One the year's most controversial documentaries -- Kirby Dick's Outrage -- is getting a one-night-only engagement July 15 at an unlikely place: the suds-and-cinema showcase, Tampa Pitcher Show. It's part of a monthly film series sponsored by community radio WMNF-FM 88.5. Show time is 7 p.m. and tickets are going fast.
One of the film's "stars" is Florida Gov. Charlie Crist, one of several politicians Dick accuses of being closeted homosexuals.
What Outrage seeks isn’t embarrassment but ending hypocrisy by politicians living one way and voting another. Other targets include former New York City Mayor Ed Koch and former Idaho Sen. Larry Craig with his infamous public restroom arrest, after repeatedly voting against assistance for AIDS and hate crime victims.
But it's the inclusion of Crist that's making Outrage a hot topic in the Sunshine State.
"When Kirby Dick was filming the movie, he sent a film crew to WMNF, a few days before the governor's wedding, to shoot a call-in show that was talking about the protest being planned at the governor's wedding," said the station's director of news and public affairs Rob Lorei. "The footage of WMNF didn't make it into the (finished) film but the movie was on our radar."
That must be high-intensity radar. Dick claims “a brilliantly orchestrated conspiracy” keeps gay politicians in the closet. Some may say the same about the extremely limited release of Outrage (although to be fair, none of Dick’s films have been widely seen in theaters).
At its peak, Outrage only played in 18 theaters nationwide, for a number of reasons, including Dick's previous documentary This Film Is Not Yet Rated, which took the MPAA ratings board to task for judging sex in films more harshly than violence. Dick declined to submit Outrage for an MPAA rating, and many theater chains are skittish about playing unrated movies.
Beyond that, it’s all about money. The audience for Outrage is a narrow niche compared to, say, the latest Transformers flick, and the distributor, Magnolia Pictures, is too small to afford striking and transporting hundreds of prints to theaters. Dick’s name certainly isn’t as marketable as Oscar winners Michael Moore (Bowling for Columbine) or Errol Morris (The Fog of War).
My column on Outrage and its insinuations about Crist will be published online and in print Monday.
Is the movie fair and balanced about our governor? Hardly. But it's a fascinating watch.
Steve Persall is the movie critic for the St. Petersburg Times. He was conceived behind a drive-in movie theater his father operated and raised in projection booths and concession stands. He doesn't care how you did it up north.
Today CNN published a story about how juicy political sex scandals are (http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/07/14/political.sex.scandals/index.html).
In that light, it strains credulity to think that the media would work in concert with these politicians to stay in the closet.
And if it's not the media, who would be orchestrating this brilliant conspiracy?
Unless the film successfully answers that at the start, only the most wishful thinkers can buy its premise.
Posted by: jack | July 14, 2009 at 03:11 PM
Dick claims "a brilliantly orchestrated conspiracy" keeps gay politicians in the closet?
That's difficult to believe with the scoop-at-all-costs media we have.
I don't think I'll be seeing this film but I thought Dick's previous effort "This Film Is Not Yet Rated" was terrific.
That's a film that should have much wider exposure than it has. Put it in your Netflix queue or check your local library for it. You won't be sorry.
Posted by: John M. | July 14, 2009 at 09:46 AM