The World Beyond BetterMost > The Culture Tent
Man in an Orange Shirt
milomorris:
--- Quote from: brian on September 19, 2017, 05:53:35 am ---I have just finished watching MIAOS again although this time in 2 parts, the first was nearly a week go. It was good to notice somethings in the movie that I missed the first time especially when you understand the significance. Again I ended up sobbing my heart out, that last part where you hear Michael reading his unposted letter to Thomas while you see Adam hopefully making it up with Steve just gets to me.
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Brian,
I know you and I have our differences, but I completely agree with you about MIAOS.
The ending of the movie interweaves the tragic and the hopeful. Since we don't know until the end that Michael never mailed the letter, that tragedy hits home when Flora gives it to Adam. For me, the hardest part about that is that Thomas never really knew how much Michael loved him.
At the same time, the letter is cathartic for Adam. The final shower scene indicates that he is now free from his anxiety. And then when he lets Steve read it, we see that there is hope for their relationship. The way I interpreted the ending is that Micheal did not write that letter in vain after all. It redeemed his grandson.
gattaca:
--- Quote from: brian on September 19, 2017, 05:53:35 am ---I have just finished watching MIAOS again although this time in 2 parts, the first was nearly a week go. It was good to notice somethings in the movie that I missed the first time especially when you understand the significance. Again I ended up sobbing my heart out, that last part where you hear Michael reading his unposted letter to Thomas while you see Adam hopefully making it up with Steve just gets to me.
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SPOILERS ON
The team's attention to details and layering for MIAOS is impressive. There are so many small things which are foreshadowed earlier in and then return later on. The best one I can think of is the pastels box Thomas gives to Michael's son.... which eventually Flora gives to Adam.
SPOILERS OFF
The cuts are brief and it's something you would normally hardly notice, then wham, you do. See my earlier index listing for points which pay homage to BBM as well things like I just mentioned. V.
gattaca:
--- Quote from: milomorris on September 20, 2017, 04:38:09 pm ---The ending of the movie interweaves the tragic and the hopeful. Since we don't know until the end that Michael never mailed the letter, that tragedy hits home when Flora gives it to Adam. For me, the hardest part about that is that Thomas never really knew how much Michael loved him.
At the same time, the letter is cathartic for Adam. The final shower scene indicates that he is now free from his anxiety. And then when he lets Steve read it, we see that there is hope for their relationship. The way I interpreted the ending is that Micheal did not write that letter in vain after all. It redeemed his grandson.
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Well said! And it's one of the reasons this "Made for TV film" is now on my top 10 favorites. It could easily have played in theaters. V.
milomorris:
--- Quote from: gattaca on September 24, 2017, 09:07:30 am ---Well said! And it's one of the reason's this "Made for TV film" is now on my top 10 favorites. It could easily have played in theaters. V.
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Thank you. The film is very well-crafted. It makes my heart ache so much for Michael and Thomas that I've been writing scenarios in my head that would allow them to escape their fate. At the same time, I realize that the choices everyone made were essential to the final outcome of the story.
brianr:
I think the film shows the different opportunities available for those in artistic professions (Thomas) to those in the more "straight" world (Michael).
Even though I grew up about 20-25 years later, I can still see the vast difference today. I had an argument with an entertainer in Sydney about my age who complained that BBM was just another sad gay movie. He was well known as being gay but people laughed (some at, some with) him. There were bohemian areas of Sydney where gays could meet and some could live together, generally unmolested as long as they were not too obvious. As an artist, Thomas could pass and earn an income in that world but even his mother referred to "that creature" when mentioning the guy (cannot remember his name) with whom he shared lodgings.
Michael was in the world of business which would never accept a gay lifestyle in the 50's. A couple might set up house in the suburbs but they would be in fear of the neighbours taking a dislike to them (perhaps an argument over fences or just being zealots) and calling the police as I saw in another UK TV program recently.
I have friends who were able to find the gay scene, my first long time boy friend had found it as a teenager but he still lived with his mother. Today he lives with his partner in their own home in a very conservative religious area of the city, no problems. I remember the first time I went to a political rally (I was almost 30) and it was the first time I had been in a room of gays. I nearly left when the first speaker said "Hi Girls". As a teacher in a high school I had to suppress any sign of effeminacy and was repulsed by it. I have got over that but it took a long while.
Many others succumbed to pressure and got married. The psychiatrist told me to find a nice girl and my last contact with him was to tell him I was engaged. Probably saved me from electro therapy but when I realised it was not going to work and broke it off, it was the only time my Mother turned against me. I remember my fiancee saying she would not sue me for breach of promise and not long later one of my primary school class mates was sued and it was in the papers and I think the last such case before the law was changed.
I often met gay men who were married and snuck out for sex. Some others came to an arrangement with their wives and of course, others divorced. I use to meet a man who was headmaster of the local high school and we had to meet outside the school zone. He was married with 2 sons. He could not understand why I broke off our meetings as he knew I was lonely. But I wanted a relationship, doing ordinary things together not just quick sex so he could return to his family.
Possibly Michael and Thomas could have had a life together in France. I know some friends who spent a year in Paris in the 60's and told me how much better it was. I did not go there until 1974 and it was legal in London by then but still not the freedom to be open like it is today.
However I am a product of those times. There is a man in our over 60's club, two years older than me. The first time I met him I thought to myself you are gay. Some of the women have asked me if he is. One time when the group went away, the leader said the two men can have the Queen bed rooms (he would not share which was ok by me . He giggled and said "I'm not a queen". I nearly decked him. I should have said "I am" As I have told some women in the group, it is now common knowledge, but I never mention it to the other married men even though they are now close friends. I guess they know. A few years ago I showed a gay guy from Auckland (in his 20's) around Dunedin. He had written he liked older men but I think I was too old ;D I said to him. "I do not go into a room and announce I am gay" He replied "I do".
I have raved on about my thoughts on MIAOS.
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