12 Gays of Christmas
By Tina Wargo
Courtesy of Miramax Films.
Doubt
This is more of a vaguely wintery movie, and all the gayness is implicit and presented as though dangerous. Maybe this goes against the spirit of this list. However, it really allows for a crucial historical perspective, despite how yucky and sad it seems today.
Based on the Pulitzer-prize winning play by John Patrick Shanley, this adaptation takes place in a New York City Catholic school in 1964. Basically, it’s just one gigantic metaphor. But it’s the BEST kind! The concrete plot is just as interesting and important as the abstract message it’s being used to deliver.
At the beginning, the conservative school welcomes its first African-American student. Its head nun, Sister Aloysius, notices a change in the way the priest, Father Flynn, interacts with the child and the child subsequently behaves after their meetings. Of course, its main plot follows Sister Aloysius’s witch hunt to prove that Father Flynn behaved inappropriately toward this boy. But the real story is the exploration of gender politics within the church and the world at large. Plus, it explores the implications of growing up gay OR being gay and surviving within that institution. And it demonstrates the consequences of remaining unwavering in any belief system.
It’ll make you think, it’ll make you uncomfortable, and it’ll make you reassess everything you believe in. Just like spending family time over the holidays!