Saturday, August 15, 2015

A Huge Step _________.



On September 25th, 2015, the queer community will take a huge step. On this day, Centropolis Entertainment will release Stonewall. The IMDB page has a plot summary that reads, "A young man's political awakening and coming of age during the days and weeks leading up to the Stonewall Riots." Now, a lot of individuals are pissed about this movie. So, before I really get into this, I would like to address a few things. I am white and I am privileged. Of course I don't have the same insight and understand as a person of color. I also was not AT the Stonewall Riots in 1969. Everyone who is arguing over this movie is in a quite a few places of privilege, so I urge everyone to take a few steps back. Aggressive discussions won't do any good for anyone. So, try to understand where others are coming from. Even if someone has a view that you feel is daft or narrow-minded don't discredit them for it. Instead, hear them out and then explain your view. Otherwise you really won't get ANYWHERE with them.

 Now, let's go over a few issues.
This film is whitewashed. 

This is something you don't even have to watch the movie to know, just look at the cast list. Nearly all of the credits go to cis-white individuals. (I'm not sure of the straight to queer ratio.) In reality, the majority of Stonewall Riot heroes were transgender women of color. So why is this movie so brazenly presenting a mostly Caucasian cast? Personally, I think all media needs to include more diversity - not JUST this movie. Hollywood is whitewashed, not just Stonewall. The root of this problem will not be addressed by getting upset at this one movie that is blatantly misrepresenting the true population at the riots. 

Get mad AT Hollywood. Demand to see more diversity on screen. I don't just mean to tell more stories of diversity, but to use PoC and queer actors/actresses in everyday story-lines. Give a love interest to a queer character without the only trait of the relationship being that it is queer. Focus on a transgender character without directing the entire show towards gender. Show people of color and Caucasians blending in society without FOCUSING on race. I say this not to take away from the obvious strains that comes with being diverse, but to HUMANIZE the population. We need to deconstruct the media's portrayal of the token queer or colored friend. We are MORE than our sexuality, gender identification, or skin color and it time that the world gets to see authentic queer  and colored characters. 

This film doesn't feature the TRUE Stonewall Heroes.

Going into this movie you should know that it is NOT a documentary. It is NOT historically perfect. However, I see this as an opportunity. The fact that this is historical-fiction allows us to have a much bigger conversation. When this movie is released, it will no doubt draw a lot of press. It is up the US to make sure that that press is used to educate people on the actual Stonewall Riots. Presently, they aren't taught in schools. In fact, unless you're a member of the queer community in one way or another... I doubt you even know much about them. (I'll provide educational links at the bottom of this page for those of you who are interested. I really hope you will take a moment to buff up your knowledge on the subject before attacking views either way.)

When this movie comes out, we need to give it as much attention as possible. Why? Because if we don't, no one will. Society will not receive this as the queer community rejecting a historically inaccurate movie. They will receive it as a movie over queer history failing in the box offices, so why make more? This movie WILL NOT BE PERFECT. But it is such a huge step for this community... Honestly, so few movies are made that focus on queer history. We have been all but erased. Now, we are penciling our way back in. Therefore, the notion to boycott this movie, while understandable, doesn't seem like a good idea to me. If this movie gets bad ratings and drops out of theaters than we lose our chance at voicing the truth. If we actually see the movie and then speak out about the discrepancies between it and reality, we will actually be heard. 

Don't get me wrong, I don't support the whitewashing. I HATE that it appears like the true heroes will barely appear in the movie, if at all. However, this is about so much more than just a movie; this is about our movement. We shouldn't 'settle' for a watered-down version of our truth, but we shouldn't fight a voice that is trying to help us. We should try to guide that voice down a better path and use this movie as a HUGE stepping stone towards drawing awareness towards all of these frustratingly real issues. Much like the HUGE uproar towards Caitlyn Jenner because of her privileges. Instead of arguing with all media attention the queer community needs to embrace the momentum and use it to spread positive awareness towards real issues. So, I will watch Stonewall, and I urge you to do the same. 

Just a few more notes ahead.

We ALL come from places of privilege in some aspect. None of us share the exact same background, so none of us should expect to have the same views. However, we should try to understand where we each are coming from. If you feel the need to boycott Stonewall, do it. You are every bit as justified as me. Just don't be hateful towards me or anyone else who will decide to watch the movie. Thus far, we all have only seen a two minute trailer. (Assuming that the reader of this has actually seen the trailer. If not, watch it here.) Hopefully, a lot of these issues will be ironed out in the actual movie. If not, hopefully the queer community will use it as an opportunity to speak out about the true events at Stonewall. 

Teaching queer history is SO important and it just doesn't happen right now. This is not meant to be an educational film, but it surely has potential to at least expose the mass population to the idea of Stonewall. I'm not settling for this, but I am thankful for this step forward on a much longer journey. 



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