Week 7 - Philosophy Film - Flame On

FLAME ON!!! This movie is terrific, one of the best short films I've viewed for this class, as it has the distinction of being multi-layered. Several films for this class are sophisticated in this manner, but few, if any, of them were this immediately relevant. Ignorance fueled homophobia has been a concern in recent years and this film sheds a nice light on the subjects of this misguided hostility. The true beauty of this film, however, lies within its deeper meaning. Homosexuality appears to be used to demonstrate that certain traits which are considered less than glamorous in one time are considered perfectly normal in another. It's that kind of depth and complexity that makes this class so interesting.

This film explains how many historically important people were homosexual. It wasn't, however, their homosexuality which made them important (Marcel Proust is the exception, of course). These are completely normal individuals who made important contributions to society, but in most cases were subjected to extreme forms of prejudice due to their sexual preference. To me, this is one of most sickening aspects of our history (prejudice, not homosexuality), and it is made all the worse knowing that it still exists in full swing.

When looked at from a naive point point of view, this film is saying that you should be gay as you will be more intelligent for it. That isn't such a bad way of looking at it; if taken metaphorically, being gay could signify that one aspect of yourself which is considered in society as your “worst” quality. Since we don't really know what our “best” or “worst” quality is then having this particular quality doesn't matter one bit and one day we may even be considered all the greater for it. You can't change who you are (well...I suppose in some cases you can), and in all honesty you really shouldn't want to.

This is the first film that made me think outright of how little I care to question the superficial aspects of society. We all like what we like, end of story.