By Amber McGee
Editor in Chief
Last Thursday the Piedmont Theater in Oakland held a special free showing of the hit LGBT film Big Eden. The event was organized by Frameline, a nonprofit organization that is responsible for the yearly San Francisco International LGBT Film Festival, in order to celebrate the film’s 15th anniversary.
Originally premiering at the Los Angeles Independent Film Festival, Big Eden tells the story of Henry Hart, an artist from New York who returns to his small hometown of Big Eden, Montana to take care of his grandfather.
His previously peaceful life is turned on its head as he struggles with telling his grandfather he’s gay, confronts unresolved feelings for an old friend, and makes a choice on what to do with his future. All the while local Native American store owner and shy guy Pike Dexter deals with his own problems–namely, his feelings for Henry.
With all these conflicts it sounds unlikely that this movie could be anything but a drama, and yet it’s not. The true charm of Big Eden is in the fact that it’s essentially a “gay fairy tale.” There’s no homophobic language, and by the middle of the movie the whole town is trying to set up Henry and Pike. This movie isn’t a drama, but in fact a rather “normal” romantic comedy, except for once the couple isn’t heterosexual.
Although occasionally slow in scenes, the two hours spent watching this movie will go by quicker than you think. There’s a nice, even spread of sappyness and sadness to keep you wondering what will happen next. One moment you’ll be sitting in your seat sympathizing with the characters and the next you’ll be wanting to cover your face and laugh at how awkward and childish these adults can be.
Being set in Montana you can expect the music of this movie to be very country. That being said, if I, a staunch hater of almost everything and anything country, could survive and even appreciate it in the end, then so can you.
What is most interesting about the setting, other than the abundance of cowboy hats, is the fact that as stated earlier this film is free of homophobic language. There is maybe one or two scenes that could be interpreted as negative at first, but it’s quickly dismissed by the next five or so scenes.
It goes without saying that not everyone who lives in small communities, especially in more “rural” states, is homophobic, but the association is made so often that it becomes hard to imagine those areas as anything but. This is why Big Eden is often described as a fairy tale. The idea of such a small town being so accepting of a gay couple–to the point that they even actively try to set the two men up–seems impossible.
Fairy tale or not, it’s a breath of fresh air, and yes it’s fresh even though the movie is 15 years old, to see a movie where the main character’s sexuality isn’t treated negatively. Many LGBT themed films and media are filled with homophobia as way of conflict. It is a conflict, a very real one, but media is a way to escape reality and imagine other worlds.
Is it too much to ask for a world where middle aged cowboys aren’t spouting hatred, but instead sitting around like high school girls gossiping about how those two just haven’t kissed yet dang it?
I personally found no glaring faults with Big Eden. Admittedly, it was much better than what I walked into the theater expecting. It’s a feel good movie, and it definitely left me feeling good. In my opinion, it’s the kind of movie to go see with that one friend who is really into knowing who is dating who and who finds almost every relationship cute, or your significant other. Heck, you should just go ahead and take both.
Big Eden has won many awards from independent film festivals such as the L.A Outfest Audience Award for Outstanding Narrative Feature in 2000, and a nomination from GLAAD for Best Limited Release Film in 2002.
