Video: Hetero growing up in a homo world.

Haven't got time to watch it at the moment, but it sounds a bit like The Homophobia Project, which I was shown in school.

 

Great video. The unfortunate part is that the people watching videos like these are usually the ones affected by those issues, not the people who need to be sensitized to those issues.

 

true lol

omg, there's some people on that youtube video starting war again...

AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

 

This is so difficult to watch...

 

Massive trigger warning for self-harm and suicide. I used to be on the selection panel for the youth section of the Melbourne Queer Film Festival, and we reviewed this last year. I got to the end of the film and noped right the fuck out of the room.

The other issue I have with it is that many homophobic people wouldn't see the comparison, but would think more along the lines of "if we let gay people have families, the world will end up like this and normal people like me will be bullied to death".

 

the problem is that people have been saying that stuff like this could happen if queer people get equality for years, so stuff like this could easily be used for that argument

 

This video is a neat idea, but it reminds me why I like pro-gay messages that focus on happy, humanizing portrayals of gay people.

I feel a little embarrassed when pro-gay messages focus on suffering and torture, they always seem to overdo it just a tad. This video has like epic, Mommy-Dearest levels of suffering and torture.

 

I think I may come off as an ass for writing this, but for the record I cried. I cried mostly because this movie brought up some bad memories. However, I can't really stand behind this film.

I understand the intent. The goal is to show straight people what bigotry looks like head on. The film is wonderfully done, the acting is fantastic, and it's wonderfully edited. The pacing is great.

However, it's not the intent that matters. It's perception. So, that's what I want to talk about here, the perceptions that are drawn from this film.

First, there is the very obvious problem that it plays right into gay panic. Yes, there are completely idiotic and irrational people out there who are going to view this film and see it as some idealized gay dystopian future.

The intent of the film may be obvious, but it does not erase the story unfolding on the screen. It's a world where gay people have taken over and are actively oppressing and abusing straight people. There are a great number of people out there across the world who believe this is our actual goal.

Second, there is a subtext here that is unsettling to me. The subtext basically says that straight people feel more empathy toward other straight people than toward gay people. Therefore, the only way to reach them is to make a straight person the center of the story.

This actually brings me to my third and final point. The film is all about straight people. Take a moment to think about this. These are *OUR* stories, *OUR* struggles, and *OUR* suffering. It has been stripped away from us, and has made the story entirely about straight people.

I know you may be reading this and want to object. However, take a moment to *REALLY* let that sink in.

Imagine for a moment, you want to make a film about racism and slavery in the American South. However, you feel that white people are incapable of empathizing with black people. So, for your film you cast the white people as the slaves and the black people as the slave owners. Then you treat your audience to black people abusing white people, with the intent of showing white people just how bad it was to be a slave.

Take a moment and let the mental image of black slave owners oppressing white slaves to sink in... and realize this is exactly what just happened to us.

This film takes our stories, our struggles, and our suffering and gives it to a straight character. It creates a world where straight people are the victims, and gay people are their oppressors.

I realize the intent of this film was a good one. However, there is no good reason that the main character in this film couldn't be a lesbian. There is no good reason that the film couldn't tell the same exact story, but instead reflect the real world as it truly is for most LGBT people across the planet. The only excuse that can be given is that it wouldn't impact straight people as deeply, but I give straight people more credit than that.

I mean no ill toward those behind the film. I know their heart was in the right place, but unfortunately I think the perception the film generates marred the noble intent.

 

why do people only care when its a story about straight people? this has actually been happening to queer kids since forever.

 

:eusa_clap

 

Holy hell, I missed that. You're totally right.

One thing that made this video embarrassing for me to watch was seeing some of my own painful experiences being played up for tragedy in front of a straight audience.

 

I disagree with that conclusion. If anyone's mind was changed due to watching this film, and I certainly hope some people were swayed; it's not because the main character is straight. It's because of the struggles that the main character faced.

I'm a white cisgendered male who happens to be gay. I don't know what it's like to be black, a woman, or someone who is trans. Yet, that does not prevent me from listening to their stories and empathizing with them. And let's be clear, they have stories and those stories are their own. Cutting them out of those stories, and casting them in the role of the very people who oppress them while making their oppressors the victims would be - and should be - insulting.

We, as gay people, deserve to be the center of our own stories. Unless a straight person is a psychopath (and thus incapable of feeling empathy), there is no discernible reason for using a switcheroo to help them empathize. I give straight people more credit than that, and believe that anyone who changed their mind as a result of this film would have been equally moved if the main character were a lesbian.

 

Oh god this made me cry. Well done though.

 

I've seen this video too! Really well-done and mind-blowing

 

I was just about to post this after seeing this on Facebook! I cried so much near the ending, this is so emotional

 

We're able to see the pain in this video because we can relate to these situations. Unfortunately, I doubt it has the desired effects on few heterosexual individuals that are watching.