Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Movie Review- Philadelphia



             The first mainstream Hollywood film to deal with the subject of AIDS, and one of the few to feature gay characters in a serious dramatic context, Philadelphia is highly competent and equally--if surprisingly—conventional.

 Handsome, self-assured young corporate lawyer Andrew Beckett (Tom Hanks) is fired by his white-shoe Philadelphia firm when his sleek, self-satisfied employers--including Charles Wheeler (Jason Robards) and Bob Seidman (Ron Vawter)--discover that he's HIV positive. With the support of his family--especially his mother, Sarah (Joanne Woodward)--and his lover, Miguel (Antonio Banderas), Beckett sues. But the only lawyer who will take his case is local ambulance chaser Joe Miller (Denzel Washington), who's not sure he wants to be associated with a high profile case about homosexual prejudice.

Philadelphia fails to create complex characters or finely nuanced drama, but it succeeds in its real goal; the education of an audience whose thinking about AIDS and gay life has been shaped by notions of perversion and divine retribution. Screenwriter Ron Nyswaner and director Jonathan Demme assemble a drama filled with familiar elements: the importance of family (and, especially, a mother's love for her children); the decent little man pitted against a smugly uncaring system; the mismatched legal team of affluent white suburbanite Beckett and struggling, black, city-bred Miller. Strong performances from Hanks and Washington are among the film's greatest assets. Doomsayers foretold that the movie would fail to find a mainstream audience and that this would insure the subject's relegation, once again, to the independent arena, but the dire predictions proved false.

          Being the film buff that I am, I am very critical of this movie. It was good, but it wasn’t great.

          I give Philadelphia 3 out of 5 stars.

Annotated Bibliography


Annotated Bibliography
Ojeda, Auriana. Homosexuality : Opposing Viewpoints. San Diego, CA: Greenhaven, 2004. Print.
This source was very helpful to me in learning about the different views on Homosexuality. It covers the many viewpoints that society has about homosexuality, and has a wide array of discussions in the book. The book gets each viewpoint from a different professional in their own field of the topic and research. This source tries not to be biased with their topic as it has many different views in it. Because the book has opposing views, those who are expressing the views are biased. The source was published within the past 10 years so I believe it to be a fairly credible source. This information will help me in my research because it gives me all of the topics I could explore for my project, and I will have to choose a topic to solely research.

Abraham, Morris, dir. "Taboo: Transgender." Taboo. National Geographic. 30 Sept. 2012. TopDocumentaryFilms.com. Web. 6 Mar. 2013. <http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/taboo-transgender/>.
This source helped me find information on the other, rather unexplored side of the LGBT community; Tansgenders. This documentary helped to open my eyes to how many cultures have transgender communities and how widely they were accepted.  The documentary did not use media as a specific source but relied almost entirely on interviews and experiences of those who were being portrayed. I believe that there may be some bias in the film, but the bias isn’t negative. The filmmakers showed the transgender community for what they are, human beings. They did not put down or trash the Trans community in anyway. So they were bias towards the positive side of being transgender and not the negative side which is against it. The information from this source showed me another path that I can take to further my project, perhaps taking it into a direction I didn’t even know I would consider.

13 Law & Sexuality: Rev. Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Legal Issues 605 (2004) Reconsidering the Gender-Equality Perspective for Understanding LGBT Rights; Farrell, Sandi
This article helped me find information on the legal side of my topic. Some points brought up were The Gender-Equality Concept, Deconstructing the Gendered Basis of Sexuality-based theories or “Sexual Orientation”, Gender Equality Arguments in Employment Discrimination Law, Gender-Equality Arguments in Family Law, and Why the Law Must Recognize the Gender-Equality Paradigm. Another subtopic that it focuses on is Children. There wasn’t much bias in the article as it was mostly about what the laws in our country already state. The article gives examples of the laws in use and of them being abused. Although the article was written almost 10 year ago, most of the laws they talk about are still in effect and are still being enforced. The information wasn’t as helpful as I had hoped it would be, but it was still a decent source to use.

Coon, David W., Ph.D. "Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) Issues and Family Caregiving." Www.caregiver.org. N.p., Aug. 2003. Web. 2 Apr. 2013. <http://caregiver.org/jsp/content/pdfs/op_2003_lgbt_issues.pdf>.
This article talks about LGBT issues and caregiving. It takes the position that until LGBT individuals no longer experience the discrimination and social isolation that create barriers to receiving competent care, service providers and other professionals need to increase not only their understanding of the issues LGBT caregivers face, but also their competence in service provision to these family caregivers. It also takes the position that LGBT-identified individuals are members of a minority community with unique needs that in turn shape the development and delivery of competent services for its informal caregivers.  The text is biased because it is calling for the acceptance of all in the LGBT community. Although it is biased it still gives good information. It is helpful and it is a credible source for my topic. The information given will help with presenting the information I will gather to further push my agenda I have with this topic.

Fama, Jilian. "Corporations Paint Their Brands Red For LGBT Rights." ABC News. ABC News Network, 27 Mar. 2013. Web. 04 Apr. 2013.
This article talks about how thousands of people are taking to social media to voice their personal support for gay marriage, but individuals are not the only ones supporting the cause. Corporations and public figures are using their branding to ride the trend as the Supreme Court argues two pieces of landmark legislation regarding same-sex marriage. Political supporters of the gay rights initiatives are donning icons based on the Human Rights Campaign equality symbol with shades of red instead of blue and yellow on their personal Facebook pages. As politicians and consumers alike have altered their social media pages, so have brand names such as Absolut Vodka, Expedia, Amazon, and Bud Light. The text is not biased, because it was just explaining a campaigning movement that was being used. ABC was not trying to persuade the viewers to change their social media pages. The information was helpful because I learned about companies that were supporting the LGBT community.

"Free And Equal In Dignity And LGBT Rights." Vital Speeches Of The Day 78.2 (2012): 45. MasterFILE Premier. Web. 5 Apr. 2013
This Article presents the speech "Be on the Right Side of History," delivered by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on International Human Rights Day at the Palais des Nations in Geneva, Switzerland on December 6, 2011 in which she discussed human rights violations related to sexual orientation, equal rights and dignity for LGBT people, and activism that leads to political change. She talks about how the acceptance of homosexuality is a sensitive topic for many people and that the obstacles standing in the way of protecting the human rights of LGBT people rest deeply on held personal, political, cultural, and religious beliefs. The text is biased because Hillary is calling for equality so she is biased with thoughts of equality for homosexuals. The information from the speech wasn’t very helpful, but I found it interesting.

"Gay, Lesbian, and Transgender Rights." Global Issues in Context Online Collection. Detroit: Gale, 2013. Global Issues In Context. Web. 5 Apr. 2013
This article talks about the history of the LGBT community and sexual minorities.  An example of the history in the LGBT Communities would be that by the eighteenth century, there was considerable legislation in Europe, and enormous social stigma, concerning homosexuality and transvestitism (cross-dressing). The laws against homosexuality pertained almost exclusively to male behavior; sodomy was considered a serious crime, punishable by beating, lengthy prison terms, and sometimes by execution. The writer also writes about some not so historic landmarks such as the speech President Obama gave addressing the nation, the president said that "our journey is not complete until our gay brothers and sisters are treated like anyone else under the law." The ceremony included the recitation of a new poem by Richard Blanco, making him the first Hispanic, openly gay, and youngest poet to read at a U.S. presidential inauguration. The text was biased from this article but it also gave some important pieces of LGBT history. The information from this article could be used to support my theory of LGBT discrimination throughout history.

“Philadelphia”. Dir. Jonathan Demme. By Ron Nyswanger. Perf. Tom Hanks, Denzel Washington, Antonio Banderas, and Joanne Woodward. TriStar Pictures, 1993. DVD.
This source was a movie made in 1993. The summary is that Andrew Beckett, a gay lawyer infected with AIDS, is fired from his conservative law firm in fear that they might contract AIDS from him. After Andrew is fired, in a last attempt for peace, he sues his former law firm with the help of a homophobic lawyer, Joe Miller. During the court battle, Miller sees that Beckett is no different than anyone else on the gritty streets of the city of brotherly love, sheds his homophobia and helps Beckett with his case before AIDS overcomes him. Im not sure if I could say if this movie was biased or not because It was made for entertainment and had both views on homosexuality in the film. Because the film was fiction I wasn’t sure what was fact and what was fiction in the movie, so I didn’t pull any information from it to use in my project.
"40 Years Later: A Look Back at the Turning Point for Gay Rights." AARP. N.p., June 2009. Web. 04 Apr. 2013. <http://www.aarp.org/politics-society/rights/info-06-2009/stonewall_riots_40_years_later_.html>.
This source was taking a look back on the stonewall riots of 1969. It talks about what was happening in the community before the riots, what happened during the riots, and the aftermath of the riots. There are quotes and information on what happened that night. The source wasn’t very biased. It gave good information without sounding biased. The article was very short but straight to the point. I used most of the information from this source in my prezi on the Stonewall riots. So the information was good, and reliable.

Day Of Silence- The Aftermath!

So, the day of silence took place on Friday, April 19th, 2013! The day was a huge success in my school! lots of students participated, including myself!
from my last post about this, I told everyone i would post pictures so here they are! i have pictures from my friends here in Wisconsin, but also from Minnesota!


Anthony,18
" I Am ending the silence by: Standing up against bullying to others."





Bianca, 17
"I am ending the silence by: Speaking up for those who are too afraid to, and
speaking up for the people who feel like they aren't being heard."



Jayson, 17
(his was hard to read!)



Jordan, 17
"I am ending the silence by: showing my love and support for the LGBT community, encouraging acceptance, and being there for anyone who needs me. I love you all!"



Lily, 18
"I am endin the silence by: Advocation Individuality."



 I would personally like to thank everyone who participated in the Day of Silence, and I would like to thank my friends for being brave enough to stand up for what is right!


Monday, April 22, 2013

LGBT Rights and Acceptance Survey


Student Survey on LGBT Rights and Acceptance
*Note: Please be COMPLETELY HONEST, these are anonymous. Only circle one answer.
 *LGBT Stands for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender
1. Homosexuality is unnatural and immoral. LGBT people are emotionally or psychologically ill.
Agree Disagree
2. LGBT people should participate in reparative therapy or any other treatment available to help
them change their sexual orientation.
Agree Disagree
3. We should have compassion for LGBT people. They can’t be blamed for how they were born.
Agree Disagree
4. LGBT people didn’t choose to be the way they are.
Agree Disagree
5. I have no problem with LGBT people, but see no need for them to flaunt their sexual orientation publicly.
Agree Disagree
6. What LGBT people do in the privacy of their own bedroom is their business.
Agree Disagree
7. LGBT people deserve the same rights and privileges as everybody else.
Agree Disagree
8. Homophobia is wrong. Society needs to take a stand against anti-LGBT bias.
Agree Disagree
9. It is important for me to stand up to those who demonstrate homophobic attitudes.
Agree Disagree
10. Homosexual Marriage should be legal everywhere in the United States.
Agree Disagree


This Survey was given on April 20th, 2013, at Memorial High School.

These are the results:

Question 1: 14% Agreed, 86% Disagreed
Question 2: 7% Agreed, 93% Disagreed
Question 3: 79% Agreed, 21% Disagreed
Question 4: 65% Agreed, 35% Disagreed
Question 5: 53% Agreed, 475 Disagreed
Question 6: 93% Agreed, 7% Disagreed
Question 7: 89% Agreed, 11% Disagreed
Question 8: 47% Agreed, 53% Disagreed
Question 9: 63% Agreed, 37% Disagreed
Question 10: 81% Agreed, 19% Disagreed

In my opinion, Memorial high school is a very LGBT friendly school, and the students are accepting of thier peers.  

Friday, April 19, 2013

Day Of Silence

Today is the Day of Silence, a day celebrated nationwide! myslef, along with 7 students in my choir class and  other students from the rest of my school are participating in this event! the day of silence is a day where people are silent for the whole day to show thier support for the LGBT community and for those silence by bullying!

Pictures and interviews will be coming soon!

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