I borrowed a movie entitled "Beautiful
Thing" this past week. I doubt anyone here as seen it (with
the possible exception of Elliot or Cellar). The film was made in
England and employs VERY British actors. The plot is one of
acceptance - for lack of a better word. The story itself centers
on a young man (around 17 or so) who starts to accept the fact
he's gay and starts to develop a crush on his neighbor and
friend.
I say the plot is one of acceptance because
that seemed, to me, to be the point the movie was trying to get
across. The main character starts to accept being gay and dips
his toe into the pond of understanding gay culture by going to a
gay bar and reading a gay news magazine. The neighbor, whom is
the crushee, must come to grips with being the object of male
affection and his desire to return it while still being accepted
by the "in-crowd". Finally, the mother must finally
accept her son and the confrontation scene between the two was
gut-wrenching to watch.
The above does happen over the course of the
movie. I think there's little doubt the film made its points in a
manner that was appropriate to the subject matter. The film was
very successful in this, imo, although I do have a small quibble.
The neighbor goes from repulsed to lover in a matter of almost a
week. That is way too quick. I understand the need to get the
plot moving, but they should have indicated more time had passed
in relation to the characters.
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