The Normal Heart

(2014, directed by Ryan Murphy, starring Mark Ruffalo, Jonathan Groff, Frank De Julio, and Taylor Kitsch)

The Normal Heart is a film that depicts the HIV epidemic in New York of the early 1980s. The lives of HIV advocacy founder Ned weeks, his male lover, and members of his community are explored in order to present the struggle that homosexual men faced within political circles, the workplace, or even in their own neighbourhoods. The film did and still does leave me a bit shocked and uncomfortable for two reasons.  The first reason is that the film was very sexually explicit.  The second reason was the way that symptoms attributed to HIV were shown through various characters. It was very graphic and disturbing. I understand the approach that was used in order to display the human body as valuable and beautiful but at the same time very vulnerable and fragile. Overall the film is very complex and I feel that there were a lot of layers in terms of themes and issues that coincided with each other, making the viewing experience very intense.

Ned Weeks was very passionate about his cause, due to the fact that his colleagues and close friends were affected by HIV. He witnessed many of them go through stages of the illness and attended many funerals. That reality must have brought on feelings of  sadness, emotional numbness, and hopeless. Weeks made a point to speak up in defense of the gay community, however I really could not understand his approach as depicted in the movie. He often sabotaged himself because he did not have the ability to be diplomatic, build rapport, have charisma, and negotiate. His passion was greatly appreciated, however he did not know how to conduct himself around politicians or people who were uncomfortable about his sexual preference, but were in a position to help his cause.

There are various scenes that show him going to conferences and interviews without the consent or knowledge of his advocacy group. He would often make very general and strong statements or initiate verbal battles, that reflected his personal interests rather than that of his community. He was not voted in as president of his own group and he was eventually voted out of the group all together.

In the film Weeks was depicted as someone who had a lot of emotional baggage. It was easy to pick this up when he had discussions with his older brother.  They would discuss their childhood and therapy. I would have been interested in seeing a little more of a story between Weeks and his brother. The scene where Ben took Felix to the hospital and stayed while both Ned and Felix were married by Dr. Emma Brookner, was very powerful. Ben and Ned were reunited and Ned finally received Ben’s acceptance towards his sexual identity and personal choices.

As a learning tool about gender, sexuality, and love this is a very good film choice. Even though as I stated above there are many elements occurring simultaneously in this film, love is a very central and well developed theme.

lo sono l’amore (Blog Assignment #2)

 

 

Within our society we often associate men and women with certain traits and characteristic. This process is referred to as gendering and stereotyping. Men are often stereotyped as competitive, physically imposing, non emotional, and ambitious, while women are often stereotyped as passive, nurturing, accepting, and graceful. The Italian melodrama lo sono l’ amore (2009) distinctively displays gender and stereotypes through the use of characters and their reactions towards the situations that they encounter. Emma Recchi displays all of the above stereotypes associated with women. I will be primarily focusing scenes that display her as accepting, nurturing, and graceful.

The scene where Emma discovers her daughter’s sexual identity, is a clear example of women as accepting. When Emma goes to pick up her daughter Betta’s blazer from the dry cleaners, she is made aware that something was left in one of the pockets. Emma reaches in to discover a love letter with a CD, from another young woman. She reads the sentiments carefully and imagines the young women together, in an attempt to fully understand the relationship. Emma tells her husband that she knows  that Betta does not love her boyfriend and will not marry him. This indicates that she is fully aware and has accepted her daughter’s stance. Additionally when Betta returns home both her mother, Emma and her grandmother meet up with her to take her home. Emma seems a bit reluctant as she examines her daughter’s short hair and makeup-less face. This affirms her view of physical stereotypes attributed to lesbianism. She is processing the fact that her daughter has just graduated from university and has chosen to be a lesbian. These are two defining moments of Betta’s young adulthood. Finally Emma and Betta hug each other lovingly, which displays Emma’s acceptance and unconditional love for her daughter.

Once Emma and Betta are alone, Betta confides her sexual identity to her mother. This scene displays the stereotype of women as nurturers.  In response, Emma caresses Betta’s hair, and tells her that her girlfriend is very beautiful. She continues to have a loving and motherly conversation with Betta. They both agree to not share the new revelation with Tancredi, Betta’s Father.

Gracefulness is modeled through Emma’s posture, open movements, and flowing gestures throughout the film. During the final dinner scene Emma displays both grace and confidence through the way that she is dressed and her purposeful movements. She rushes down the staircase in a very beautiful and flowing gown, in order to kiss Antonio discreetly and then return to the party unnoticed. The camera moves with her in order to capture her gracefulness and the natural swaying of her gown as she moves swiftly and excitedly to share a moment with her lover.

 

The film’s dramatic love story and central characters are used to explore political themes such as class dynamics, gender, and sexuality. The Recchi family is a wealthy Italian family that owns a textile factory. Emma Recchi pursues a relationship with a young and struggling chef named Antonio. In A Pervert’s Guide to Idealogy, Žižek describes this type of affair, where people from the upper class have relationships with those of the lower class in order to re-authenticate themselves. These relationships are not very serious and enduring because they are based on lust and impulse. Emma leaves her family in order to be with Antonio. The film ends with the two of them laying in a small ditch inside of a cave. This brings the concept of Plato’s allegory of the cave to mind, which leaves us to wonder about the seriousness and authenticity of this relationship.

Additionally gender is explored through the usage of hyperfemininity and hypermasculinity. This is where males and females express stereotypes and norms that are attributed to their gender in a conscious, deliberate, and even dramatic way. It is clear that Emma is expected to be, and therefore acts, very feminine.  The same can be said for Tancredi with respect to his masculinity. Both Edoardo and Betta defy gender stereotypes because neither of them display a strong sense of “maleness” or “femaleness”. Edoardo is a heterosexual male who is seen as weak, clumsy, naive, and effeminate. Betta is gay and is seen as independent, strong, free spirited, and dominate.

Lastly sexuality is explored through Betta’s lesbianism. This conflicts with the family image, tradition, and values. Her relationship is not responsible for it, but is a part of events that take place in order to show deconstruction of and change within their family structure.