Windy City Media Group Frontpage News

THE VOICE OF CHICAGO'S GAY, LESBIAN, BI, TRANS AND QUEER COMMUNITY SINCE 1985

home search facebook twitter join
Gay News Sponsor Windy City Times 2023-12-13
DOWNLOAD ISSUE
Donate

Sponsor
Sponsor
Sponsor

  WINDY CITY TIMES

Knight at the Movies: Valentine Road; We Are What We Are; notes
by Richard Knight, Jr., for Windy City Times
2013-10-09

This article shared 6000 times since Wed Oct 9, 2013
facebook twitter pin it google +1 reddit email


On the morning of July 12, 2008, at approximately 8:15 a.m. while sitting in class at the E O. Green Junior High School in Oxnard, Calif., 14-year-old Brandon McInerney pulled a .22-caliber revolver out of his backpack and shot another student in the back of the head. McInerney dropped the gun, walked out of the school and was apprehended by authorities just blocks away fewer than 10 minutes later. His victim, 15-year-old Larry King, died within two days and was buried in a cemetery on Valentine Road—which provides the ironic name for Marta Cunningham's extraordinary documentary debut feature about the tragedy.

It's ironic because two days before the shooting King approached McInerney at school and asked him, in front of several of his friends, to be his valentine. That wasn't the first time the openly gay King had publicly verbalized his attraction to McInerney, who was straight and the embarrassment of being the object of a same-sex attraction—in particular by a boy who also used make-up and wore female clothing to school—was widely seen as the motive for the killing.

In Cunningham's film—which debuted Oct. 7 on HBO and which will be broadcast throughout the month—King's declaration and, even more, his burgeoning acceptance and public display of his transgender status, are seen as just cause for McInerney to end his life. Time and time again, the movie gives those involved—teachers, jurors, attorneys, family, and friends—a platform upon which they hang themselves by almost eagerly revealing their deeply ingrained prejudices toward King's behavior and deride his insistence on being his true self. Never have I seen a film that is a more telling example of the "blame the victim" mentality.

Cunningham's film is filled with dozens of moments that leave one enraged at the vile insidiousness of prejudice and the justification for violence done in its name. It's never in doubt that the diminutive King—an adopted child whose hardscrabble life finally found a measure of peace and acceptance when he was placed in a group home for troubled youth—was the tragic victim of a hate crime.

However, the reasons for that crime by its perpetrator—who also came from an extremely troubled background—and the larger, complex questions surrounding social and institutional attitudes toward sexual minorities, gun violence and the judicial process are also explored in Cunningham's remarkable film. Its horrifying clear in the unforgettable Valentine Road, a deeply thought-provoking documentary, that McInerney's heinous crime had consequences far beyond the ultimate one suffered by his unfortunate victim. http://www.hbo.com/documentaries/valentine-road

Briefly noted: Director Jim Mickle's We Are What We Are, opening this Friday at the Music Box Theatre, 3733 N. Southport Ave., is another welcome entry in the ongoing revival of horror movies that relies on character and setting rather than shock and gore to chill audiences to the marrow. No one seems to think it odd that so many young women have gone missing and no one seems to connect their disappearances with the elusive Parker clan. But during a period of unending rain, accompanied by flooding of the area's waterways, pieces of evidence surface that suggest that the Parkers are a lot more than the pious, churchy folk they seem to be.

The death of Mrs. Parker in what appears to be a drowning ( but is actually something much more sinister ) especially piques the curiosity of the local forensics expert whose own daughter went missing years before. It won't be long before various outsiders will attempt to pierce the shroud of mystery surrounding the family that is headed by a stern patriarch ( Bill Sage, who was so memorable as the child molester in Mysterious Skin ).

Mickle's film is a moody, slow-building remake of a 2010 Mexican movie that gives away the family secret long before it reaches its horrific conclusion but that's not necessarily a bad thing in this gorgeously shot and scored picture which envelopes the audience in its dark, rain soaked landscape from beginning to end. And there are some twists in the last half hour which are both surprising and may just satisfy gore fans to boot. Michael Parks is wonderful as the suspicious pathologist while Julia Garner and Ambyr Childers are preternaturally beautiful and eerie as the teenage Parker girls, charged by their unyielding father with continuing the family "traditions." Out actor Kelly McGillis has a small but telling part as a kindly neighbor. www.musicboxtheatre.com

Film notes:

—A day of Halloween movies: If it's October, it must be time for horror-movie marathons. The first up is The Massacre which is being held at the Patio Theater, 6008 W. Irving Park Rd., and starts Saturday, Oct. 12, at 11 a.m. ( A second 24-hour horror marathon is being held on Saturday, Oct. 19, at the Music Box; there'll be details on that line-up in next week's column. )

Highlights of The Massacre include a great assortment of old and new creepy classics and schlock masterpieces—Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man, Hellraiser II, Army of Darkness, April Fool's Day and Slither, among them. The fest also includes a rare screening of 1985's Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge with a big bonus: Mark Patton, the openly gay, HIV-positive star of the film ( see my interview with him in this issue ) will be on hand for a post-screening Q&A, and sign autographs and pose for photos with fans. The Massacre includes vendor tables, prizes, a live charity auction for Vital Bridges and more. https://www.facebook.com/events/490868644336874/

—Chicago home-movie day: All Chicagoans are invited to dig out the best of their Super 8 home movies—beloved records of family and cultural occasions—and bring these celluloid histories to the Chicago History Museum ( 1601 N. North Ave. ) on Saturday, Oct. 19. From 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., members of the Northwest Chicago Film Society, which sponsors this annual event ( this is the third ) will inspect your films, project them and offer tips on preservation and how to transfer them. This year's attendees will also get to participate in Home Movie Day Bingo which features an assortment of prizes donated by local film organizations like the Gene Siskel Film Center and Chicago Filmmakers. Admission is free. http://www.chicagofilmarchives.org/current-events/chicago-home-movie-day-2013

—DVD of note: Laurence Anyways, from out writer-director French Canadian wunderkind Xavier Dolan, is out on DVD from Breaking Glass Pictures. Dolan's nearly three-hour story is the story of a French schoolteacher and the impact his transition to becoming female has on his relationship with his fiery girlfriend ( portrayed by Suzanne Clement in a career-altering performance ). Dolan's movie, epically scaled from 1989 through the mid-'90s ( the soundtrack and fashions are spot-on ) really gets at the heart of the emotional challenges facing both the person desperately needing to transition and the conflicts faced by their loved ones. Heartfelt, messy, filled with genuine emotional insight, Dolan's movie is a marvel. bgpics.com/


This article shared 6000 times since Wed Oct 9, 2013
facebook twitter pin it google +1 reddit email

Out and Aging
Presented By

  ARTICLES YOU MIGHT LIKE

Gay News

SHOWBIZ Lady Gaga, 'P-Valley,' Wendy Williams, Luke Evans, 'Queer Eye,' 'Transition' 2024-03-15
- Lady Gaga came to the defense of Dylan Mulvaney after a post with the trans influencer/activist for International Women's Day received hateful responses, People Magazine noted. On Instagram, Gaga stated, "It's appalling to me that a ...


Gay News

SHOWBIZ Jinkx Monsoon, Xavier Dolan, 'Frida,' Lena Waithe, out singer 2024-03-08
- Two-time RuPaul's Drag Race winner Jinkx Monsoon is headed back to the New York stage, joining off-Broadway's Little Shop of Horrors as Audrey beginning April 2, according to Playbill. The casting makes Monsoon the first drag ...


Gay News

SHOWBIZ Queer actors, icons duet, Hunter Schafer, Oscars, Elizabeth Taylor 2024-03-01
- Queer actor Kal Penn is set to star in Trust Me, I'm a Doctor—a film that chronicles the final days of actress/model Anna Nicole Smith, whose overdose death in 2007 at age 39 sparked a tabloid ...


Gay News

Dorian Film Awards: 'All of Us Strangers' takes top prizes 2024-02-27
- February 26, 2024 - Los Angeles, Ca. - For its 15th Dorian Film Awards, GALECA: The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics fully embraced All of Us Strangers, writer-director Andrew Haigh's fantastical and tear-inducing tale of two ...


Gay News

SAG Awards honor Streisand, few LGBTQ+ actors 2024-02-25
- Queer entertainers made their mark—although not a major one—at the 2024 Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards, held Feb. 24 in Los Angeles. The event was live-streamed on Netflix for the first time. Indigenous and Two-Spirit actor ...


Gay News

WORLD Caribbean ruling, Pussy Riot, Russian raid, Canadian warning, anti-trans bar 2024-02-23
- The top court in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines dismissed a challenge to colonial-era anti-gay laws, Reuters reported. Javin Johnson and Sean Macleish—two gay men who had pushed to decriminalize ...


Gay News

SHOWBIZ Kristen Stewart, Rock Hudson, Talia Keys, 'True Detective,' Marvel comic 2024-02-23
- At the Berlin Film Festival, Kristen Stewart defended her photo shoot for a Rolling Stone magazine cover that went viral and divided audiences on social-media platforms, per The Hollywood Reporter. "The existence of a female body ...


Gay News

Second Glance Productions hosts LGBTQupid Soiree 2024-02-16
- In celebration of Valentine's Day, Chicago based film and media production company Second Glance hosted The LBGTQupid Soiree. The event, which was focused on spinning attitudes on this particular day, was presented at The iO ...


Gay News

SHOWBIZ Elton John, Hannah Gadsby, video game, Jennifer Lopez, queer thriller 2024-02-16
Video below - Sir Elton John has sold his Atlanta home and is now auctioning off more than 900 of his personal items that were kept in the 13,500-square-foot condo, The Daily Mail noted. The massive collection includes rare ...


Gay News

GALECA announces nominees for the Dorian Film Awards 2024-02-07
--From a press release - Feb. 5, 2024 - GALECA: The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics, consisting of over 500 entertainment critics, journalists and media icons, today announced the group's democratically chosen nominees for its 15th Dorian Film Awards. All of ...


Gay News

SHOWBIZ JoJo Siwa, Tom Holland, Bowen Yang, Pet Shop Boys, Mariah Carey 2024-02-02
- In the wake of Nigel Lythgoe exiting So You Think You Can Dance, queer personality JoJo Siwa is returning to the series, per Deadline. Siwa, who was a judge on season 17 of the Fox show, will replace Lythgoe, who left ...


Gay News

Leather Archives & Museum announces 2024 Fetish Film Forum 2024-01-27
--From a press release - CHICAGO, Illinois—After a wildly successful inaugural year, including a 10-film series at the Leather Archives & Museum and a 5-film series at FACETS, the Leather Archives & Museum is thrilled to announce the continuation of Fetish ...


Gay News

SHOWBIZ Sundance items, Green Day, 'Wednesday,' Queerties, 'The Wiz' 2024-01-26
- At the Sundance Film Festival, Jodie Foster told Variety that the $1.4-billion success of Barbie helps confirm that Hollywood no longer views women directors as too much of a risk. She said, "With a big success ...


Gay News

WORLD Arrest in Brazil, athlete dies, Ghana attack, World Economic Forum 2024-01-26
- A 30-year-old man was arrested in Brazil on Jan. 18 for his alleged role in the stabbing murder of prominent NYC art dealer Brent Sikkema, Gay City News reported. Authorities took Cuban resident Alejandro Triana Trevez ...


Gay News

OSCARS Gladstone, Domingo receive nominations 2024-01-23
- LGBTQ+ actors Lily Gladstone and Colman Domingo were among those receiving Oscar nominations when they were announced Jan. 23. Gladstone received a Best Actress nod for her role in the Martin Scorsese-directed Killers of the Flower ...


 


Copyright © 2024 Windy City Media Group. All rights reserved.
Reprint by permission only. PDFs for back issues are downloadable from
our online archives.

Return postage must accompany all manuscripts, drawings, and
photographs submitted if they are to be returned, and no
responsibility may be assumed for unsolicited materials.

All rights to letters, art and photos sent to Nightspots
(Chicago GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times (a Chicago
Gay and Lesbian News and Feature Publication) will be treated
as unconditionally assigned for publication purposes and as such,
subject to editing and comment. The opinions expressed by the
columnists, cartoonists, letter writers, and commentators are
their own and do not necessarily reflect the position of Nightspots
(Chicago GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times (a Chicago Gay,
Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender News and Feature Publication).

The appearance of a name, image or photo of a person or group in
Nightspots (Chicago GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times
(a Chicago Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender News and Feature
Publication) does not indicate the sexual orientation of such
individuals or groups. While we encourage readers to support the
advertisers who make this newspaper possible, Nightspots (Chicago
GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times (a Chicago Gay, Lesbian
News and Feature Publication) cannot accept responsibility for
any advertising claims or promotions.

 
 

TRENDINGBREAKINGPHOTOS







Sponsor


 



Donate


About WCMG      Contact Us      Online Front  Page      Windy City  Times      Nightspots
Identity      BLACKlines      En La Vida      Archives      Advanced Search     
Windy City Queercast      Queercast Archives     
Press  Releases      Join WCMG  Email List      Email Blast      Blogs     
Upcoming Events      Todays Events      Ongoing Events      Bar Guide      Community Groups      In Memoriam     
Privacy Policy     

Windy City Media Group publishes Windy City Times,
The Bi-Weekly Voice of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Trans Community.
5315 N. Clark St. #192, Chicago, IL 60640-2113 • PH (773) 871-7610 • FAX (773) 871-7609.