‘Queers are Funny; Queers are Weird’

Thus spake Denzel Washington’s character Joe Miller in the classic film Philadelphia (1993) after Tom Hanks’ character, the dying AIDS lawyer Andrew Beckett, congratulates him on surviving his first gay party.

Miller is actually explaining how homosexuals were viewed in most American families in the early 1990s as AIDS was beginning to ravage the gay community.

While Denzel Washington is good as the lawyer fighting an AIDS discrimination case in Philadelphia, Tom Hanks is drop-dead brilliant as the lawyer fired by a blue-shoe law firm in the City of Brotherly Love after contracting AIDS.

Great Moments in Philadelphia
* The dying Tom Hanks enjoying opera singer Marias Callas’ music
* Tom Hanks on the witness stand
* Denzel Washington badgering the witness on the stand
* Confrontation between Tom Hanks and Antonio Banderas
* Denzel Washington’s homophobia and fear of getting AIDS

If you live inthe U.S., you can watch Philadelphia streamed from Netflix via the Roku box.

What a shame that there’s not a single Bollywood actor who is even a tenth as good as Tom Hanks.

6 Responses to "‘Queers are Funny; Queers are Weird’"

  1. the gora   October 31, 2008 at 10:58 am

    I saw the link quote and I thought this was going to be some rant about the Halloween parade in Greenwich Village NYC.

    Just as good as Philadelphia is the South Park spoof where Cartman thinks he has AIDS and walks around the whole episode with the same “P” hat on his head that Tom Hanks does in the movie.

    SearchIndia.com Responds:

    1. You write above: I saw the link quote and I thought this was going to be some rant about the Halloween parade in Greenwich Village NYC.

    Oh, no. We believe every man, woman & transexual have a right to do it every which way they want.

    Ditto with marriage.

    Who are we to come in the way of others’ happiness. That’s why we also oppose California’s Proposition 8.

    2. Added South Park to our list.

  2. the gora   October 31, 2008 at 9:38 pm

    I’m not sure what to think of that proposition 8. California in general has a life of its own. But yeah, to each his own. I guess I had poor word choice with rant. When I said rant I meant long analysis that could be good or bad, but in depth regardless. The costumes that show up in the Greenwich Village Halloween parade are pretty damn creative and it’s something to observe or experience at least once, whatever any person thinks.

  3. aditya_k   November 3, 2008 at 7:14 am

    there was a bollywood film inspired by philadelphia- phir milenge….shilpa shetty plays the AIDS victim(the gay part is not included)….guess who plays the part of denzel washington……your favourite-abhishek bachchan…i liked shilpa’s performance though…..abhishek was also better than he was in (d)rona….but impressive….

    SearchIndia.com Responds:

    A few years back, we rented Phir Milenge from an Indian grocery store here…but due to some geographical restrictions it wouldn’t play on our DVD player…and we never tried to get it again.

  4. aditya_k   November 3, 2008 at 9:36 am

    oops, i wrote ‘but impressive’ instead of ‘but not impressive’…

    SearchIndia.com Responds:

    Don’t worry about your keyboard equivalent of lapsus calami…anytime anyone uses the words Abhishek Bachchan and impressive in the same sentence, we blame it on the mischief of Liquor and don’t take it seriously. 🙂

  5. sganeshkumar1989   November 7, 2009 at 2:01 pm

    Planned to buy this film,while checking the VCDs’ list in the Music World, preferred to buy Kundun instead. 😉

    Will try to buy a copy and watch this film next year! 😀 (As I’ve already planned to watch some 7-8 Famous films during the December Holidays.)

    SearchIndia.com Responds:

    BTW, Tom Hanks won the Oscar for his role in Philadelphia.

  6. sganeshkumar1989   November 7, 2009 at 10:02 pm

    I know that (Regarding the Oscar win). 🙂

You must be logged in to post a comment Login