This is only my opinion and something that I've thought about in these past few days. After watching Beautiful Thing, I realized that gay movement has advanced even in the 90's in the UK. But my country is still outdated when it comes to this. Given my culture (and some other cultures in other countries too) views premarital sex as a sin, of course other things that are deemed to be promiscuous is also viewed as sinful. This includes homosexuality.
Why? I believe it's due to the fact that people from my culture can't imagine homosexuality as more than sex between two men. They fail to understand that homosexuality is also about love and relationship. In contrast, people from my country think that homosexuality is something promiscuous which can degrade a civilization because of the open and free sexual practice among the gay people. They fail to understand that like heterosexuality, homosexuality is also a diverse community. We have those who are addicted to sex, those who are shy, who are virgins, who are monogamous, who don't believe in monogamy, etc.
I really don't want to blame anyone because it's a culture and cultures don't change overnight, but I think the way my culture views homosexuality might be contributed by how the media portray homosexuality. Many films about gays view free sexual practice and show the life of promiscuous men and orgy and threesome and men obsessing about which man to be on bed that night (I don't judge these practices, but my culture certainly doesn't like them). Which is why I applaud gay films that try their best to show the life of gay people who live their lives just like how straight people do. Films like Beautiful Thing, Weekend, Eyes Wide Open, The Broken Hearts Club, and many others should be made because they are about normal gay people living a normal life, like me. Because now, whenever I mention the word "homosexuality", people would think "gay sex". It's sad.
So, yeah...
Why? I believe it's due to the fact that people from my culture can't imagine homosexuality as more than sex between two men. They fail to understand that homosexuality is also about love and relationship. In contrast, people from my country think that homosexuality is something promiscuous which can degrade a civilization because of the open and free sexual practice among the gay people. They fail to understand that like heterosexuality, homosexuality is also a diverse community. We have those who are addicted to sex, those who are shy, who are virgins, who are monogamous, who don't believe in monogamy, etc.
I really don't want to blame anyone because it's a culture and cultures don't change overnight, but I think the way my culture views homosexuality might be contributed by how the media portray homosexuality. Many films about gays view free sexual practice and show the life of promiscuous men and orgy and threesome and men obsessing about which man to be on bed that night (I don't judge these practices, but my culture certainly doesn't like them). Which is why I applaud gay films that try their best to show the life of gay people who live their lives just like how straight people do. Films like Beautiful Thing, Weekend, Eyes Wide Open, The Broken Hearts Club, and many others should be made because they are about normal gay people living a normal life, like me. Because now, whenever I mention the word "homosexuality", people would think "gay sex". It's sad.
So, yeah...