I was surprised by the movie "Outrage."

[tomreedtoon]

I just saw it last night, and two aspects surprised me.

Not that many closeted Republicans vote against gay interests; that's been known for quite a while. Not that they deny and stonewall when they are found out. Here's what surprised me:

1) The investigators, bloggers and columnists who "out" these politicians are actually dedicated people. I had always believed that when someone went to deliberately "out" a closeted politician, they were doing it out of revenge, cruelty or as a campy practical joke.

The investigators shown in the piece were not like that at all. They had a sense of urgency and mission. Basically they said that it was their "race" that was being betrayed by people in power. And those people in power were more than betraying their own. They were bringing them misery, and in the case of AIDS, condemning them to death. They were men with a sense of mission, and they were pursuing that mission honorably.

2) The film suggests, in the last third or so, that one reason Washington journalists do not pursue hypocritical gays in power...is that many of those journalists themselves are gay and afraid of being outed.

Look, I worked with TV newsmen for decades. I know they are primarily actors. And I know there are a lot of actors who are gay. But I never connected the two. They mentioned one "rising star" of Fox News who was apparently found out, who was unceremoniously dumped by the network.

That point all comes down to the fact that with great power comes NO responsibility, no matter what Peter Parker says. Many powerful people feel no reason to be true to their values, to who they are. They just indulge and grab all the goodies (including sexual partners) that they can. And whoever gets hurt in the process, be it the people close to them or an entire category of citizens, get told that's the breaks. And that apparently applies to the hairdo reporters who've gotten to Washington.

I'd recommend that you see the film, but it probably isn't going to play anywhere near you and it won't be released on DVD. Either wait for the niche movie channels on satellite to play it, or I guess, wait for an "internet source" to put it up.

[Warpy]

1. LOGO will probably have it after a limited release

so I'll watch out for it.

As for the sincerity of journalists outing hypocritically antigay gay pols and colleagues, I'm not a bit surprised.

Reasons for staying in any closet are one's own until that one decides to persecute anyone who has exited that same closet. That goes for atheists, gays, and any other easily targeted group.

Hypocrites are fair game, and that's where the line is for me.

[blogslut]

2. I disagree with one point

That it won't be released on DVD. If Kirby's Dick's last documentary, This Film is Not Yet Rated, could be released on DVD, I see no reason why Outraged would not be released on DVD.

I am anxious to see Outraged but will have to wait for its DVD release in order to do so.

[lame54]

3. Spoiler request...

who was the rising star from Fox?

[tomreedtoon]

4. Uh...I dunno. Some hairdo guy.

I don't watch Fox, I don't care about their comedians...er, news people...and I didn't remember the guy. Orangish-brownish super-moussed hair, the way he appeared on the film shot off a TV screen, and he was a snarky right-wing mouthpiece. The problem is that's the description of just about every one of the Fox anchors.