{"id":2745,"date":"2014-01-17T08:46:02","date_gmt":"2014-01-17T13:46:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/posturemag.com\/?p=2745"},"modified":"2017-07-27T01:07:00","modified_gmt":"2017-07-27T05:07:00","slug":"movie-of-the-week-spotlight-dallas-buyers-club","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/posturemag.com\/online\/movie-of-the-week-spotlight-dallas-buyers-club\/","title":{"rendered":"Movie of the Week Spotlight: Dallas Buyers Club"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n

For any fan of LGBTQI cinema, the past several months have seen a welcoming and prosperous surge in the release of diverse queer pictures, especially within the realm of experimental Indies and foreign art-house dramas.\u00a0 Usually, pickings are so slim at any given time that if queer audiences wish to see their stories projected onscreen, they just have to grin and bear their teeth at whatever titles happen to be available.\u00a0 Fortunately, the tides seem to be changing, for in the wake of the frenzied reception forged by Abdellatif Kechiche\u2019s Blue is the Warmest Color<\/i> there remains an elevated standard of artistic merit, technical quality, and cinematic empowerment for gay cinema.\u00a0 Released shortly after Blue<\/i>, Jean-Marc Vallee\u2019s Dallas Buyers Club<\/i> had big shoes to fill, but fortunately it was up for the challenge.\u00a0 \u00a0I will be the first to announce my misgivings about Hollywood and its overzealous fixation with mindless blockbusters, tropes and ensemble cast \u2018seat-fillers\u2019.\u00a0 But I must also give credit where credit is due, and certainly Vallee\u2019s new film earns such respect.\u00a0 With its critical acclaim, electrifying performances, and candid exploration of AIDS suffering, Dallas Buyers Club<\/i> offers that refreshing hybrid of mainstream accessibility and cinematic prestige.\u00a0 This film is no grandiose biopic laden with sterile AIDS politics and generic commentary. \u00a0Rather, Matthew McConaughey and Jared Leto embrace their respective roles as homophobe and homophile with a transcendental fearlessness that allows this film to dissect the desperation of those afflicted\u2014all the while exposing the fallacies of homophobia and disease stigmatization.<\/p>\n

\"dallas<\/a><\/p>\n

Based on a true story, Dallas Buyers Club <\/i>opens in 1985 and centers on working-class Texan Ron Woodroof (McConaughey), a serial homophobic redneck and drug addict who recently discovers he is HIV+ (contracting the disease through an infected drug needle).\u00a0 Given a 30-day prognosis and told that AZT is the only drug that can stabilize his condition, Woodroof sets out to steal the stuff but soon learns of its true detrimental side effects.\u00a0 Dedicating himself to traveling the world in search of more promising treatments not yet approved by the FDA, Woodroof establishes the Dallas Buyers Club: an underground network whose members\u2014usually gay men with HIV or full blown AIDS\u2014pay Woodroof for access to the pharmaceuticals that could prolong their lives (in fact Woodroof himself lived six more years because of these alternative treatments).\u00a0\u00a0 Along the way, he meets hospital roommate Rayon (Ray for short), a charismatic transgender male who refuses to allow the disease to break his spirit*.<\/p>\n

Ron initially recoils from Rayon upon meeting her, but Ray\u2019s compassion, charm and zest soon have Ron questioning his homophobic outlook.\u00a0 It isn\u2019t long before the two become business partners; developing a kindred understanding fueled by their mutual suffering, desire for acceptance and determination to survive. Because Dallas<\/i>\u2019 conflict is presented early on and in a straightforward manner, the narrative doesn\u2019t really invite any plot twists.\u00a0 Instead, the film truly relies on character development and the shifting dynamics between Ron and Ray to drive its tension.\u00a0 With plot elements reminiscent of American History X<\/i> meets Erin Brockovich <\/i>meets Philadelphia<\/i>, Woodroof\u2019s uplifting journey from reckless, self-destructive homophobe to maverick crusader and unlikely hero could have easily become a predictable melodrama fit for a Lifetime movie.\u00a0 Yet what makes Dallas<\/i>\u2019 story so bold, persuasive and consuming is the magnetic and novel chemistry shared between the central characters\u2014never has a handshake been so profound and emotionally charged.<\/p>\n

\"rayon_dallasbuyersclub\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Dropping nearly forty pounds for his role, McConaughey\u2019s emaciated appearance is yet another element that contributes to Dallas<\/i>\u2019 artistic payoff: not to mention how this role marks a startling transition from shirtless rom-com pretty boy to method actor.\u00a0 With a gaunt stature and ghostly pallor, McConaughey offers a rare vulnerability that beautifully embraces the blurry line between art and reality intrinsic to method technique.\u00a0 However, it is Jared Leto\u2019s performance that commands the spotlight and seizes the intensity of Vallee\u2019s film. Approaching his role with a delicate feminine ferocity, Leto adds an endearing vitality to Ray\u2019s persona that parallels Leto\u2019s own onscreen presence.\u00a0 Saturated with poise, humility, humor and panache; Ray is the type of person that may surrender her health but never her finesse.\u00a0 With effervescent confidence and respectable insight, Leto\u2019s Ray harnesses that potent force known as charisma\u2014the strength of which ultimately forces Ron to question his hypocrisies and ignorance.<\/p>\n

Early in Dallas, <\/i>Ron coarsely ingests the news of the first celebrity AIDS death with a callous homophobic comment.\u00a0 Like many Americans at the time, he seems more disturbed by the fact that a Hollywood movie star was gay rather than the emergence of a new disease that was killing millions of people.\u00a0 He initially dismisses his diagnosis because he\u2019s <\/i>not queer, and even insults the homosexual individuals at a meeting of HIV victims.\u00a0 It isn\u2019t until his own friends paint an explicit anti-gay slur in red paint in front of his house that Ron realizes he has more in common with the community he despises than with his old friends.\u00a0 This incident prompts him to start taking his illness seriously, and there\u2019s an interesting scene where he is at the public library researching the various methods of HIV transmission.\u00a0 I say this scene is interesting because it doesn\u2019t allow the audience to take for granted the common knowledge that HIV is universal and in no way exclusive to homosexuals.\u00a0 Upon learning that nearly twenty percent of patients become infected from needles, Ron reads this information with an expression of utter disbelief: he feels betrayed by the fact that all of his preconceived notions have been shattered.\u00a0\u00a0 There is a stylistic sequence that alternates between his face and close ups of the computer screen font: Ron\u2019s reaction beautifully highlights his cultural isolation and lack of clarity regarding the world around him.<\/p>\n

\"ron_dallasbuyersclub\"<\/a><\/p>\n

One of the most noticeable aspects of Dallas <\/i>is how the second half of the film presents such a shift in tone from the first.\u00a0 For example, when we first meet Rayon, her character is essentially a stand-in for a class of people Woodroof initially abhors.\u00a0 It\u2019s fascinating to track the trajectory of their dynamics, for as the two grow closer they begin to adopt an almost domestic role with respect to one another.\u00a0 There is a great scene where the two are at a supermarket quarreling over the artificial ingredients found in a food product, bickering in the stubborn manner that spouses often do.\u00a0 Moments later, Ron runs into one of his old friends.\u00a0 Unaware that Ron and Ray are shopping together, the man insults Ray\u2014to which Ron boldly responds by introducing the two.\u00a0 The situation escalates to a physical altercation with Ron demanding that the man shake Ray\u2019s hand.\u00a0 Although veiled in a thin coat of humor, the brevity of this scene is nonetheless powerful and marks the true turning point of the film.<\/p>\n

\u201cPersonally, I\u2019d have preferred it to just be more distinctive.\u00a0 Bolder.\u00a0 Scarier.\u00a0 Uglier.\u00a0 Queerer\u201d.\u00a0 In his review of the film, critic Glenn Bunks argues that Dallas lacked a strong political agenda and would have worked better if it committed to one extreme: if it had been either \u201cmore rigid in its structure or just go wildly out on limbs and fleets of fancy\u201d (Bunks).\u00a0\u00a0 Bunks\u2019 review has me playing devil\u2019s advocate.\u00a0 On the one hand, I agree that the film could have taken greater stylistic risks and dedicated more time to exploring Leto\u2019s character.\u00a0 However, Vallee\u2019s film isn\u2019t meant to be told from solely a queer perspective\u2014but rather from an AIDS one.\u00a0 That\u2019s the point.\u00a0 The fact that Dallas largely centers on a heterosexual man\u2019s struggle with the disease speaks volumes: after all, isn\u2019t that evidence of how the film refutes the ignorant belief that HIV\/AIDS is only prevalent in the gay community? Contrary to Bunks\u2019 argument, Vallee didn\u2019t set out to make an epic on the fight against AIDS or homosexual culture in 1980s Texas\u2014he assumes that the audience knows the big picture already.\u00a0 Don\u2019t get me wrong, I do think this movie addresses LGBTQ politics- but it does so on a micro level through the portrayal of both protagonists.\u00a0 Not only does Leto\u2019s character catalyze Ron\u2019s change in perspective, but Ray herself provides the film with its most vibrant, familiar, dignified, personable, and heart wrenching moments.\u00a0 Leto truly masters the idiosyncrasies of a transgender male, and his character serves as a vessel of queer strength and empowerment.\u00a0 And furthermore, what could be \u201cbolder\u201d and \u201cuglier\u201d than the explicit anti-gay rhetoric that is so prevalent in the first half of the film?\u00a0 What purpose could it serve other than to provoke the viewer and demand that they confront these homophobic issues?\u00a0 It\u2019s remarkable to note how Vallee contrasts the experiences of his opposing main characters; exploring their interiority with a gaze that is unapologetic yet compassionate; tender and harsh.\u00a0 McConaughey and Leto\u2019s characters add that personal thread which ultimately links the politics of the film with a more intimate and relatable portrait of suffering and the resilience of the human spirit. <\/i><\/p>\n

*Female pronouns will now be used for Ray.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For any fan of LGBTQI cinema, the past several months have seen a welcoming and prosperous surge in the release of diverse queer pictures, especially within the realm of experimental Indies and foreign art-house dramas.\u00a0 Usually, pickings are so slim at any given time that if queer audiences wish to see their stories projected onscreen,\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":2747,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[2065],"tags":[353,77,356,335,1963,351,39,355,357,76,235,354,135,134,38,62,352],"yst_prominent_words":[],"class_list":["post-2745","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-culture","tag-aids","tag-bisexual","tag-dallas-buyers-club","tag-demitra-demi-kampakis","tag-film","tag-film-analysis","tag-gay","tag-jared-leto","tag-jean-marc-vallee","tag-lesbian","tag-lgbtqi","tag-matthew-mcconaughey","tag-posture","tag-posture-magazine","tag-queer","tag-trans","tag-transgender"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/posturemag.com\/online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/PinnacleFilms_DallasBuyersClub_resized.jpg?fit=640%2C410","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6QBV8-Ih","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/posturemag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2745","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/posturemag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/posturemag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/posturemag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/posturemag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2745"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/posturemag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2745\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11230,"href":"http:\/\/posturemag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2745\/revisions\/11230"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/posturemag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2747"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/posturemag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2745"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/posturemag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2745"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/posturemag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2745"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/posturemag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=2745"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}