How Do You Write A Movie Review Without Naming Its Characters?

Jim Burroway

May 12th, 2009

NPR managed to do just that.

A review appeared on NPR of the Kirby Dick’s documentary move Outrage, and nowhere in it does the review mention any of the politicians discussed in the review. There is a photo of Sen. Larry Craig accompanying the review, which hints that he may be one of the movie’s subjects. But nowhere is there any mention of Florida Gov. Charlie Crist or Larry Craig in the review. Those names were cut by NPR editors, citing “a long-held policy of trying to respect the privacy of public figures.” Ironically, Larry Craig’s arrest on soliciting sex in a public men’s room wasn’t a private affair. It was a matter of public record.

Critic Nathan Lee had originally written the piece to include mention of Craig and Crist. When NPR insisted on removing references to those to politicians, Lee removed his byline from the article in protest and lodged a complaint on the NPR site. That complaint was also quickly removed by NPR executives. Lee’s complaint read:

“I asked that my name be removed in protest of NPR\’s policy of not ‘naming names\’ of closeted or rumored-about politicians – even those who actively suppress gay rights, and thus whose sexual identities are of significant importance to the press.” … “I personally disagree with NPR\’s policy – there is no other area of ‘privacy\’ that elicits such extreme tact,” Lee continued in his comment that was excised from the NPR website. “And also feel that it is a professional affront to my responsibility as a critic to discuss the content of a work of art, and an impingememnt of my first amendment right to free speech and the press.”

The whole point of Dick’s documentary was the hypocrisy of closeted politicians who vote against the interest of gay people in Congress, while seeking the comfort of those very same people after hours. As the movie illustrates, the need to preserve the closet can lead some politicians to vote against their very own conscience. When a closeted politician votes against HIV/AIDS prevention programs or LGBT civil rights, it can sometimes be a ruse to throw off suspicians that he may be gay. It’s like the schoolyard bully who picks on the effeminate kid in order to cover his own securities over his sexuality.

The motivations of closeted politicians is absolutely a valid story, one that the mainstream media should be covering. It was huge news when it was revealed that South Carolina Sen. Strom Thurmond had a daughter by an African-American woman. He had been a staunch segregationist for much of his career. Hypocrasy is clearly a real news story. Nathan Lee puts it this way:

The entire point of ‘Outrage\’ is that there is an ‘overriding public need to know\’ about the kinds of men profiled in ‘Outrage\’,” film critic Nathan Lee told indieWIRE on Sunday, “Let\’s say Charlie Crist had a record of voting for vigorous anti-immigration policies, and then it was rumored that he employed illegal immigrants. The press would have absolutely no qualms investigating him to the hilt in the public interest of exposing hypocrisy. Why should it be any different in the case of possibly gay public figures who vote against the civil rights of gay people, or, in the case of HIV/AIDS funding, their very life and death?”

But there really is a different standard at NPR when it comes to closeted politicians. As Movie Line notes:

In the last month, NPR was all too happy to run an editorial about the sexuality of American Idol frontrunner Adam Lambert, wherein writer Linda Holmes snarks on the media outlets that are reticent to fully acknowledge what she presumes is Lambert\’s homosexuality. And this past November, after comedian Wanda Sykes came out as a lesbian at a gay rights rally in Las Vegas, NPR spent minutes of airtime discussing whether it would lead Queen Latifah (who\’s never publicly stated that she is a lesbian) to do the same.

So what interpretation of its own ethics policy allowed NPR to air and publish rumors in those cases?

More to the point, doesn’t Charlie Crist’s sexuality pose far more important consequences to public policy than Queen Latifah’s — especially now that he’s announced his run for the U.S. Senate?

Timothy Kincaid

May 12th, 2009

I’m not a big fan of outing to begin with. I think we each should be entitled to our own process of discovery and our own disclosures.

However, I do recognize the argument about exposing the hypocricy of those who are actively hurting our community. I do get that exposing homosexuals who are strident anti-gay activists can protect our community at times.

But I would be more impressed with Outrage if the targets of its expose were actually anti-gay activists, if they “had a record of voting for vigorous” anti-gay positions.

But let’s face it. Neither David Dreier nor Charlie Crist have strongly homophobic records. Neither have made careers out of anti-gay attacks.

Yes, we can hunt up votes in which they were not supportive and point and cry “hypocricy”. We could even find positions or votes that were harmful.

But, frankly, I think that the greatest crime, in the mind of Kirby Dick, is that they are Republicans. And perhaps even that they are Republicans who do not conveniently fall into the stereotype of troglodyte haters, but rather are on the moderate end of the party.

We can conveniently forget that David Dreier voted for ENDA and that he opposed the FMA. We can forget that Crist has spoken favorably about civil unions. We can say that ANY vote that doesn’t fit with some checklist is cause for exposure and outrage.

But I hope we don’t.

Duncan

May 13th, 2009

I’m a little confused by Mr Kincaid’s term of “troglodyte haters”. Are troglodyte’s one of America’s vulnerable minorities? It certainly gives a new meaning to an underground political group.

Christopher Waldrop

May 13th, 2009

While I also have problems with outing, what really concerns me in this story is NPR’s decision to keep Larry Craig’s name out of the review, citing a policy of “trying to respect the privacy of public figures”.

Incidentally, though, a search of the NPR web site for “Larry Craig” brings up 254 results, with several in the top 20 (I didn’t go through the whole list) related to his arrest for soliciting sex. And obviously Craig’s name comes up in Terry Gross’s Fresh Air interview with Kirby Dick.

And, finally, on the NPR web site, although Craig isn’t mentioned, there is an insert with Craig’s profile shot and an explanation that, “Craig was arrested in 2007 by an undercover officer who said Craig had solicited sex from him in a Minneapolis airport restroom.”

I’m not trying to defend NPR here. What I really see is an incredibly inconsistent, maybe even non-existent, policy. If Crist hasn’t been caught publicly soliciting or engaging in sex with other men then it’s reasonable that NPR would be cautious with his name. But stripping Larry Craig out of the review doesn’t make sense.

mike

May 18th, 2009

Media coverage is inconsistent. Look at Doug McKelway defending Crist saying the makers of Outrage are ‘hurting his family’ in the interview with Mike Rogers.

People will discuss anyone’s explicit personal info as long as they are straight.

http://news.aol.com/article/angry-anchor/478089

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