Secret Sexuality

Homophobia results in drug and alcohol abuse, homelessness, and avoidance of career choices.

Is it okay to call someone a gay, queer, or faggot when you can’t call someone a chink, wog, or nigger?

Gays and lesbians are the most isolated, and unhappy students on any campus. They suffer verbal, psychological, and physical abuse everyday due to homophobia.

Homophobia is as big a global issue as racism, bullying, obesity, or any other horrendous issues that exist in the world. These concerning issues have different causes and consequences on people. But one thing that every issue has in common is the psychological consequences that come with it. Such as depression, isolation, or anxiety, that may later lead to suicide.

Homophobia is an issue that should never be tolerated anywhere in the world. Right now, however, the public doesn’t seem to think so. Homophobia is in the school playgrounds, hospitals, police stations, or even in your home.

Over the past decade, a lot of things have been done to change the public’s opinions. One such example is Harvey Milk. Thirty years ago or so, he became the first openly gay man to be elected as a member of the board of supervisors in San Francisco. He gave hope to millions of people all over the world and was known as a martyr for gay rights.

Today in 2011, the issue of homosexuality has come a long way since 20-30 years ago. Gays and lesbians have been more included in the media. The gay icon has been changed from Harvey Milk to Ellen Degeneres, the famous gay television host. The controversial gay marriage has also been declared legal in such countries as South Korea, Spain, and Canada.

However, the fact that countless people die each year due to gay-hate homicide will not be ignored. Homophobia is inarguably still an enormous global issue that destroys people’s lives and futures every day.

 “Mum, dad, I’m gay”. Try having this conversation with your parents and see how it will go down. Will unconditional love save you from getting kicked out of the house and getting thrown into the streets?

Twenty five percent of young homeless people are homeless as a result encountered after they disclosed their sexuality. What happens to the so-called unconditional love when a child needs it the most?

It is a crucial moment in a teen’s life when they decide to finally open up to someone they’ve known all their lives. After years and years of laying low and suffering silently by themselves, they hope telling someone will make them feel love and freedom for the first time.

And what do parents do when their son or daughter finally reveals the biggest secret of their life? They kick them out of the house, leaving them with no money whatsoever, and letting them rot in the streets. When a parent fails to provide support when their child needs it the most, what choices does that child have?

This is the reason why seventy percent of gay teens don’t tell their parents. Parents don’t accept their child for who they are. They just decide to finally stop loving the person they’ve loved the most all their life, for one reason, stereotype.

Stereotypes are passed from generations to generations. It’s a trend that doesn’t seem to be stopping. For this reason, gays and lesbians feel guilty for being who they are and what they are. They feel like they are doing the wrong thing when they are just clearly being themselves.

Parents brainwash the idea of stereotypes to their baby the moment they are born. They associate different colors with different genders, different objects with different genders, and different attitudes with different genders.

If homophobia can be resolved at all, it needs to start with parents. They need to love their child for who they are. They need to learn to be open minded, not stereotypical and close minded all the time.

Two-thirds of gay teens have support from their mother and half from their father. This is a terrifying statistic. If this issue is to gain resolution, a day will have to come when parents are able look beyond their child’s personal life choices and love them for who they are.

Over the past few years, schools have done a pretty good job dealing with racism. Right now, in school, however, it seems that racism will not be tolerated but homophobia will. Students need to be taught that homophobia is ‘uncool’ the same way racism is ‘uncool’.

Fifty nine percent of students perceived that teachers ignore incidences of discrimination against gay and lesbian students. This is a terrifying and unacceptable result. Teachers need to be more aware of homophobic behaviour at school.

Homophobic language such as queer, gay, or homo, should also be prohibited in school playgrounds. It is little insults like this that peers keep feeding to homosexual teenagers which may contribute to gay-hate homicide. It’s little things like the bumps and shoves and steely eyed stares that graduate into punches, kicks, beatings, and death threats.

Homophobia is a global issue affecting millions of lives all over the world. It violates people’s rights to safety. It destroys teenager’s futures. It’s a problem that leads teenagers into homelessness, alcohol and drug problems, avoidance of school subjects and career choices, and unsafe sex choices.

The dominant religion in the world, Christianity, followed by millions of followers, has a massive impact on resolving the issue of homosexuality. It affects the way people think and act and is a religion that appears to have connotations of prejudice written all over it. Coming from a religion that says God blesses us all; gays and lesbians will not be blessed.

Homosexuality is like the weather, it just is. The Society forces you to think it’s a choice, but it’s in one’s nature. From a religious point of view, if God had thought homosexuality is a sin, he would not have created gay people. If love is really between two people as they often say, why does gender matter?  After all, love is, and always will be, free. 

V for Vendetta movie review

Rating: 9.3/10

From the creators of The Matrix comes V for Vendetta, a highly acclaimed film starring Hugo Weaving and Natalie Portman. V for Vendetta follows the story of a mysterious masked freedom fighter known as V who uses terrorist tactics to fight against his totalitarian society. He sets out to destroy the parliament building with hopes of creating a revolution within his country.

I loved loved V for Vendetta. I loved every aspect of it; the theme, the directing, storyline, and acting. Throughout the film, we follow the journey of V as he tries to revolutionize his corrupted government. We see him give hope to the people, make the people stand for themselves, and teach them to live without fear.

It is such a privilege to do so. Behind his mask, V is an idea; an idea to make a change, an idea that says “alright that’s enough, I’m doing something to stop whatever is going on”. It is the character V that makes me love this film so much. His philosophy and reasoning behind why he is doing what he is doing is very intriguing.

Hugu Weaving portrays V with such style and substance. He makes V one of my favorite characters of all time. The character of V is the heart of this film. Everything that happens in the film happens because of him. Everyone the audience meets is everyone V meets. If V failed as a character, V for Vendetta would have failed as a film.

The reason why V didn’t fail as a character is not only because of Hugo Weaving’s great work but also the work of the writers, the Wachowski brothers. V is a mysterious character due to his past, philosophy, and his actions. His dialogues are incredibly brilliant, the words the writers use, and the way Hugo Weaving deliver them. As I mentioned before, the writers combined with Hugo Weaving’s spectacular performance make V one of my favorite characters of all time.

Natalie Portman is also incredible in this film. She represents the audience in a way. She meets V, unsure if he’s a good guy or a bad guy. Then she falls in love with him, like I did. Her performance is amazing. She has to do everything an actor has to do I this film; cry, laugh, get scared, etc. and she did everything perfectly.

James McTeigue, the assistant director of The Matrix, directed V for Vendetta and he did such an astounding job. The way he directed the action sequences are incredibly well done. They are very similar to The Matrix in a way. Instead of the slow motion bullets we have the slow motion blades. But hey, I’m not complaining. The Matrix is awesome.

The world of a futuristic Britain is also wonderful. The way the whole film looks is just incredible; the dark cinematography of the film. It makes you think that wherever the movie is set in, it is not safe. It is dangerous and corrupted. Well done to the cinematographers.

The pacing of this film is also perfect. The audience gets just the right amount of action and dialogue. Just as I felt there was too much conversation and information going on in the middle of the film, a scene with V comes on, and I was interested again. I didn’t once feel bored during this film, I was captivated by the story the whole time. The story just drew me in.

 Another thing that loved about V for Vendetta is the themes and messages the film was sending through V. Such fascinating ideas and concepts were made from the character of V, mainly from his philosophy. The idea of having him wear a mask not only makes him mysterious but creates a great theme in the movie; that it doesn’t matter who we are, or how we look, it’s about what we are.

The idea of V standing up for the whole nation is also fascinating. He is a normal human being that decides to do something against whatever is going on. It takes one person to stand up, and the other hundreds or thousands to follow him. V is that one person. V cannot tolerate being a prisoner in this society anymore. He has had enough.

He is an idea. He then passes on the idea on other people. Then that idea transforms into action. He teaches us that sometimes something ludicrous such as chaos has to happen in order for people to realize the idea of change. He teaches us that sometimes one person has to stand up and say “I have had enough”. Everything he does in the film is a major wake up call for everyone around him.

This is the second time I have watched V for Vendetta. It’s a film that grows on you. I have picked up a lot of things in this second viewing. I didn’t care very much the first time I watched it. But now I love the film. I love everything about it. I love a film with great themes and messages and V for Vendetta is definitely one of those films.

I recommend everyone to watch this film. The acting is brilliant, directing is brilliant, writing is brilliant. It’s a good fun 2 hour action pack film. It is also a thought provoking film that will stick with you for a long time. It’s similar to The Matrix in a lot of ways. Every time you watch it, you will learn new things. Remember Remember, The fifth of November.

The Matrix message/theme

Spirituality and the quest for human meaning

Is it what we see, touch, and feel that defines reality? For all we know, the reality we live in could be a program engineered by computers that have taken control over humanity. So how do we define reality and illusion?

This is the idea and concept that The Matrix toys with the audience and revolves around. It’s a concept that brings up more questions. Questions such as, can we trust out perceptions? Is it better to live in ignorance or awaken to the truth? Do we really have choices in life or are we programmed?

The Matrix is a highly praised and acclaimed 1999 Oscar winning film directed by the Wachowski brothers. It’s a fun 2 hour sci-fi action flick, however, it is much more than that. It is philosophy, religion, mythology, and theology. The Matrix follows the story of a man searching for purpose and meaning in life. It is not, however, about the result of the outcome but rather the journey and transformation that gets him there.

So, “What is the Matrix?” This is the question that we, humans, seek in our life and it is this question that transforms Neo into “The One”. Neo is not pleased with his life. He feels as if he is restrained by rules that will not let him reach his full potential.

It is this question that drives him throughout the film; drives him to fulfill the emptiness of his life, drives him to keep coming back and wanting to know more. It is also the question that we, the audience, ask ourselves before, during, and after the film.

The Matrix teaches us that there are no limits, there are no rules, and that anything can happen, if only you believe in yourself. There is, of course, evidence of this message and theme throughout the film. The first evidence is when Neo is first tested by Morpheus, he was required to jump from one building to another.

He failed of course and it was because he didn’t believe in himself. He didn’t believe he was The One, nor did he believe he could bend a spoon. He didn’t realize that he is not changing the spoon, he is changing himself. He doesn’t believe. When he does believe however, he realizes that he can do anything. He could defeat Morpheus in a fight or even move as fast as the machines.

Let’s go back to the idea of “Do we really have choices in our life”. When Neo first encounters The Oracle, he says “I’m not that one”. So who says he’s not the one? The Oracle? No, Neo says he is not the one. He doesn’t believe. Neo has listened to a man who convincingly believes he is The One, but he himself doesn’t believe.

What I understood from that scene is that you are in control of your life. No one can make decisions for you, just as Neo had the choice to pick either the red pill or the blue pill. People around you, however, can guide you and show you the path.

For example, The Oracle didn’t tell Neo the future. She instead told him what he needed to hear, something that would force him to make a choice and that choice, alone, is what will really determine if Neo is The One or not. It is the decisions and choices one makes that will determine his fate.

Neo represents each and every one of us; empty and looking for something that would fulfill that emptiness. The Oracle, Morpheaus, Trinity, Cypher, or Agent Smith represent people around you. Some will guide you. Some will believe in you. Some will love you. Some will betray you and some will try to stop you from achieving anything in life.

This message and theme I have spoken about is only one of the many messages in The Matrix. The idea of reality and illusion in The Matrix touches on the teachings of such religions as Gnosticism, Hinduism, and Buddhism. Neo, an anagram of “One”, is also believed to be a Christ like figure.

The Matrix is a film that will not only give you answers in life, but will raise questions. It will ask us a question like what are we looking for in life? Why are we here? What is stopping us from reaching our full potential? It is a film that touches on the reasonings why humans do what they do.

It is a film that makes mythology relevant in a modern context. The directors and writers achieved this by setting the film in a futuristic world, writing an intriguing plot, directing cool action sequences, and creating well written and memorable characters. It achieves all that with style by the perfect direction and writing of the Wachowski brothers.

It is not only a film that has great messages but also a film that I had fun watching. The Matrix is a film that will stick in the audience’s mind forever and whenever they watch it, they will always want to investigate their life.

Blue Valentine movie review

Rating: 8.5/10

I have been meaning to see Blue Valentine for a while since I missed it in theaters in 2010. So here I am checking it out on DVD. It got positive reviews and was nominated for one Oscar. I heard it is super depressing and one of the best movies of 2010. I have high expectations for Blue Valentine and hope it will bring me to tears.

So, Blue Valentine stars Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams as a young couple struggling to save their marriage. In the film, we basically see how their relationship just crumbles to pieces. This film is nothing else but pure drama. It’s 2 hours of nothing but drama. If you don’t like slow films, this might not be the film for you. Fortunately for me, I have no problems with slow films.

What I have to say about this film is that it is not a movie where you would watch with a couple of mates and have fun with. However, it is a film in which you should see at least once in your life. It is a great film and I absolutely loved it.

The main reason I loved this film is how real this film is. The chemistry between the actors is real. The story is real. Everything that happens throughout the film is very realistic. We see this couple go through their everyday life for two hours. We see them fight, make love, kiss, and argue. We see them buy groceries, go to their kid’s school concert, and go to a cheap sex motel.

We see their marriage slowly falling apart and it is so depressing to see that happen. They fight about very small and stupid things and we, the audience, are always a part of it. We are a part of the whole journey the couple goes through; the day they first met to the day their marriage ends. That is what makes this film so depressing.

Almost every scene in Blue Valentine is depressing. The sex scene is depressing and incredibly uncomfortable to watch. That scene is directed perfectly by director Derek Cianfrance. It just shows how troubled their relationship is. Even the happy scenes in the film are sad. When I’m talking about happy scenes in the film, I’m talking about scenes in the past when they were happy and young.

It’s such an interesting concept to see the first days of their relationship, how happy they were together, and to see the last days of their relationship. One could only imagine what happens in the middle of their relationship. So, kudos to the writers for keeping me interested in the film the whole two hours.

It’s also in interesting idea to make the audience feel uber depressed. When you show a happy scene in the past, when you know what happens in the present, it just makes you feel so sorry for them. You are happy and sad at the same time. This is why I think Blue Valentine depicts the idea of love so well and this is due to the incredible writers.

This film is driven by two powerful performances; Michelle Williams and Ryan Gosling. They are one of the best up and coming actors today and they brought their A game to this movie. They are one of the most realistic couples I have seen on screen. Their chemistry as young lovers and a young couple is so great. Without their performances, Blue Valentine wouldn’t have been as powerful as it was.

The director Derek Cianfrance did a fantastic job with this film. The camera work in this film is very slow and depicts the depressing tone of the film very well. The cinematography of the film also plays a major role in the film’s success. This film is very dull and boring looking. It is dark. It just portrays the dull and hopeless relationship of the couple perfectly.

The way the past and present scenes are very well done. In the past scenes, the color of the film is clearly brighter. While in the present scenes, it is often dark thus making the film really depressing. We also see Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams in the same frame a lot while in the present scenes, we don’t. It’s such a clever idea by the director to see the distance between the two in their relationship.

I only have one problem with the film; the ending. It was too ambiguous for my taste. I just wished they would conclude the film a little better. However, I could not imagine what they could do with the ending to satisfy me as a viewer. This ending is far from bad, it is very symbolic. But as an audience, I want to know what happened to them. So, that’s my only complaint for the movie. When a complaint is not even a constructive one, it just shows how great a movie Blue Valentine is.

Blue Valentine very well directed, written, and acted. It is one of the best films of 2010. I loved the film and am sure you will too. It had such an impact on me. The film shows how pain of an arse a relationship or a marriage can be; how one decision you make in life can come back and destroy you. It depicts the concept of love and young marriage very well.

I will say this, Blue Valentine is not for everyone. It is two hours of pure drama, nothing less nothing more. But I would say that it is a movie where you need to see at least once just for the brilliance of it. If you don’t mind being depressed for 1 or two days after the movie, put in Blue Valentine and you will realize how effective and powerful the movie is.

Jeepers Creepers movie review

Rating: 5.5/10

Jeepers Creepers follows the story of a brother and sister who is on their way home to see their mum.  They encounter a mysterious person or creature in the isolated countryside. The story takes off from there.  It’s a mouse and cat game between them and the creeper. (I’m just gonna call him/it the creeper from now on)

I didn’t really expect anything great from this film. I knew it wasn’t going to be great just by seeing the DVD cover of the film. I was just looking for a way to waste my time and have fun with a movie for an hour and a half or so.

And Jeepers Creepers certainly did that for me. It wasn’t great. But it was a good time. I had fun with it. Although I didn’t really get scared, the film has some potential. The acting was pretty good. The film was not trying to be clichéd. The story was also pretty good.

20 minutes into this movie, it was great. We didn’t know what The Creeper was, he is all mysterious and scary. The truck he drives is definitely scary. The filmmakers did a great job at creating a sense of mystery.The point where the film just didn’t do it for me was when it showed the face of The Creeper. I’m sorry but The Creeper is not creepy. It’s a funny and weird looking thing.

This film tried not to be clichéd most of the time and the characters addressed the clichéd moments in the film for us. I appreciated that. I like it when a film tries not to be clichéd. The concept of the film is already clichéd so clichéd moments would totally ruin the movie for me. There were however some clichéd moments such as car wouldn’t start, The Creeper doesn’t die etc. But I wasn’t really bothered by them.

One thing I liked about this film was the main characters in the film. Justin Long and Gina Phillips did a great job portraying their characters. I found myself feeling for their characters and rooting for them the whole time. But sometimes they do really dumb and silly stuff that get them in deep trouble. You don’t root for something like that, you laugh.

This movie is a scary movie and it didn’t scare me at all. After they showed us The Creeper, I just lost all sense of being scared. Especially when the brother and sister kept running their car over it and it wouldn’t die. That’s the point where I stopped caring about the film. It didn’t make me think The Creeper is scary. It made me think that the writer made him look scary by not dying so they would have another 15 minutes in their film.

As the credits started rolling, I was like “Okay, this is where the movie ends.” I just felt like it was pointless. The point of a scary movie is to make people scared and when it doesn’t make you scared the movie just won’t do it for you. I however felt for the characters as the credits started rolling. I really cared for them. So I guess that’s well done on their part.

The fact still stands, this movie is not scary. The story was weak and story is really important in a scary movie. But it is a good way to kill a couple of hours. If you have nothing to do and bored to death, put Jeepers Creepers on and you will have fun with it. If not, don’t watch it. If you want to watch a scary movie, watch The Ring or something. Then, you will be truly scared. Jeepers Creepers is an average C grade scary movie that had some potential but failed at its main component.

The Expendables movie review

Rating: 7/10

The Expendables follows the story of a team of mercenaries who is given an assignment to take out a corrupt military leader and a rogue CIA operative on a Latin American island. It stars Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Jet Li, Eric Roberts, Dolph Lundgren, Steve Austin, and David Zayas.

What really drew me in about this film is the actors involved in this film. I mean, these are all action legends. I expected a lot from this film. I expected it to be an old style action movie, filled with action sequences and a good storyline. No CGI or shaky cam. After I finished the film, I realized that my expectations were a little too high. However, I enjoyed the film nonetheless.

The action sequences in this film are quite well done. But I expected them to be a little better. I think the editing is not executed very well. There were so many cuts I could barely understand what’s going on. I say, the action sequences are fun and exciting. But the way it was executed was average at best.

The story of this film is quite straightforward. That is action, action, and action. There were a few interesting storylines but most of the time it was just all action. And I’m not saying that’s a bad thing. Action is good. It’s fun. I guess I just expected a little more emotion from this film and I didn’t get that.

There’s really nothing special or bad to be said about the actors in this film. They all do what they do best in this film; fight. To see those legend action stars fight together and against each other was the main thing I liked about this film. These actors’ presence really set a mood and tone for the film.

Now comes the part where I tell you what I didn’t like about the film; the fricking CGI. Sylvester Stallone is the director of this film. I thought him, out of all people, would know how shitty it is to have bad CGI in your film. I thought he would try to make it as real as possible. The CGI in this film is terrible and the explosions are terrible.

I expected a classic action movie but I got a fun action packed movie. I guess that’s win-win for me. The directing is not that great, actions sequences aren’t that great, acting is nothing special, story is nothing special. I say, The Expendables is an average action movie.

My expectations were clearly too high for this film. Come to think of it, what kind of film would I expect these actors to collaborate in? And it clearly is not a film where there’s lots of emotion or crying. It would not be inspirational. It would be a bloody fun film where you would have fun.

The Expendables really did that for me. I had fun watching it. So I say, buy it on DVD or catch it on TV. Watch it with a couple of mates and you will have fun with it. Do not expect a film with good story or acting. Go in there and expect an action-packed movie and you will have fun with it. Cheers.

The fourth kind movie review

Rating: 5/10

The fourth Kind follows the story of a psychiatrist, Abby Tyler who is trying to find a cause behind the extraordinary number of unexplained disappearances during the past 40 years in Nome, Alaska. The film claims the story is based on real events and uses real footage of Abby Tyler’s psychiatry sessions of her traumatized patients, including an interview with the real Dr. Tyler.

 I didn’t really care if the film was going to turn out great or not. I don’t really mind a B grade scary movie. What really intrigues me about this film is that it is supposedly based on a true story. It uses real footage to create realism and I thought it was a pretty smart idea. Going in to this movie, it was like as if I expected to see a documentary on real events.

10 minutes into this film, I was still intrigued by the story of the film. But then, after time passed, I realized that the story is fake and all bullshit. I felt a sense of betrayal by the filmmakers watching the film. So I thought, alright I will watch this film as a film. It lost the one thing that kept me interested the whole time, the fact that it is based on real events.

When I watched this film as a film, it just sucked. The story just got a whole lot sillier and more ridiculous. I don’t know what the filmmakers were thinking making this film. I find it hard to believe that they expected the audience to believe the story is true. This is a scary movie and it did not scare me at all. It even made me laugh at times due to the silliness of the script.

I was terrified a little when I thought the film was real and the people were real. I kept thinking that it was real people and that scared me a little. But when I realized it was fake, the story just sucks. The story didn’t scare me and it lost the reason I watched the film. So it’s kind of a lose-lose situation.

The acting in this film is not the problem. The problem is the filmmakers involved in making this film. They are dumb and stupid. It was not cool at all to use such a sad tragedy that really happened and make it a scary movie. It’s a real insult to the families of the real missing persons in Nome, Alaska. It’s also an insult to the audience. I felt like I was bitchslapped watching this movie.

I say, do not watch this film. It is not a good horror film and it is not based on real events. The real footage that was supposed to be real was not real. It just shows you how dumb the filmmakers think we, the audience, are. This film is a disgrace.