LOVE FINDS ITS WAY
If you want to know what it feels like to be a minority person who is not only persecuted because of his nationality and religion but also targeted for his sexual orientation, then I recommend you see the Israeli foreign film “Out in the Dark”. If you react like most audience members the day I viewed it, you will be shaken to your core and will walk out of the theatre like you are trying to avoid a land mine. You also may have a lot more compassion for the daily struggle that so many people in that part of the world face, particularly if they also happen to be gay.
Although this love story between an idealistic Israeli lawyer and a pragmatic Palestinian student could take place anywhere in the world, what makes it even more heartbreaking is the fact that homosexuality is so condemned in the Middle East. Not only does it bring “shame” and “dishonor” to the family, your life could be at risk if you are caught. There are actually extremists that hunt down gay people in order to rid society of anyone who engages in this forbidden love.
Early on in the film, it’s obvious these two men are in love. It is also obvious that their love (and their relationship) is not that dissimilar to one between a heterosexual couple. The director did such an excellent job at portraying how “natural” their love was that the viewer only got caught up in the fact that it was a LOVE story. At one point, Nimr, who is too ashamed to tell his family he is gay, turns to Roy and tells him that their relationship “doesn’t feel like a mistake”. So by the time Roy presents Nimr with a watch that is engraved with the words “Love Finds Its Way”, the audience is rooting for this couple to make it.
Everyone knows that no matter where you live, homophobia exists. But in some countries, homophobia is carried to an unimaginable extreme. Not only have some governments enacted criminal laws punishing gays, there is also President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran who claims that his country has no homosexuals at all. I also suspect that many of the political killings that have occurred throughout history involved a victim who was targeted for his sexual orientation rather than because of his nationality or belief system.
Even in the United States, the subject of homophobia comes up in the news on a daily basis. Although we are more tolerant than many countries, we still have influential people like Paris Hilton stating that gays are “disgusting” and “horny” and many probably have AIDS. What message does this give to the younger generation who look to her as their role model? Also, what message do younger people get from government officials like Governors Rick Santorum and Rick Perry who openly promote the ban of gays in the Boy Scouts? Although I believe in freedom of speech and the right to your own opinion, I don’t understand their explanation that being a boy scout is all about character building and “teaching life lessons” and not about sexuality. Although I was never a boy scout, why would sexual orientation have anything to do with building a campfire or leading a trail hike?
Copyright © 2013 (Michelle Parsons, Getting Back on Your Path). All Rights Reserved.
