By Melissa Antoinette Garza
When disenfranchised groups unite to take down the man, great things can happen. In 1984, the miners on strike and the lesbian and gays were the disenfranchised and the man was Margaret Thatcher.
The film begins when gay activist Mark (Ben Schnetzer) notices less police harassing the LGBT community. It’s obvious that they didn’t just have a change of heart, but that a different target has taken over their focus. The riot squads are busy fucking with the miners on strike. Thatcher cut all assistance in efforts to force them to go back to work. The protesters and picketers are being beaten and treated with horrific cruelty.
Mark sees the parallels of what they’ve been enduring and what the miners are now dealing with. He calls together a meeting and recruits a group to collect money for their needs. My favorite among the group is Joe (George MacKay). Joe is a pretty fem college boy who hasn’t come out of the closet yet. He finds freedom and acceptance in the LGSM (Lesbian & Gays Support the Miners). Also in the group is Gethin (Andrew Scott) who hasn’t spoken with his mom for 16 years because of her homophobia and his aging club kid boyfriend Jonathan (Dominic West). Jonathan captivates a room with his personality and dancing skills alone. Straight men flock to him so that they can steal some of his charisma with the ladies.
Next is Steph (Faye Marsay) who was originally the only lesbian in the group. She has family issues too and ends up with nowhere for the holidays. Jonathan and Gethin welcome her aboard with open arms. That’s what this flick is all about – welcoming people with open arms.
Last is the always loyal champion Mike (Joseph Gilgun). He is constantly helping Mark and rallying the team, but sometimes gets shit on for it. He can be the punching bag, but in a lot of ways glues the bunch together when Mark gets overwhelmed. He’s also very forgiving and looks adorable in his knitted wool hat – like a little British Michael Nesmith with glasses.
PRIDE (2014) has one message. If there were no bigotry and everyone was just accepting, the world would be a far better place. With Joe this is is expressed perfectly. The best time of his life was had saving miners and not because he’s the most altruistic lad in the world. He has some selfish motives. He wants love – like we all do. He wants to be welcomed. It’s sad he didn’t have that at home.
When his parents find out and he comes back, poor Joe faces horrible disapproval. I just hate that. I want to wrap my arms around him and tell him everything is going be okay. Fuck everybody. You got this! Here Joe is doing marvelous things that are impacting thousands of lives and his parents are self-involved, prejudice fuckwits who need a beat down. While I watch these heartbreaking scenes all I can think to myself is that the mother and her tears can really go fuck themselves. That’s your son, you asshole! You love him without judgement. That’s it. That’s all you have to goddamn do. It’s your one fucking job.
There are moments that they really want to make the mother, Marion Cooper (Monica Dolan) sympathetic and kudos to Dolan who fabulous
ly sold the character. She was brilliant in the role, but God how I hated Marion. I wanted to punch her so badly – oh so badly.
When Joe finally leaves and goes balls-to-the-wall, he tells off his asshole brother-in-law beautifully. He just calls him a dick, but it’s so meaningful because FUCK THAT GUY – he is a dick. He truly is a dick and Joe knows it now. Joe knows that he’s not the fucked up one. Joe knows that he’s not the outcast. He’s just surrounded by dicks. One can feel crazy when put in a crazy world and nothing is as crazy as homophobia! Poor Joe. I love him and I love the friendships he makes. He has such a strong solid one with Steph that reminds me of my friendship with my best friend. It’s just so WHOLE. It’s like two sides of the same coin.
Thankfully many of the miners and their loved ones have very open minds. At first, no one wants to take the donations because they come from homosexuals. When the group picks a town at random they get a taker. Dai Donovan (Paddy Considine) doesn’t give a fuck from jump. He comes in with such honesty and sincerity. He’s from a small town and is like, “hey I never met gay folks before but thanks for the cash.” It’s awesome. It’s just genuine appreciation with no hidden meaning. It’s kindness . Today it’s good to see kindness right up close and in your face. He goes to a gay club and at first, Jonathan is skeptical and with good reason. Dai looks and sounds a lot like fellows that have come at the gay community with fists and knives and all sorts of cruelty. Dai’s charm and sincerity quickly warms the crowd and everyone donates more to the miners. It forms an alliance.
To the chagrin of evil wench widow Maureen (Lisa Palfrey) and her two ugly horrid sons, LGSM comes to town to help with the drive. Maureen is on the union committee and she’s just an awful bitch. She refuses to house and of the gay and lesbians because she’s worried about AIDS. It’s 1984 and gay panic is huge. Maureen is a puppet who is moved by whatever rag she happens to be reading, and she sucks. I hate her. I hate her so much.
Her poor brother-n-law Cliff (Bill Nighy) is gay and didn’t even feel comfortable enough to share it with anyone until months after the LGSM came to town. FUCK, homophobia sucks.
Thankfully, Cliff, Joe and crew do have a lot of allies on their side. There’s a fem goddess trio of ladies who take no prisoners and shove it right up Maureen’s ass. These are Hefina Headon (Imelda Staunton), Gwen (Menna Trussler) and Sian James (Jessica Gunning). Each woman brings an important element to the LGSM/Miner Union. Sian is the first to stand up. When the union committee are debating whether or not to have LGSM come to the drive, she insists on it. She stands up to her husband Martin (Rhodri Meilir) who is less enthused about LGSM than her. She also gives Joe a ride and stands up to Marion. She’s a solid dame who is all Aces every day.
Next is sweet Gwen. Gwen is and elderly, up front, honest and loving lady. She doesn’t give a shit if your gay or straight, but if she hears something and has a question she’s going to ask. Her first inquiry was whether all lesbians were vegetarian. Is she politically correct? NO. Is she a goddamn doll! Yes, 24/7 she is.
Then there is sweet Hefina. Hefina plays matriarch to Gethin who misses his own mom during the holidays. She is Cliff’s reassurance when he comes out to the closet and she is a wild lady who loves dildos and hot naked guys. I love her.
In one fun scene, all three women go to a gay strip club with Jonathan and just party the night away. They are lustful sexpots and I love it. I love them. I could watch a sitcom about them. I know the characters are based on real characters, but still. I love those women!
One of the hardest allies to like is Martin. He can be spineless at times, but he has a good heart. When Maureen’s sons try to start trouble, he’s amazing. He not only physically stops them from being a threat, he feels good about it. For the first time in the flick, he has a genuine smile. It was as though this light went off. The whole scene is great. It begins with everyone singing a song when the boys come in with their hateful rants. Martin is so taken by the solidarity that he just refuses to allow it to be interrupted. He’s a flawed man, but there are wonderful things that he does. Meilir brings out his many facets and shows much depth in a very short amount of screen time.
I can’t suggest this movie enough. It’s a feel good flick. There are moments of sadness, but it is such an emotionally driven production and the cast is marvelous. You can’t ask for better people. There was not a bad performance in this flick.
As much as I detest Lisa Palfrey’s character, the woman is an expert at her craft. Despite absolutely loathing Maureen, there are times when she grasps her dead husband’s picture that I feel a pang of sadness for her. She has this humanity to her despite the horrific flaws that make her such a spiteful bitch. Kudos to Palfrey for showing the nuance and depth. That goddess deserves an Academy Award for that performance.
Currently, this is on AMAZON PRIME. Give it a watch. It makes you feel all warm and fuzzy. The good guys win and some of the bad guys go good. It’s just swell. Let’s go back to that. Let’s just go back to those times when people were just nice and kind.
Politicians aim to keep the masses fighting amongst ourselves. Don’t let them do it. When we concentrate on our differences they win – and we have far more in common than different. Just don’t be an asshole. That’s really all there is to it. Just be cool. That’s the message I get from this.
Scared Stiff Rating: 9/10
