Now I don’t want to date myself, but my age was in the single digits when Longtime Companion debuted in theaters. When I saw a clip labeled as “Rare Bob Vila outtake, This Old House, 1982”, I assumed it could actually be a clip of Bob Vila. I looked unsuccessfully for some sign that this was fake. There was no mention of the original film within the page or comments. Though I tried to do a bit of detective work regarding the video, some of you are accusing me of not doing research on our own history and culture.
“How illiterate does a gay blogger have to be regarding his own history to not even know about films like these?” wrote one commenter. “‘Longtime Companion’ is ‘apparently’…. Jeez… maybe if you spent more time learning about the culture that happened between Stonewall and the first time you got laid, this blog wouldn’t seem so freakin’ dumb.”
When I said
Longtime Companion was “apparently the first theatrical release to deal with AIDS”, I was only repeating what I read when I looked up the film. My usage of “apparently” was intended to indicate that I had
no idea if there was any truth in this designation. Obviously there wasn’t, considering that
Parting Glances came out
four years before
Longtime Companion (as this very same commenter noted) and
An Early Frost dealt with the topic in 1985. Do you know how much misinformation there must be out there that certain films are “the first” to deal with HIV/AIDS? Just check out the Wikipedia entries for all three of these films.
Now here’s where I have a problem. It’s utterly preposterous to imply I have no knowledge of the gay rights movement solely because I haven’t seen a few Hollywood films. I’ve gone out of the way to educate myself on the events that shaped our community, due to a lack of their inclusion in my schooling.
While I apologize to anyone who may have been offended by my ignorance of this film’s existence, I think we should all be a little more friendly when educating younger individuals within the community. I’m not going to lash out at someone twenty years from now just because they haven’t seen or heard of Milk, you know?
– Dewitt
dont let the trolls get to you dewitt. some people just like correcting others so they dont have to correct themselves.
Don’t feel bad, Dewitt. I’m almost 45, and I’m still learning a lot about gay history, and I’m a heavy-duty reader and started reading up on it when I came out more than 25 years ago. Modern films are only a small part of our history.
I didn’t recognize where the clip came from either. No big deal to me. On a side note, though, if you really have “no idea” whether or not something is true, labeling it as “apparently” seems a little strong. All of this is a nice reminder of how much misinformation is available on the internet. (Yes, even on Wikipedia!)
I would also like to add that the sheer number of people who feel that the anonymity of the internet allows them the license to be hateful, hypercritical or just plain rude is often astonishing.
Any time one of these persons encounters an error they leap on it as though pointing out someone else’s fallibilty somehow reinforces their own superiority.
Without taking anything away from Dewitt, Andy or anyone else at Manhunt daily, I don’t look to this site for anything more than amusement and titillation. I seriously doubt that any of the people who work on this site consider it to be a wellspring of gay history or even an amateur archive of the same.
The bottom line is that when you belittle a zebra for not being a racehorse, you look like an ass.
how do you know who bob villa is but not longtime companion? the timing seems off now.
I watched Longtime Companion when it was shown on PBS, and I cried like a baby. I don’t know how well it’s stood the test of time (it’s been years since I saw it last), but if you haven’t seen it, I would definitely recommend watching the movie.
As for the comments you received, I have not once seeen where you’ve claimed to be an expert on anything. I’ve been reading your posts for months now, and basically you seem to write about anything that catches your interest. You know, like a real human being.
It’s been said before, but I’ll say it again. If people are looking for hardcore queer activist content, there are (thankfully) many great sites out there. One of my favorites, which focuses mostly on politics, is Pam’s House Blend. But if people want something entertaining, interesting and occasionally extremely informative, I think you and Andy have done a great job making this a fun blog. 🙂
You go girl.
I think the amount of information you put on this blog is astounding, and to filter through everything would be impossible. You put up enough good information that I could care less if you make stupid mistakes every now and then.
DeTwitt, you’re still an idiot.
Dewitt, I wouldn’t take anything personally at all from some of these meatheads, with incredibly rude comments. I personally enjoy this blog site more than any other on the net to date, and find it entertaining, amusing and appropriately hilarious for what purpose “blogs” are meant to serve.
“Apparently” some of us commenting on here have no lives whatsoever and feel the need to post their two cents, when no one frankly gives a rats ass.
Keep up the good work guys!
For what it’s worth, although posters here may “seem” to be anonymous, my post included my email address (which this site hides from other users, but which is clearly available to the moderators). As the person who posted the original comment, I’m not “anonymous” to him.
I’m not concerned that Dewitt mistook the character in Longtime Companion for Bob Vila. I can even understand that he might not have seen the film, though I think as a matter of self-respect every gay person should have seen at least the major gay-themed releases. Considering how many porn stars and videos get mentioned in this blog, I think at least a fraction of the moderator’s viewing time should include important gay-themed films, even if it does require using a Netflix slot. I’m not concerned about his not knowing which film (LC vs PG) came first.
What I was belittling was his evident unfamiliarity with the film at all – I interpreted his “apparently…” comment to mean he had to look up the film to find out what it was. IF that were the case, it’s shameful. Even though it may not have been the first theatrical release to show the effects of the AIDS crisis, it certainly was the widest shown (to that point), and to not be at least familiar with it shows a kind of ignorance I can’t fathom for any person who comments on gay culture (which this blog is, in effect, all about). It would be akin to being a commenter on English literature without knowing of the existence of “A Tale of Two Cities”. Or someone who wrote a blog on cars and car culture who said “Corvette? Apparently, that is a sports car produced by Chevrolet.”
If I seemed peeved, it’s because it’s symptomatic of something I see across youth culture in general, that anything that happened before the youth of today were in their teens is of no consequence. Despite the enormity of information resources available today, with the internet providing the equivalent of tens of thousands of libraries, we’ve raised a generation of cultural know-nothings who know what kind of panties Lady GaGa wears but couldn’t tell you who Sarah Bernhardt or Maria Callas were.
well, it’s pretty obvious to me what needs to happen. dewitt just need to go away and never blog on here agian. I mean, sure, he posts the majority of the blogs. And yes, they’re a healthy balance of gay pop and political cultures… and well, there’s also a certain eloquence he uses when responding to criticism… not to mention the humor… light heartedness… libido awareness… capability to access countless sexy photos of all types of guys… who gives a fuck, right? he’s APPARENTLY an idiot and has no right to blog for people who clearly disapprove his posts. And yet.. continue to come back… to read… more… of his posts.
but… just… whatever… it doesnt matter… go to hell, Dewitt. You stupid ass hole. I hate your guts.
Kevin M:
as a young gay man, i deeply resent the comment you just made. frankly, when i came across the original posting, i had absolutely no idea who Bob Vila was, nor had i ever even heard of Longtime Companion until today. neither did my boyfriend, who i’ll freely admit knows more about things that happened before our time than i do. and if we haven’t heard of it, chances are lots more people haven’t heard of this film. and as far as your other references go, i’d be willing to wager that a fair number of people your age wouldn’t know who Maria Callas was either (personally i prefer Joan Sutherland).
i also don’t agree that all gays should see all the “major gay-themed releases” “as a matter of self-respect”. just because some of us haven’t seen some of the major movies which were released that dealt with gay issues doesn’t mean that we’re somehow less self-respecting. i am proud to call myself a gay man, though i bet that my lack of knowledge about gay movies would appall some people.
however, one thing to consider is that in our lifetimes there have been so many things that have helped to shape gay culture, from Rudy Galindo winning the world championships, to Neil Patrick Harris coming out of the closet and rocking out the Tony awards; from the success of Rent on Broadway and on film, to Harvey Milk’s political career becoming an award-winning film.
just because there is such a vast amount of information available on the internet doesn’t mean that we can be responsible for knowing everything. there are lots of events and films and songs and icons who have helped shape gay culture and culture in general that it’s silly to expect youth today to know of everything that happened before their time.
i’m sure when you were my age, people who were older than you were saying the same things about your generation. it may seem like all we care about is Gaga and her crazy outfits (which, you have to admit, are fabulous; though no one can touch Britney in my opinion), but the things that are important and that are able to stand the test of time will find a way to come back to the younger generation for them to learn about and experience like your generation did. you may not think it’s happening quickly enough, but eventually it will happen.
Well, I did want to take your gay card away, but since you’ve been including so many hot furry guys, I figured I’d forgive you this time.
Rafael Q honey, chill.