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Last Updated: Nov 5th, 2008 - 21:05:35 |
Whether the idea of marriage appeals to you or not, equality in the eyes of the law makes sense, right?
Saving Marriage is the passionate affirmation of documentarists Mike Roth and John Henning.
The movie captures the frenzy of emotion surrounding the 2003 U.S. civil rights landmark case that granted same-sex couples the right to marry in Massachusetts, and the subsequent Constitutional Convention held to discuss overturning or amending (thus undermining) the ruling.
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Saving Marriage is at the Starz Film Center Nov. 7 - 13. Check www.starzfilmcenter.com for show times.
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Roth and Henning's film raises questions that may only register as whispers in the average citizen's consciousness: What is marriage? A symbol? Tax and insurance benefits? Why is it so important in an era where cohabitation is not only accepted but a common practice among straight couples? Why aren't legal civil unions enough? And does the "union between a man and a woman" in the Constitution have anything to do with love?
Saving Marriage closely observes this heated human rights issue as a fight for dignity and equality. Exposing the naked heart of controversy, pro-gay marriage lobbyists, senators, and civilians make navigating such stormy semantics seem easy.
It is a different time than in the 60s and 70s, when marriage was considered a "heterosexist" and outdated institution by the young people of the sexual revolution, as one lawyer in the film points out. Now same-sex couples have families they want to protect and the government has been unwilling to help them. It is touching to see how far same-sex couples, as represented in Marriage, have come.
Weighing the question of gay marriage against the trials and progress of other oppressed groups in history, Saving Marriage faces the difficult prospect that American social progress may still be far from its apex.
The documentary argues convincingly that marriage is about family and societal recognition.
John Friedes of the Freedom to Marry Coalition attended law school in Colorado and is featured in Saving Marriage. All legalese aside, he says at one of the first legal same-sex weddings, anyone witnessing such a ceremony can clearly see that gay couples do love.
There is nothing that makes you want to get married more that someone who is married telling you that you can't, as one female activist says.
Saving Marriage goes inside courts, into churches and living rooms, bringing the reality of the human partnership called "marriage" into much-needed focus.
If you aren't in their immediate orbit, the gravity of the issues in Saving Marriage will pull you in.
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