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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 21, 1994)
2 ▼ Ja n u a ry 2 1 , 1 9 2 4 ▼ ju s t ou« just out s in c e 1 9 8 3 steppin’ out PUBUSHER Renée LaChance EDITOR contents VOL. 11 NO. 6 JANUARY 21,1994 Ariel Walcrwoman CALENDAR EDITOR FEATURES Mcroc Elahi PHOTOGRAPHER Remembering James Baldwin Linda Klicwer REPORTERS A Baldwin documentary comes to town and we honor the man in his own words Pamela Lyons Lee Norwood ADVERTISING (pp. 16-17) Meg Grace E. Ann Hinds Jewel Robinson \ DEPARTMENTS CREATIVE DIRECTOR World news E. Ann Hinds South Africa prohibits discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation in its proposed Bill o f Rights (P- 4) GRAPHIC DESIGN Rupert Kinnard PROOFREADERS Thomas Lauderdale Kelly M. Bryan TYPESETTER Dec StarDanccr Fultz This sculpture, by David St rough, is being displayed, along with 16 others, in the exterior windows at SAKS Fifth Avenue, 850 SW Fifth Ave., in Portland, through Jan. 24. DISTRIBUTION Up Front Distribution CONTRIBUTORS Bob Rochr Miss Betsy Hunt Kelly M. Bryan Mathew Nelson Lee Lynch Grant Michael Mcnzics Just Out is published on the first and th ird F riday o f each m onth. Copyright ©1994 by Just Out. No part o f Just Out may be reproduced without written permission from the publisher. H ie submission of written and graphic m aterials is welcomed. Written material should be typed and double-spaced. Just Out reserves the right to edit for grammar, punctuation, style, liability concerns and length. We will reject or edit articles or advertisem ents that arc offensive, demeaning or may result in legal action. Just Out consults the Associated Press Style Book and Libel M anual on editorial decisions. Letters to the editor should be limited to two double-spaced typed pages. Deadline for submissions to the editorial department and for the Calendar is the Thursday before the first and third linday for the next issue Views expressed in letters to the editor, columns and features arc not necessarily those of the publisher. 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Our fax qumber is 236-1257. editorial National news Juneau votes to keep targeted children s book on library shelves; PBS’s Tales of the City attacked by right-wing groups; American Airlines settles dispute (pp. 5-9) Local news Office chaffer Kind of a low news time, if you exclude earthquakes, ice skating scandals and kitchen knives ▼ by A riel Waterwoman arthquakes, Tonya and domestic violence aside, the hot topic around the office has been the movie, Philadelphia. Our cinema reviewer, Kelly Bryan, saw Philadelphia weeks before any of us had the opportunity to. She graciously didn’t discuss the movie with us—but she did join in discussions on how the national reviewers were handling it. Many of us who work in the office had read one or more of the reviews. We read and discussed the alleged homophobia of the movie because Tom Hanks and his movie-lover didn’t engage in passionate kissing. We speculated at the motives of producer/ director Jonathan Demme for taking on this project. Was it only to make up to the queer community for his participation in The Silence o f the Lambs? We really got going in speculation-land. These reviews didn’t prepare any of us for the impact that seeing Philadelphia had. This movie was truly touching in its portrayal of a gay man living with AIDS, getting fired and choosing to take his case to the courts. It cut through most of my cynicism regarding Hollywood. After seeing the movie, we finally had a chance to talk about the issues raised in the reviews. Was Demme, or some cluster of movie-people, homophobic for not showing more physical con tact between Andrew Beckett and Miguel? Possibly— less homophobic than Joe Miller was at the end of the film. Scenes of real intimacy between Bcckcltand Miguel were portrayed. After a ten year relationship, intimacy is more about the little tilings— Miguel kissing the tears off Beckett; dancing chcck-to-chcck in matching navy outfits; the way Miguel and Beckett knew how to be with each other in difficult situations. These, more than any staged Hollywood kiss, gave a reality to Philadelphia. I really liked this movie. Firstofall because itdidn’thurt me. That in itself is a tremendous stride for Hollywood. I realize what a sad commentary it is about the movie industry when we’re happy primarily because they don’t hurt us. It’s a movie that was E Washington faces two discriminatory measures; Oregon appeals court upholds award against the OCA; community center moves forward; anti-semitic flyer circulates at Lewis and Clark College (pp. 11-15) created for a heterosexual audience, that neither hurt nor was demeaning to gay men. Looking at the casting, the target audience was younger heterosexual people of all colors. Philadelphia works for that target group, and works well. For all of the diversity cast into the movie, there wasn’t any grandstanding about it. There were no Spirituality Hollywood fanfares when the audience was introduced to an Reform Jews recognize gay interracial gay couple. Nor was there any preaching when we and lesbian relationships saw people in wheelchairs going about their business. (p. 10) Probably one of my favorite things about this movie was how well the director worked with the medium. The camera angles were inescapably involving. You couldn’t not be Beckett as he left the courthouse and had to work his way through a crowd of supporters and hecklers. Then there were some scenes that only made sense in the context of the medium. 11 was very enheartening to watch as Millcr grew and changed. Mutters By the end of the movie, he was not a saint. He had learned a lot Marlon Brando, Tim Miller, and grown in proportion to the experience. This is real. People Scott Capurro and the change in little steps. The heterosexual people watching this film Baltimore Waltz now have a pattern for change. All of the elements of growth were presented to the audience. We saw Miller’s joy at the new (pp. 24-25) life of his daughter. We watched as he stepped in when a librarian was trying to discriminate against Beckett. We heard Miller Books reply to taunts with a new edge to his voice. People watching this Lee Lynch's annual winter movie experience a thoughtful man learning new things about reading list and a review of queers, and integrating dial information. At this point in the struggle to ensure civil rights for our communities, this movie The Corporate Closet can do more than the best public relations campaign can for our (p. 26-27) cause. Philadelphia isn’t targeting the queer community with all of Cinema our sophistication about gay men and painful issues surrounding A joyful noise comes to the AIDS. This movie is bringing straight people up-to-datcon some o om- struggles, and doing it in a very engaging way. I walked Northwest Film Center ,oilt of the trtcafcr.'dl-yin^ hiV/tdah, ¿nd feeling Very hopeful/ 1 ’ ' * 1 1 1 4 ' tn ^81 ' ’ * 1 i - , * » » i »»tv - (■'/ I l \R‘ i •: ■ . ) * » • * 1 •» «a* COLUMNS ARTS 5
