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 "WILDE"
NOMINATED FOR HUMAN RIGHTS AWARD
The life of bisexual Oscar Wilde, focusing on his affection
for young adult men and the consequences of his desire to
fulfill his destiny, is passionately portrayed in the British
film Wilde. Directed by Brian Gilbert, the film
pits Oscar Wilde against the Marquess of Queensberry, whose
son is devoted to Wilde. Vexed by slanderous accusations around
London by the Marquess, Wilde responds to a written note,
accusing him of being a "sodomite," by filing a libel suit,
whereupon much of his private life becomes a matter of court
record. Since the court proceedings suggest the truth of the
facts broadcast by the Marquess, Wilde loses the suit and
next is charged with the criminal offense of indecent behavior.
He receives the maximum sentence, two years of hard labor,
which so overtaxes his strength that his life is greatly shortened,
and the world is soon deprived of one of the greatest wits
since Shakespeare. The film shows the folly of a homophobic
morality that somehow arose in nineteenth century England
despite the Biblical David and Jonathan, secular teachings
of Socrates, and the flowering of the Renaissance superstars
Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo. The film, of course, is
more than a biography of one person but a paradigm of the
struggle between proponents of malevolent hate and the polymorphous
impulse to love-the way in which powerful but small-minded
homophobes destroy the careers and shorten the lives of some
of the greatest contributors to civilization. Oscar Wilde,
in short, is portrayed as the first gay rights advocate. This
is the first film of 1998 nominated in the category of HUMAN
RIGHTS.
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WARREN
BEATTY'S "BULWORTH" NOMINATED FOR EXPOSÉ AWARD
Some forty years ago, Allen Ginsberg's Howl urged Americans
to wake up and face the realities of injustice. Similarly,
Warren Beatty uses the medium of poetry to expose what he
considers the hypocrisies of the Democratic Party of the Clinton
era. Fed up with Beltway bullshit, Senator Bulworth of California
arranges to have himself assassinated while lampooning the
way in which the moneyed interests prevail over the people.
However, he so enjoys his role as national curmudgeon that
he decides to abort the assassination in order to continue
exposing why the Democrats do nothing for African Americans
(they do not contribute enough campaign money and cannot vote
Republican anyway), for health care (the insurance companies,
happily benefiting from the present system, make hefty campaign
contributions to keep it that way), etc. Using the vehicle
of rap music, Senator Bulworth is on the same wavelength as
Eddie Murphy's The Distinguished Gentleman,
in which the protagonist satirizes Washington D.C. politics
as the biggest con game in the world. Beatty's Don Quixote
tilts so many windmills so quickly that filmviewers will have
to see Bulworth several times to take complete notes on all
the syllabus of errors, most of which deal with the plight
of African Americans.
THIS
YEAR'S NOMINATED FILMS
DEMOCRACY:
Four Days in September, Primary
Colors, Wag the Dog
EXPOSÉ:
Bulworth, Four
Days in September
HUMAN
RIGHTS : Wilde
PEACE: The Boxer, Men
with Guns
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