I was finally able to watch The Normal Heart today.
I first encountered this play my freshman year of college. We had to find a "bulldog" monologue for freshman acting. The goal was to teach us to engage the power of our voice. I don't even know how I found it, searching the library, I guess. I don't remember my feelings from first reading it. But I remember doing the monologue in class and sort of failing miserably. But that was what freshman acting was for...and so interesting that the entire point was to empower our voice and that is what this piece was about. And as an eighteen year old I was trying to empower my voice...I still am.
I don't have a whole lot to say...it's just more than a Facebook status would warrant.
I am bowled over by the courage of everyone involved. Ryan Murphy who is known for campier things such as Glee and American Horror Story. He has certainly gotten a reputation for specific things in the past few years. But he is a powerful man. And I love that he decided to use his power for good.
This is what reminds me why I love theater and cinema and the power of entertainment to speak truth and open our eyes.
Matt Bomer letting himself go to such a completely physically vulnerable place. I read the cover article in this month's Details magazine with him. I have certainly have always enjoyed him. He is an out homosexual and is just so pretty...what more can you ask for? Well he has endeared himself to be me for always.
And Jim Parsons and Joe Mantello. Just all of the men (and women) in this who so desperately wanted to tell and be apart of this story.
And Julia Roberts. We all know how much I love her and why I love her. And I have to say that I was completely shocked by her. I was not expecting it at all; I found her staggering. And I have never known her to be vocal about the rights of gays or anything, but she is still arguably the biggest Hollywood actress. Certainly no one has passed her as far as money made for one movie. And to lend her star power to such a story endears her to me even more. What a class act.
I have to say that I find this bittersweet. I have seen all of my friend's Facebook statuses about how it has touched them and how everyone should see it. Well they are certainly preaching to the choir. I happened to be in a hotel room with my parents the night it premiered. And in every hotel room along with the Gideon Bible they have that little HBO booklet that tells you the lineup. My dad asks about The Normal Heart and I tell him it is not something he would be interested in. It's about the HIV epidemic in the 1980s. And he asks if it is pro-gay (what kind of question is that?). And I say yes. And that was that. I wish my dad could see it...I wish my family...I wish everyone who thinks the way they think could see it; for what it is. Not as a punishment for evil (which may sound extreme...but for want of a better phrase). I wish people could be woken up to what went on, what has gone on, what is still going on...and what will continue to go on. Not just HIV/AIDS, but the stigma. The rank of second class citizens. I know that things have come a long way and all you need is to watch fifteen minutes of The Normal Heart to know that. But man...this world still has so far to go. Not just for my rights, but the rights of women, the rights of various ethnicities. It took nearly thirty years for this play to be made into a movie and even then it was on HBO (which is major coverage), but why not a nation wide movie theater release?
I guess I had more to say than I thought...so what else is new.
Also, something new is coming around the bend for me. Stay tuned folks. It's gonna be a fun ride.
