Director: Jonathan Demme Starring: Tom Hanks, Denzel Washington Studio: TriStar Pictures Genre(s): Drama Rated: PG-13 (For some graphic language and thematic material) |
At one point in “Philadelphia" we find a sick man on
the stand in court. He is sweeting profusely,
mumbling his words, and his eyes wonder the room as if he is having a hard time
keeping focused. But he is telling his
story of why he wanted to be a lawyer.
He tells of how he was inspired by certain people to make a difference
and, despite the current legal problems he is having, he loves the law and
still wants to be part of it. This is
Andrew Becket (Tom Hanks), and he is dying of AIDS. He was a lawyer who had a promising career,
but suspects he was fired when men he worked for suspected he had the deadly
disease. Now he sits on the stand,
praising and condemning his former co-workers, all while receiving little sympathy
from a jury and audience who simply see him as a sick faggot telling his sob
story. He is used to this, of course,
but that doesn’t make it right.
By this point the audience in the theater is very likely to
have a soft spot for Andrew. While I
have no doubt there will still be prejudice people who watch this movie and see
nothing but gay propaganda, the reason “Philadelphia” remains an important (if
not flawed) film is because the movie isn’t really about what it seems to be
about. This is not about AIDS. It’s not about homosexuality. It’s about discrimination. It’s about seeing someone human who you might
have labeled as less than human before.
This is represented by Andrew’s defense lawyer Joe Miller (Denzel
Washington), whose thoughts about AIDS most likely reflected the average person
in 1993. His journey is not simply about
winning a high-profile case, but about seeing his client as a victim of
circumstance, a human being, and maybe even a friend in the end.
In an attempt to do this, the movie may have tried too hard
to make Andrew look like the all-American son at times. A scene where he is talking to his family
revels the perfect liberal family, who love their son and sibling so much not a
single person has any objection to him going to court. For that matter, none of them seem to have
any issues with his sickness, which is the real reason people don’t want to be
around him. I can understand people accepting
homosexuality at the time, but the fear of what AIDS was and how it was spread
was so misunderstood, I find it unrealistic that not one of his family members
is afraid to touch him (this movie came out a year and a half before Princess
Diana became the first celebrity to touch an AIDS victim without gloves). Never mind, I suppose Andrew needs SOME
support during this whole mess!
God knows he doesn’t get much of it for the majority of the
film. Again though, this is a movie
about fear of a disease and discrimination.
Andrew is shown as wildly successful one day, but give him a few months
and he’ll be standing in the street, on the verge of tears as he realizes how
little respect people have for him once they discovered what he did in his
personal life. He goes from shaking hands
of powerful people to having those same people move away from him into a corner
because they are afraid he’s going to give them his sickness. Director Jonathan Demme doesn’t use too many
visuals cues like he normally does, but he does keep the camera focused on body
language and facial expresses to properly convey peoples prejudices even when
they aren’t saying anything. This is
also the movie that put Tom Hanks on the map as a great character actor, though
co-star Denzel Washington does a lot of heavy lifting himself.
“Philadelphia” is sort of an odd movie to watch today, I
will admit. Gay people are more accepted
than ever before. AIDS is not the death
sentence it once was. For that matter,
we are much more aware of how you can catch AIDS and how to protection
ourselves to avoid that, so it seems silly to think at one point we were afraid
to shake hands with people who had the disease.
The fact that the best way to get the point across was as a court room
drama might be considered cheap, but the time period most likely required
it. Better movies have been of this
subject, but the characters in this movie are likable enough that I find myself
revisiting it every few years, and Hanks performance really is one for the
ages.
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| CONSUMER ADVICE |
Parents, there is some mild language and lots of discussion about AIDS and the acts performed to get them. Recommended for ages 11 and up.
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