I saw the movie here in Birmingham. Deep South, baby, all the way. Birmingham is perhaps the most "metropolitan" city in Alabama but we are still very, very Southern and "small-town." Knowing that, we went to the movie expecting to experience, not out-right bashing but nervous laughter, uncomfortable coughs in the vein of "wow, maybe I'm not as comfortable watching two men kiss as I thought I was" throughout the heterosexual audience.
Like I told cadence_k, I'd wager that 85% of the audience was comprised of gay men. I thought for sure that whatever expectation I had of audience reactions would be wrong. I *was* wrong, but not in the way I expected (or hoped).
In various scenes--chief among them the sex scene in the tent, the kiss Alma witnesses and the cut to the motel room--the (majority) audience reaction was laughter. Even some "Oh no they didn't" remarks. What surprised me was that the laughter came from the gay members of the audience (or, at least all the ones around me). What I thought were serious moments in the film belying the desperation and raw emotion between the two were treated almost as if they were jokes. It wouldn't have surprised me if the audience had been mostly heterosexuals because let's face it, Alabama is still very backwards in some regards. That the laughter came from gay majority did surprise me.
I'm not sure if the laughter was truly laughter in the "ha, funny" sense or more in the "wow, that [the secrets, the desperation, the hiding] is too, too close to things I've experienced" nervous laughter sense. I've never had to be ashamed of my sexuality or have to hide it from people for fear of reprisals so I can't honestly say if I would have reacted differently if the roles were reversed. I know when I'm nervous/uncomfortable, I tend to laugh at inappropriate times just as a way to deflect the nervousness. Whether that was happening here, I can't say for sure.
I don't know if the audience reactions would have been different if it had been a majority heterosexual audience. Like I said earlier, I was expecting that type of reaction from that segment of the crowd so when it turned out to come from the largely gay audience, I was very surprised.
no subject
Like I told
In various scenes--chief among them the sex scene in the tent, the kiss Alma witnesses and the cut to the motel room--the (majority) audience reaction was laughter. Even some "Oh no they didn't" remarks. What surprised me was that the laughter came from the gay members of the audience (or, at least all the ones around me). What I thought were serious moments in the film belying the desperation and raw emotion between the two were treated almost as if they were jokes. It wouldn't have surprised me if the audience had been mostly heterosexuals because let's face it, Alabama is still very backwards in some regards. That the laughter came from gay majority did surprise me.
I'm not sure if the laughter was truly laughter in the "ha, funny" sense or more in the "wow, that [the secrets, the desperation, the hiding] is too, too close to things I've experienced" nervous laughter sense. I've never had to be ashamed of my sexuality or have to hide it from people for fear of reprisals so I can't honestly say if I would have reacted differently if the roles were reversed. I know when I'm nervous/uncomfortable, I tend to laugh at inappropriate times just as a way to deflect the nervousness. Whether that was happening here, I can't say for sure.
I don't know if the audience reactions would have been different if it had been a majority heterosexual audience. Like I said earlier, I was expecting that type of reaction from that segment of the crowd so when it turned out to come from the largely gay audience, I was very surprised.