Two films tackle old issues which are still rearing their heads years later. Diane de Beer takes a look.
The Normal Heart
****
Fruitvale Station
****
Two films, The Normal Heart and Fruitvale Station, both based on true stories, have tapped into the zeitgeist even though they are from last year.
Normal Heart, directed by Emmy-Award winner Ryan Murphy and written by Oscar nominee Larry Kramer, is the story of the HIV/Aids crisis in New York in those early days when the disease first made its deathly appearance. It reminds you how easily the horror dims because while watching it, you cannot believe all these years on, with people still dying in large numbers, that people could have been so ignorant and heartless at the same time.
But right now, more than three decades on, the US is again battling with serious prejudice against the gay community as same-sex marriage will have to be ratified in all the states by the highest court in their land. Even though it is part of the country’s law, certain states (as with racial integration in schools in the ’60s) refuse to bend the knee and have to be told by the supreme court that they are part of the country and not quite a law unto themselves.
In hindsight, when thinking of these battles, the prejudice in the ’80s was not such a surprise, but it is horrifying to watch how no one was willing to do anything because it was – at that stage – only the gay community who were affected.
Kramer tells a personal story, but that is what makes this so inspiring and a real learning experience, because even in his case a brother, who should have known better, couldn’t hide his prejudice. He had to walk the walk before he could fully understand how this group of people were being mishandled and discarded by the world.
The fact that sex was the way this disease was being transmitted, made it extremely difficult for even the gay community to accept because they had very recently won their freedom from being prosecuted for sex between two same-sex individuals.
With actors like Mark Ruffalo, Matt Bomer and Julia Roberts, it’s a painful but extremely powerful story which cannot but have you in tears.
Fruitvale Station has a similar impact because it deals with what is currently headlining news in the US on almost a weekly basis. African-Americans are constantly saying that it has been going on forever, but suddenly the evidence is seemingly out there for everyone to see – shooting and killing black men, young and old, by the police.
This one was also captured on a cellphone and is produced by Forest Whitaker. The 22-year-old Oscar (Michael B Jordan) wakes up on the morning of December 31 with a decision to change his life because of his girlfriend and baby girl. He wants to do the right thing. He wants to be a better son, a better boyfriend and a better father. In fact, he wants to stand up as the man in the family.
But these things never happen that easily and he battles obstacle after obstacle on that particular day, never giving up though. But he is supported by the love and care of his family where his love is felt constantly simply because of who he is.
A normal day for this right-minded man is shown for what it is and then it is time to celebrate the new dawn – or those were the plans.
What unfolds on what happens to be this young man’s final journey from the time he wakes up, is almost an impossible ask. If all of us are constantly thrown with the toughest of options in every decision we make or take, life would be a nightmare. We all have to battle some days or with some tasks or people, but it isn’t constant and there is usually a balance which makes every day worth living.
How do you cope when all the odds are stacked against you?
Well, you don’t, but fortunately now there’s some kind of end in sight. Finally, more often than not, the wrongdoers are caught on camera which means the boys in power don’t have it all their own way.
It’s truly chilling stuff in a country where such cases have become nothing more than a statistic.