side note, Gene Siskel, in a TV review of the documentary in At the Movies with Siskel and Ebert, suggests that any group could show its own history through a history of film clips. [http://bventertainment.go.com/tv/buenavista/ebertandroeper/index2.html?sec=1&subsec=1434]

There is an interesting update on the documentary by Michael Bronski, who teaches Film, Women's and Gender Studies and Jewish Studies at Dartmouth College. In a lengthy 2008 article in Cineaste, “From The Celluloid Closet to Brokeback Mountain: The Changing Nature of Queer Film Criticism,” Bronski reviews three new books, The View from Here: Conversations with Gay and Lesbian Filmmakers Edited by Matthew Hays, The Cinema of Todd Haynes: All That Heaven Allows Edited by James Morrison, and Reading Brokeback Mountain: Essays on the Story and the Film Edited by Jim Stacy. In the review, he talks about “the enormous cultural shifts that have occurred in the three decades” since Vito Russo's 1981 film survey, The Celluloid Closet, which, he points out, has had “the most impact” on gay film reviews. However, he says, “…the problem with Russo's dichotomized negative/positive image analysis was that it simply didn't leave much middle ground for ambiguity, or in some cases, even interpretation.” He encourages us “…to take very seriously how much the world of ‘gay movies’ has changed in the past ten years and how very different it is from thirty-five years ago… and to understand—in the largest historic and political context possible—the impact, and the potential, of queer cinema today.” Michael Bronski’s latest book is entitled Pulp Friction: Uncovering the Golden Age of Gay Male Pulps. [http://www.cineaste.com/articles/changing-nature-of-queer-film-criticism.htm]

If the “The Celluloid Closet” had been made in 2010, according to Scott Kirsner’s recommendations from the ITVS Digital Initiative Report from the Field: [http://www.itvs.org/funding/resources/report-from-the-field]

“The Top Five Connection-Creating Strategies” might include:
1. Starting a blog or website to generate awareness of what’s in the works as a way for potential collaborators, sources, funders, and DVD-buyers to get in touch early on.
2. Participating and posting in existing online communities related to the film’s topic.
3. Maintaining a database of everyone who has offered help during production.
4. Considering ways to allow interested parties to get involved by open-sourcing research, by having others contribute by shooting far-off locations and interviews, and even by having others do some editing.
5. Thinking about posting some clips/excerpts from rough cuts on video-sharing sites to begin building an online presence for the film, and providing links back to the film’s web or blog.

“The Top Five Marketing and Promotion Strategies” might include:
1. Leveraging the lists and websites of membership organizations related to the topic of the film to communicate with viewers who may be interested in seeing/purchasing it.
2. Connecting with bloggers who cover the issues in the film, offering them interviews, review copies of the DVD or embeddable clips from the film.
3. Collecting e-mail addresses (and ideally ZIP codes too) from the visitors to the film’s website; notifying them when the film is playing in theaters or on TV, or when it becomes available on DVD or as a download.
4. Posting clips on video-sharing sites or social networking sites, with links back to the film’s main site to help introduce it to new audiences.
5. Considering allowing Internet users to remix or “mash up” parts of your film, or create their own trailers for it. This adds their perspective to the work and, ideally, helps it reach a broader audience.

“The Top Five Distribution Strategies” might include:
1. Making sure DVDs are available when audiences are most interested in the film: during the theatrical run, during festival screenings and at the time of the first TV broadcast.
2. Considering producing at least two versions of the DVD, at two different price points: one for general audiences and a second version for educational/group use, with discussion guides and supplemental material.
3. Carefully evaluating distribution offers that wrap up digital rights with theatrical or home video rights. What might the distributor do in the near-term to generate revenues with those rights?
4. Focusing digital distribution efforts on outlets with already-established audiences (such as Apple’s iTunes or Amazon.com’s Unbox); if working with a newer outlet, negotiating for premium placement on the site and additional promotion.
5. Insisting on regular reporting of sales figures and the ability to audit them, whether selling DVDs or digital downloads/rentals with a business partner.

—Jim McKinney

From the Closet to the Street

Celluloid Closet a homo movie! Not really it's just a great documentary. By documentary the very definition would be,  documentary: A work, such as a film or television program, presenting political, social, or historical subject matter in a factual and informative manner and often consisting of actual news films or interviews accompanied by narration.

When Roger Ebert reviewed the film he said” When was I first aware that a movie character was intended to be homosexual? It must have been in the early 1960s, in the final sequence of Fellini's ``La Dolce Vita,'' when two transvestites join the sad group that goes to meet the dawn. What ``The Celluloid Closet'' makes clear is that I had seen lots of gay characters before then--it's just that the movies never quite identified them as gay, or, like a lot of moviegoers, I didn't pick up on the clues.” April 26, 1996.

Celluloid closet is a documentary directed by Rob Epstein and Jeffery Friedman, based on a novel written 1981 in a book of the same name by Vito Russo.   

Vito Russo co-founded the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD), a watchdog group that monitors LGBT(lesbian,gay,bi-sexual and transgendered)  representation in the mainstream media.

The documentary showed me a different world to mainstream cinema and there earlier portrayals or denials of gay culture, even for themselves. Here is a quote from the Boys in the Band “You’re a sad and pathetic man you’re a homosexual and you don’t want to be, but there is nothing you can do to change it. Not all your prayers to your god. Not all the analysis you can buy in all the years you got left to live. you may very well be able to know a hetero sexual life if you want it, desperately enough if you pursue it with the fervor with which you annihilate. But you’ll always be homosexual, as well always… Michael always until the day you die.”

The documentary shows that film played an affluent influence to how gays have been perceived. If movies represented the art of being and art represented life, then the whole denial, sinful, comedic or stereo typical portrayal of homosexuality had been put in a lost place or subdued in a misconstrued form  of representation. A battle torn was there battle worn. In the early 1900s they’re portrayal had been seen as light footed sissy cliches yet under toned still and still not blatantly  identified. It was understood but was not said to be.

It was a search for some to even look for some form of identity to be shown in some way negative or positive to be seen in media some what reflection of life.

Harvey Fierstein ” The hunger I felt as a kid looking for gay images was not to be alone.” Yet the documentary does not bash you in the head with persuasion homosexual sympathy it just states the facts. The truths that some of early to present actors had experienced.

The documentary was given a limited release in select theaters including our Castro Theater here in San Francisco in April 1996, and then shown on HBO.

I feel if released in the present this film would have gotten way more of a buzz then it did in 1996. The vastness of information that can be obtained through the internet and social networking sites in the present would have made it more of a buzz.  More attainable to know that there is a documentary that is relative to homosexual lifestyle and not judge as harsh to put it down in a sense of awkwardness . I say awkwardness because of lack of exposure and exposure I mean not as mainstream as it is today. With gay marriage rights passed in some states and they’re more visual roll in cinema, media or politics.

This is a great documentary to be seen, was just to ahead of its time. Or is it because I have lived in the Bay Area all my life I am sheltered to bigotry.  In my opinion this is a great documentary in the title of Celluloid Closet.  

Not All Faggots Bump Themselves Off at the End of the Story

The scene that impacted me most was when Armistead Maupin talks about first seeing Advise and Consent. He said that it gave him a glimpse of what might lie ahead for him. He commented on how it scared him because people had to remain in the closet. I had a similar experience (I was also a young virgin and still thought myself to be gay in theory) when I was seventeen. The first lesbian movie I had ever scene was Lost and Delirious. It is so depressing. Two girls are lovers in a boarding school and are found out by their peers. One runs off and starts dating the most grossly masculine meathead she can find and the other kills herself after failing to win back her love. Both were particularly gruesome prospects to me. I shared a similar dread with Maupin that being queer might end in suicide. It was difficult because even in the early 90's there were not a lot of positive portrayals of gays in movies or television. There were almost no portrayals of lesbians at all. I mean look what happened when Ellen first came out. Her show didn't last much longer. Her talk show is very tame and I feel she seems almost asexual. I know what a lot of narrators mean when they talk about trying to find glimpses, however brief, of ourselves in the dominant culture. It's getting better but I also live in San Francisco instead of the Floridian suburb I grew up in, so I have access to movies that definitely wouldn't screen in my mom's hood. Hollywood, please give me some hope. The gay cowboys sure didn't. One dies and the other is a sad, sad man.


Had the film been made in 2010, I could have gotten on BitTorrent sooner. It would have been easier to get it to the kids that need it: the ones growing up in suburbs and small towns with basic cable and Hollywood blockbusters, that, typically do not reflect back their existence. I'm sure it would have had a Facebook page counting down the days until its release, replete with raving fans and flaming trolls. More people would be aware of the film's release. It would have also had wider distribution because you could get it on Itunes, Netflix, or even via torrent.


These are a few of my favorite queer political sites.
The Queer Zine Archive Project
I did grow up in the 90's amidst zine/riot grrl culture.


The Queer Insurrection
Radical queers: assimilation is not liberation.


Bash Back!
More radical queers. My favorite kind.


Athens Boys Choir
Awesome transman musician.

Everyone out of the closet, it's time to live!!

"The hunger I felt as a kid looking for gay images was not to be alone" Harvey Feirstein, Celluloid Closet

I found Celluloid Closet to be full of interesting information about gay, lesbian and transgender's in the movies. I loved hearing about how so many people who are gay growing up turned to movies to help them understand more about who they themselves really are. It must be a lonely feeling for most people growing up gay and not feeling they can be their self. I have a twin brother who is gay and I think often about the pain he must have endured hiding being gay growing up. I found it really interesting on how early in film making there were films that

had gays openly playing parts in movies or gay scenes. Then when to scenes started getting to "raunchy" ( as said in the movie) the catholic church put pressure on Hollywood to pretty much cut those type of gays scenes out. Not only gays, but a list of things that the catholic church didn't find acceptable. WAIT!! what about freedom of speech... I guess the church is above that.... oh, those catholic people... so accepting of others!! I could not help to think of the very early films they showed in Celluloid Closet and how open the films were, Hollywood was on the right path with this subject and with so many people watching movies and shaping their views on gays. Then the church gets involved and ruined it... one has to think what could have been! I feel like it may have pushed the gay movement back 50 years or more and all the lives that have been affected!!

I think if Celluloid Closet would have been released in 2010 it would have benefited greatly by things like social media. I think not only does social media help spread the word of the smaller voice more easy, but it also speaks to the like minded person who is sending the message. There are many, many parts of this country where someone who is gay has the hide there feelings and can't express who they are. Their way to get information or to communicate with others who think like them have a great avenue to speak freely with others through all the different forms of social media in today's world.

Here is a website I found not only interesting, but kind of really pissed me off that it even made news. I feel like living in San Francisco that we should be proud that we are the one of leaders of this country showing that everyone in equal. I feel strongly these young kids should have a place to speak their minds! http://www.onenewsnow.com/Education/Default.aspx?id=514310

celluloid closet

A memorable scene from the film was when they talked about the film Fried Green Tomatoes. I love that film and own a copy of the dvd, a special edition yet I never realized that they were really lesbians. I had never thought of it in that context. My focus of the film were always the bonds of family, friendship, and the racism depicted. Taking a second look at the film I came to realize that although it was subtle the filmmaker did state the women's sexual orientation without actually saying it but instead using their actions. If The Celluloid Closet had been made today it would have had a larger distribution due to You Tube, blogs, and other forms of networking. The book Web 2.0 brought out the importance of texting and more people would have seen the film if they could have received a short text concerning the film and its importance. I know I use everything the Web has to offer and that i text more then I make phone calls. They are ways to communicate and meet others with the same or similar interests as yourself. For me, texting is better because I answer phones for a living and my reception is horrible at home. Here's a site that I found interesting http://queertoday.com/. I would recommend reading the article From Homophobia to Islamophobia [and back], it brings two important issues to light. This site is less serious but still important: http://www.kissmeimqueer.com/. The two sites give us different areas of interest within LGBT community and those that are supporters of LGBT communities and believe they should have equal rights.

We need a Celluloid Closet Part 2!

The Celluloid Closet was filled with scenes that made me pause and rewind just to see it over - mostly to hear the insightful commentary. The one that really resonated with me was hearing the words “love is spelled with the same four letters”. I think that would have been a great anti-Prop 8 slogan as it gets to the core of marriage equality.

I realize, after watching the celluloid Closet, that the film business has done a disservice to civil rights in its depiction of gay people, rather than just be neutral. I don’t think Joel Schumacher is correct in saying "The business doesn't care what you do in bed, but it does care what you do at the box office." in the Times article http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,975226-1,00.html. If Hollywood didn’t portray every single gay person negatively (either their character or their fate), then people, many of whom don’t know an out gay person, wouldn’t have solely that negative image on which to rely. The nonprofit organization Marriage Equality attempted to depict positive images of everyday gay people with a you tube video that was so compelling and heartwarming that it made me cry when I watched it at work. http://www.eqca.org/site/pp.asp?c=kuLRJ9MRKrH&b=5609559

If this film was made in 2010, social media would have definitely changed its distribution. For example, following the ITVS’ Digital Strategies would have really helped broaden the distribution, far beyond gay activists and academics. It would have been helpful to “connect with bloggers who cover the issues in your film” It would have been especially helpful to post clips on social networking sites with links back to the website. There, people might share a clip with people who wouldn’t otherwise see the film, but who may like a certain actress, actor or film that is in the clip. Also, if people are allowed to make their own mash up or trailer, they will certainly want to share/show off their work (which would also increase awareness of the film). It would also help to have DVDs available, perhaps for sale or rental at events that are popular with would-be viewers.

The Celluloid Closet

Watching The Celluloid Closet I was astounded by my lack of daily cognizance of the depth of discrimination of LGBTQ community in film during my lifetime and before. What an amazing and important film! Imagine living a life either not reflected or negatively misconstrued by the dominant media. The theme of resilience in the LGBTQ community throughout the documentary stood out to me.

Nobody really sees the same movie.

For the last 100 years LGBTQ movie goers have been reading between the lines, understanding unspoken text, and having to maneuver through whatever prejudiced or despicable messages about being gay were popular that decade. Enduring the popular negative perspectives of the mainstream media about who you are is an amazing quality of resiliency.

If The Celluloid Closet had been released this year, I think it would have had a larger reception, wider immediate distribution, and a mainstream discussion of the important content in the documentary and other examples. Marketing and advertising today are very different than a decade ago, and a movie like this could spread easily through email groups, and I imagine discussion would flourish on college campuses and in the bogosphere prompting the mainstream media to include this content in their coverage of “news.” Today, we also live in a different climate. We have more openly gay characters in the mainstream media, and have a greater acceptance of the LGBTQ community. This climate difference would also enhance the conversation inspired by the documentary.

Homophobia is still rampant in our culture. It is ingrained to the point that many people don’t recognize the overt nature and depth of the homophobia around them. I highly recommend a documentary that is part of The Masculinity Project on Blackpublicmedia.org

Beyond Beats &Rhymes examines representations of manhood, sexism and homophobia in hip hop culture. The documentary touches on the important discussion of homophobia in mainstream culture. Secondly, The Gay Straight Alliance Network supports groups nationwide to increase community and consciousness. Our public high schools in San Francisco have active GSA branches that do very important work.

Blogger: Don Garcia