Monday, October 11, 2021

Cured (2021)


Coming out has never been an easy feat. Identifying to the LGBTQ+ community can provoke ignorance as well a loss of job opportunities, marriage equality, and health rights. As much of a struggle as it is today for many, great strides have been made to ensure that pride isn’t just an annual celebration in June – but a generational one that continues to unfold and grow stronger.

In the award winning documentary Cured, directors Patrick Sammon and Bennett Singer shine a light on the campaign that lessened the stigma of being gay, lesbian, bisexual, etc. In the first edition of “Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders,” the American Psychiatric Association listed homosexuality under mental illnesses – more specifically, sexual deviation.

Using their standard of what was ‘morally acceptable,’ it led the church to deem homosexuality a sin, a crime by the government, and as a neurotic disease by psychiatrists. With these motions in play, millions of individuals struggled with the shame of being found out, forced into inhuman cures and conversion ‘therapies’, and overall treated as second class citizens.
Nothing makes you sick like believing you are sick. - Ron Gold
Until activists and psychiatrists started to fight back. With archival photos and footage, the directors thread the line of multiple organizations rallying to remove homosexuality as a mental illness from its directive. Interviews with activists who experienced these events firsthand – Charles Silverstein, Rep Magora Kennedy, Barbara Gittings and her partner Kay Lahausen, Frank Kameny – further show the lengths of frustration, passion, and purpose to transform the ‘status quo.’ Their efforts as well as the influence of Dr. Kinsey and Evelyn Hooker's research to ratify liberation with demonstrations and shifting the public narrative of mental health with allies became a campaign to reform the APA. As more waves of freedom-forward activism for civil rights, women's rights, and against the Vietnam gained ground, and two decades of advocacy work around the United States, the APA made a landmark decision to finally remove homosexuality as a mental illness from its directive in 1973.

Cured delves into the voices who vied to be heard, as well as the surprising duality of psychiatrists using “scientific” diagnosis to provoke and solidify false claims of mental illness. The documentary takes its time to cover as much ground as possible in a chronological effort, weaving in the wide range of activists who were all charging towards the same cause. However, it can’t help at times to feel that the topic could be further explored at length in a docu-series. Still, the film curates a range of a powerful account from several leaders before they passed away and for those who are still fighting to be heard. Even though the community still faces challenges, the activists’ revolution remains an inspiring catalyst to create a more compassionate and accepting world.
If you want to call attention to an issue and you want to make a change, take it to the streets. - Rep. Magora Kennedy
In honor of National Coming Out Day on October 11th 2021, Cured will open PBS' Independent Lens series for the upcoming fall season on Monday night at 10:00 pm. This review was provided via a screener.

 ★★1/2☆

Friday, October 8, 2021

Thursday Movie Picks - Halloween Edition: School

Wandering Through the Shelves hosts Thursday Movie Picks. It's a weekly series where bloggers post and share various movie picks every Thursday. 

The rules are simple: based on the theme of the week pick three to five movies and tell us why you picked them. For further details and the schedule visit the series main page here.

This week's theme is Halloween Edition: School.

Wednesday, September 29, 2021

Black Widow (2021)


It's hard to believe that Black Widow was a central part of The Avengers team for almost ten years...and yet we learned so little about her. She wanted to wipe the red out of her ledger. Something happened in Budapest. She was forced to go under a hysterectomy under her 'training' in the Red Room, and was always cleaning up after the boys. Now, after her permanent demise in Avengers: Endgame, Marvel finally put through her own solo flick. It's a shame that we finally learn more about Natasha Romanoff, but that it feels too little, too late.

Set after Captain America: Civil War, Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson) teams up with her long lost sister Yelena (Florence Pugh) to take down the Red Room's mastermind Dreykov (Ray Winstone) and his number one assassin The Taskmaster (Olga Kurylenko). As SHEILD hunts Natasha down for overstepping The Accords, she'll have to confront the darkest parts of her past to finally clear her name with those who love her most.

Thursday, September 9, 2021

Thursday Movie Picks - Actors/Actresses Playing Themselves

 

Wandering Through the Shelves hosts Thursday Movie Picks. It's a weekly series where bloggers post and share various movie picks every Thursday. 

The rules are simple: based on the theme of the week pick three to five movies and tell us why you picked them. For further details and the schedule visit the series main page here.

This week's theme is Actors or Actresses Playing Themselves.

Wednesday, September 8, 2021

Quick Reviews: Shows I've Watched In Lockdown

For a while, it looked like we had a bit more hope for things to "return to normal." It seems like most people are going back to their regular lives. But since I live in Florida, I'm still very much on lockdown and squeezing in more shows than I did last year.

Below are my quick reviews of shows I've been watching lately - spoilers are included for  The Walking Dead, Loki, Ted Lasso, Russian Doll, Outlander.

Thursday, September 2, 2021

Thursday Movie Picks - Oscar Winners Edition: Best Original Score and Best Original Song

Wandering Through the Shelves hosts Thursday Movie Picks. It's a weekly series where bloggers post and share various movie picks every Thursday. 

The rules are simple: based on the theme of the week pick three to five movies and tell us why you picked them. For further details and the schedule visit the series main page here.

This week's theme is Oscar Winners Edition: Best Original Score and Best Original Song. 

Thursday, August 26, 2021

TMP - TMP Television Edition: Books You Want to be Adapted into a TV Series

Wandering Through the Shelves hosts Thursday Movie Picks. It's a weekly series where bloggers post and share various movie picks every Thursday. 

The rules are simple: based on the theme of the week pick three to five movies and tell us why you picked them. For further details and the schedule visit the series main page here.

This week's theme is TMP Television Edition: Books You Want to be Adapted into a TV Series. I accidentally posted this theme a couple of weeks ago for Book Adaptations. Woopsies!