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This is a classy looking film. It’s not big, or flashy and humorous. Even from the trailer everything about it just feels real. Growing up, before I hit my very late teens and found confidence, I was crippled with the self doubt that affects most of us at some time or another when it comes to trying to ask out somebody you’re attracted o. I always wondered, until I was mature enough to ask, if it’s so hard for those of us doing the straight thing; so hard to find that person you like, and then that likes you too, how Earth did you manage that being gay? Was that just something else that made the job of just getting through the school day even harder? You're parents are questioning you as it is, so how do they deal with something like this. Ironically one of the best scenes to deal with this in recent years is the scene set in Bobby Drake's (Iceman) house in X2. "Have you tried not being a mutant". Sure it's not just an allegory for homosexuality, but it perhaps fits that best.
Then there’s the parents, brother and sisters. You’re already accepting that your child will be changing as they grow up. They’re going to want to do their own thing, choose their own clothes, go completely insane for no reason at all. Amidst all of that would you notice the signs that your child is dealing with more than just the everyday teenage problems.
Anyway here is the studio’s description which is, of course, far more eloquent than mine...
“A world premiere at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival, the contemporary drama Pariahis the feature-length expansion of writer/director Dee Rees’ award-winning 2007 short film Pariah. Spike Lee is among the feature’s executive producers. At Sundance, cinematographer Bradford Young was honored with the [U.S. Dramatic Competition] Excellence in Cinematography Award.
Adepero Oduye, who had earlier starred in the short film, portrays Alike (pronounced ah-lee-kay), a 17-year-old African-American woman who lives with her parents Audrey and Arthur (Kim Wayans and Charles Parnell) and younger sister Sharonda (Sahra Mellesse) in Brooklyn’s Fort Greene neighborhood. She has a flair for poetry, and is a good student at her local high school.
Alike is quietly but firmly embracing her identity as a lesbian. With the sometimes boisterous support of her best friend, out lesbian Laura (Pernell Walker), Alike is especially eager to find a girlfriend. At home, her parents’ marriage is strained and there is further tension in the household whenever Alike’s development becomes a topic of discussion. Pressed by her mother into making the acquaintance of a colleague’s daughter, Bina (Aasha Davis), Alike finds Bina to be unexpectedly refreshing to socialize with.
Wondering how much she can confide in her family, Alike strives to get through adolescence with grace, humor, and tenacity – sometimes succeeding, sometimes not, but always moving forward.
A Focus Features, Northstar Pictures, and Sundial Pictures presentation in association with aid+abet, Chicken & Egg Pictures, and MBK Entertainment. A Dee Rees Film.Pariah. Adepero Oduye, Pernell Walker, Aasha Davis, Charles Parnell, Sahra Mellesse, and Kim Wayans. Casting, Eyde Belasco, CSA. Edited by Mako Kamitsuna. Production Design by Inbal Weinberg. Cinematography by Bradford Young. Produced by Nekisa Cooper. Written and Directed by Dee Rees. A Focus Features Release.”
It’s not the kind of film that everyone will want to see; it likely won’t be to everyone’s tastes. But it does appear to be looking at a subject that still doesn’t get a full, prurience free treatment that often. There’s also the chance to choose the film’s poster. At the link below. All 5 choices appear on this page...
Here’s the trailer...
(If the YouTube embed doesn't work there is a Yahoo embed below)
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