"The Imitation Of Life.."

The other day I ran across this blast from the past... "Norman... Is That You?" was a 1976 comical farce (based on a 1970 play of the same name) that at the time was met by protests from church and "moral majority" types because it dealt head-on with the emergence of the openly gay community.

Although I'd heard of this film's existence, I'd never seen it before.  As I watched its patent objectification of dated stereotypes, at times I laughed, and in some moments I cried and even got mad.  But taken in the whole, I realized that despite its mostly playful abuse of gay stereotypes of its day, this film was actually a first attempt at a compassionate and accepting portrayal of same gender loving people in the community of people of color.  And when viewed in that light, not only was it entertaining, but it was encouraging to realize that even then, nearly 40 years ago, the world was clearly moving to the day when we could be free to be who we are... only human.

"Fear Eats the Soul"