August, 1997
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Schindler's Gift

Dorothy Hajdys Story, 'Any Mother's Son' on TV

by Steve Warren

It wasn't worth the life of a good gay man to expose the hypocrisy of the military in general and the Navy in particular; but since Allen Schindler did die, it's good to know something positive came out of it, even if "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" was passed in the wake of the initial publicity. The Lifetime movie Any Mother's Son will bring the emotional impact of the Schindler killing and the Navy's attempt to cover up the motive behind it to people who may have missed the details when it was "only" a news story. Although I have a higher opinion of women's intelligence than Lifetime appears to, the movie is well calculated to tap into any mother's tear ducts. Thanks largely to a skillful lead performance by Bonnie Bedelia as Dorothy Hajdys, Any Mother's Son is far better than Showtime's atrocious adaptation of The Twilight of the Golds and USA's disappointing Breaking the Surface: The Greg Louganis Story, the year's other major gay-themed made-for-cable movies.

We meet the working-class Hajdys on the job, then see her as the loving mother of Allen (Paul Popowich), Kathy (Hedy Burress) and Billy (Shawn Ashmore). Allen is home on leave before flying to Japan to be stationed on the USS Belleau Wood. We get a taste of sea duty when he's bashed in his bunk and his shipmates ignore it. Before the first commercial break he's followed by two sailors, one of whom might wear a neon "Bully" sign except it would blend in with the garish nightclub district of Sasebo, to a public park where they beat him to death in the restroom. The actual beating isn't shown. We're told afterward, "The coroner said he looked like he was trampled by a horse." Hajdys, whose father and estranged husband had been in the Navy, knows what it means when two sailors knock on her door one night. That's not the last shock she's in for. She hears for the first time at the funeral that her son's killers were his shipmates. A reporter covering the story for the Pacific Stars and Stripes is the first to disclose the motive to her when he calls and asks if she knew Allen was gay. This begins a period of denial for Dorothy as each character becomes a point of view. Doris (Fiona Reid), a cousin represents homophobic ignorance. At the other extreme is Kathy, the enlightened, accepting younger generation. Gertie (Sada Thompson), Dorothy's mother, holds the moderate viewpoint that whatever one thinks of homosexuality, it's no reason for killing someone. This is the straw Dorothy grasps as she learns to accept her son. She represents the "average" viewer, who doesn't like "queers" while she thinks, "I never met one. I hope I never do," but is capable of change when she realizes her son was one. While Allen's status is just a rumor she speaks of "queers"; when it's confirmed he becomes a "homosexual." As she meets other gays and learns more about us he ends up "gay." She remains in denial longer about the Navy's deception, even when she catches them lying in their promises to keep her informed about the prosecution of her son's killers, one of whom (Scott Gibson as Terry Helvey) confesses while the other (Michael Gabriel as Charles Vins) turns state's evidence in exchange for being prosecuted on lesser charges. A reporter reveals to Hajdys that Vins was tried in secret and sentenced to one year in prison but released after 78 days.

When the Navy tells a press conference they will try Helvey in open court, then reneges, Hajdys decides it's time to kick some butt and goes to Japan for the hearing - which, she's told, will just be for sentencing purposes since Helvey's confessed to the crime. The Navy's primary concern all along, the film makes clear, is avoiding the public impression that Helvey's attitude toward gays reflects the service's own. Not only were they aware of Schindler's orientation - and made him sign a paper acknowledging that he was subject to dishonorable discharge and loss of benefits - but they ignored pleas for help by him and other gay crewmembers who had been bashed. At the hearing Helvey's mother (Jane Moffat), a criminally ignorant woman, testifies to the abuse her sons suffered at her husband's hands while she took no action to protect them. That night Dorothy goes to the park where Allen was killed and utters an abridged version of St. Francis' prayer ("Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace..."). Her own testimony the next day is all about her own feelings; it's totally irrelevant to the case and would not be permitted in any court, military or civilian. That scene and her subsequent confrontation with Helvey were too much for me, even though I was willing to cry on cue through most of the rest of the picture. A final credit tells us Hajdys is trying to collect a million signatures protesting the possibility of Helvey's parole in 2002. I'm sure anyone who has watched the story to this point will have pen in hand, so contact Servicemembers Legal Defense Network at (202) 328-3244 for petitions.

In addition to Bedelia, who doesn't make nearly enough films, Any Mother's Son gives us a rare chance to see Sada Thompson, although her role is too limited; and it features an effective (including, unfortunately, hammering home the tearjerking moments) synthestral score by Pray for Rain.

There are only two gay characters besides Schindler, both men who knew and loved him, though to what extent we're not told. In a touching scene at Allen's grave on what would have been his 23rd birthday, Dorothy meets Rich Eastman (Cameron Mathison). Wanting to talk he asks how much she knew about her son's life, but he soon sees she knew very little and excuses himself. As an activist I would have told the story differently; as a gay man I want to know more about Schindler and less about his mother; as a participant in the 1993 March on Washington I'd like to see the story end with the speech Hajdys gave there; but I have to believe writer Bruce Harmon and director David Burton Morris knew the audience they were trying to reach and took the most effective route to reach them. If we want the story told from our perspective it's up to us to tell it.

Any Mother's Son premieres on Lifetime Monday, Aug. 11, at 8 p.m., and encores Aug. 14, 8 p.m.; Aug. 17, 7 p.m.; Aug. 23, 7 p.m.; and Aug. 31 at 11 a.m.
In Chicago, the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network is hosting a reception 6-8 p.m. Monday, Aug. 11, with a screening of the film at 8 p.m. Dorothy Hajdys will be at the event, at the Chicago Public Library, 400 S. State. Call (202) 328-3244, sldn@sldn.org

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