January 1986

Gay Peoples Chronicle

page 7

Films: The The Color Color Purple

BY ROB DAROFF

Under the direction of Steven ("E.T.") Spielberg, Alice Walker's famed The Color Purple hit movie theaters across the nation last month with a bang. To many, Spielberg and Walker may seem like strange bedfellows. In fact, a reviewer from the Village Voice mused, "It's tempting to see the film as Spielberg's apology for the rampant white male supremacism of 'Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.'"

Many gay and lesbian movie-goers have waited anxiously to see what Spielberg and screenwriter Menno Meyjes would do with the significant lesbian make-up of Walker's novel. Although not blurred out completely, as it turns out, the lesbian theme has undeniably been softened. The intimacy and sexual arousal between the two central women in the book is essentially reduced to one tender kissing scene in the movie version.

off

The movie pulls Walker's vision in a form obviously more palatable for Mr. and Mrs. Joe America and their family of three. It consequently becomes less meaningful for us, but our consolation is knowing that it will undoubtedly reach more people in this revised form. In addition, we can take pleasure in the fact that

the tough feminist orientation of the novel

went

Sisters Celie (left) and Nettie (right) in "The Color Purple."

largely untouched.

Even though the the film should not win any prizes for being the most important

film for gay people this year, it still works marvelously as a movie. What comes through is a powerful, captivating story about victim-

ization, personal growth, and universal love: The movie is a treasure that you should not miss.

Lesbian Lives Conference-CONTINUED

rather than about how lesbians impact on the world.

Things brightened a bit after lunch during the workshop on Lesbians in the Gay Movement. I went to this session in order to better understand the promises and pitfalls of lesbians and gay men working together from the experiences of other women. From here I was able to bring back to my job as Director of a mixed organization a powerful insight: women in mixed organizations support gay male issues such as AIDS and entrapment because we are family and because the State perceives all homosexuals to be members of one category despite the fact that lesbians and gay men operate in fairly divergent subcultures. How-

ever, men frequently fail to understand or support the fact that lesbians are twice discriminated against: once because we are women and again because we are homosexual. Lesbian issues such as custody, childcare, and underemployment need rècognition and support by gay men if we are to have a viable "Gay Movement."

The last workshop I had planned to attend on Saturday was titled "Choosing to Parent. When the facilitator did not show, the women waiting (in deference to the concept of leadership?) did not choose to collectively faciitate the workshop. Instead, they filtered out of the room and I crossed the hall to a discussion on Youth.

concerning gay counseling as are school psychologists and guidance counselors.

I was glad for this accidental stroke of luck because the workshop was led by a dynamic Social Worker from the Institute for the Protection of Lesbian and Sunday picked up appreciably as my first session, Gay Youth, Inc., a New York International Networking, agency which counsels, adwas facilitated by radicavocates for, and shelters lesbian author/global peacetroubled and runaway homo-worker/feminist organizer sexual youth. She shared Charlotte Bunch. This was an with us the startling statexciting, satisfying workistic that 80-90% of all shop which crossed the boun runaways have problems with daries of race, class and issues of sexual orientanation. It was the only tion. This information workshop I attended which brings to light that Cleve moved beyond the narrow perland area young people, as spective of the American well as young people in most legal system to the contempcommunities, have very little in the way of social orary situations of lesbians around the world. Particiservices upon which to rely. pants shared their experiIt is quite likely that area runaway shelter staff people are as lacking in expertise

Page 11, col. 2

ANDREW PETER BEEBE, PH.D.—

PSYCHOLOGIST

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(216) 229-4290

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