Wednesday, October 29, 2014

Pride

Are you an idealist?

Do you want to make the world a better place?

Do you feel discouraged and despondent?

If you answered yes (and actually, even if you didn’t), find a cinema that is showing Pride and go and see it.

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It is funny, moving, inspiring and uplifting. Even hard-nosed film reviewers (you know the types – Guardian man I am looking at you) like the film and say it isn’t sentimental. I saw it on Monday and as soon as it’s out on DVD I’ll buy it, so I can watch it again. (And I’ll have it to watch whenever I’m drowning in despair.)

Pride is a feature film (not a documentary)  following the true story of how the gay movement supported the miners during the 1984-1985 miners’ strike. Did you know they were the biggest financial supporters of the miners? I didn’t. Did you know a band of gays made friends with the community in a pit village in South Wales and that those friendships still exist today? Did you know that the miners were so grateful, that bus loads of them went up to London for the 1985 Gay Pride march and led the march?  And did you know that because of the support from the gay movement, the NUM led the way in changing Labour Party policy towards lesbians and gays?

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The audience at the cinema where I saw Pride actually clapped at the end of the film.

The thing that is so inspiring about this bit of hidden history from the miners’ strike is the solidarity between two groups which were both being vilified by the press – a solidarity which led to friendship, commitment, support and change. The pits closed, yes. But now we have same sex marriage and at least in the UK, the social world is friendlier for gays.

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And there is music in the film as well - loads of pop, but the track that made me cry was Bread and Roses, sung at the miners’ welfare in Dulais . Click here to listen.

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