Director: Tim Wolff
Country: USA
Genre: Documentary | History
Official Trailer: Here
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Editor’s Note: The Sons of Tennessee Williams was released by First Run Features on February 14th, 2012
The Sons of Tennessee Williams is a documentary film about the tradition of Mardi Gras and its significance in the struggle for gay rights over the last half century. It focuses on the age-old tradition of elaborate Mardi Gras costumes and pageantry during the Carnival season, but hones in specifically on the significance of the festival in the gay rights movement. New Orleans would serve as a catalyst for many important advances in gay rights, most significantly the right for people to choose who they wish to be in public freely, without fear of legal persecution. The Carnival festivities created a loophole that allowed men to wear women’s clothing in public. There were instances of men doing this on Mardi Gras least as far back as the 1930’s, and this was their one day to express themselves publically. This attitude of anything goes during the Carnival season opened the doors for the gay rights movement and allowed gay men to assemble publicly for the first time anywhere in the nation. Despite any trepidation you have about the struggle for gay rights, I’m sure that most sensible people will agree that persecuting someone for having a different lifestyle than your own is not a desired trait in a “free” society. Homosexuality exists despite your disapproval, as it has done since the beginning of human civilization. You can’t legislate it out of existence, nor can you stand behind antiquated dogmatic principles in the hopes that it will eventually go away. I guess the same thing can be said about bigotry, so I guess we’ll just get on with the review.
It wouldn’t be an easy fight for these men, as despite the tendency to look the other way during Mardi Gras season they were still the target of police brutality and youngsters that were trying to make a name for themselves by “rolling” gay men in the lower French Quarter. “Rolling” would be a term that would create mournful looks in these men’s eyes for the rest of their lives, as some of their closest friends had been beaten to death for having the wherewithal to be gay in public. It is even more disheartening when an autopsy report for one such man had indicated that his skull was thinner than that of a “regular” man’s, and the court ruled in favor of the defendants, essentially allowing three murderers to walk free simply because of their target’s sexual orientation. Despite this shameful persecution, these men persisted to live their lives the only way they knew how, and in their struggles would make positive traction for the gay rights movement as a whole.
The elaborate costumes of these men have gotten more and more garish and intricate over the years, and each year they would try to top last year’s efforts. There is an incredible amount of work that goes in to these costumes, and careful attention to minor details is vital to creating something incredible.
The elaborate costumes of these men have gotten more and more garish and intricate over the years, and each year they would try to top last year’s efforts. There is an incredible amount of work that goes in to these costumes, and careful attention to minor details is vital to creating something incredible. The costumes are garish and larger than life, and most require harnesses to distribute the weight evenly and some require the use of hidden seats because of their tremendous weight. It was this garishness and attention to detail that would bring out straight people year after year and in increasingly larger numbers. They came for the spectacle, and in doing so had better acquainted themselves with the men behind these costumes and their kindness, fun-loving free-wheeling nature, and strength of spirit. It was in the bridging of these two worlds that inroads would be made in creating equal rights across the entire country. One would not think that the elaborate costumes of a drag show would play a key part in an entire civil rights movement, but these sorts of things have a tendency to pop up in the unlikeliest of places. Once the straight world had come for the show they stayed for the company, and one by one another straight person was won over.
As the culture wars would continue to wage in the rest of the nation, these men of Mardi Gras would be one of the most exciting parts of the Carnival festivities. This was their one day to show themselves to the rest of the world without fear of persecution from the law, and they would exercise this right in the most elaborate and exciting ways possible. They could express their pride openly and in doing so, come together as a community of close friends. Theirs was a small subculture, and the bonds that they formed would last for decades. Their fight is long from over, but by winning the hearts and minds of a few people they could build momentum for their movement. It is much more difficult to marginalize or dehumanize someone after you have made friends with them, and this may be how the fight for gay rights will ultimately be won.
Their fight is long from over, but by winning the hearts and minds of a few people they could build momentum for their movement. It is much more difficult to marginalize or dehumanize someone after you have made friends with them, and this may be how the fight for gay rights will ultimately be won.
The Sons of Tennessee Williams is fascinating as a character study of these men, their camaraderie, and the amazing craftsmanship and artistry that goes in to making their elaborate costumes. I carry doubts about its abilities to influence the hearts and minds of the straight world, as it probably won’t find a large enough audience to make a tremendous splash on mainstream sensibilities and understanding. It makes a compelling plea for its audience to take an active role in the political process and fight for pivotal gay rights issues, but my feeling is that it is essentially preaching to the converted. I’m not sure that it is effective as a cinematic call to arms as much as it is a fascinating character study about an interesting group of men and the pain, struggles, triumphs, and regressions that they would experience over the years. It is not a particularly well shot documentary, but it does give an all access pass to a world that we would not be able to see otherwise, and for that any perceived cinematic transgressions may be somewhat forgiven. There are some distracting bits of editing that are used to condense lengthy conversations, but luckily these only appear a few times in the film. The story it tries to tell is a bit too big for its 80 minute runtime. It moves a bit too rapidly, and we are not really given an opportunity to concentrate on one particular member of this community for very long before we are whisked away to another. It may never find a wide audience, but the inroads made by this tightly knit group of guys have been winning over hearts and minds for decades. Maybe that is how their struggle will ultimately be won, not in a wild flash of public consciousness awakening, but through long and arduous struggles as they earn the support of mainstream culture one person at a time.
DVD Extras:
Bonus footage, costume photos, and deleted scenes.
[notification type=”star”]58/100 ~ MEDIOCRE. It makes a compelling plea for its audience to take an active role in the political process and fight for pivotal gay rights issues, but my feeling is that it is essentially preaching to the converted. I’m not sure that it is effective as a cinematic call to arms as much as it is a fascinating character study about an interesting group of men and the pain, struggles, triumphs, and regressions that they would experience over the years. It is not a particularly well shot documentary, but it does give an all access pass to a world that we would not be able to see otherwise, and for that any perceived cinematic transgressions may be somewhat forgiven. [/notification]
