Shame

Last night I saw Michael Fassbender's new movie, Shame, filmed in New York City. It was the most intense and psychologically-draining film I have ever seen, and I recommend it strongly.


This film has been getting a lot of buzz lately and for good reason. If you haven't heard about it however, check out the trailer here. Fassbender is Brandon, a handsome and successful businessman who seemingly has a lot of good things going for him, but who is hiding a very sinister addiction: an addiction to sex.


He masturbates daily in the office bathroom. His computer hard drive at work and at home is full of every type of porno you can think of. His closets are full of it too. He frequently has sex with women online or with prostitutes, never with women whom he knows.


While such a problem might be hidden successfully when you are living alone, it is not so easy when someone begins to invade your privacy. Enter Sissy, Brandon's troubled and emotionally-dependent sister who moves in with him unexpectedly. It doesn't take long before her reappearance and the obvious tension between them begins to unravel Brandon's life.


The film focuses largely on Brandon's addiction and on his relationship with his sister. We see him spiraling out of control and hitting rock bottom in extremely visceral and emotional scenes.


Fassbender's performance is stellar. He gets all the subtleties in body language perfect, and all the raw emotions his character must be facing: the glint of his eyes as he moves from a woman's face to her legs, the train-wreck agony and self-loathing in his facial expressions as he sleeps with yet another prostitute.

The film does a really great job examining the intricacies and hard realities of addiction. Using long, clear screen shots in some scenes and narrow, unfocused shots in others help you feel the constant shift between being in control and being out of control. Brandon balances these moments back and forth throughout the movie, with each out-of-control scene getting harsher and harsher, and therefore more difficult to watch. The directors knew exactly how to shoot each scene, and Fassbender did a spectacular job all along the way.

Shame is not for the easily squeamish- it was rated NC-17 for its graphic sexual content- yet it is a must-see for those who can stomach it. It is a movie you will never forget, and that will leave you thinking for a very long time.  

World Aids Day

December 1 was World Aids Day, designed to promote awareness and increase education on the disease worldwide, while lobbying lawmakers and scientists for the continued support of Aids-related funding and research.


I thought it was important to pay a little tribute to World Aids Day due to the gravity of its outreach: over 34 million people are living with HIV today, the majority in sub-saharan Africa where there is little to no access to treatment or prevention methods. Unfortunately, organizations continue to slash their budgets for Aids research and prevention in the wake of the economic crisis.

From my blog for Passport Magazine:
"The Global Fund to fight against AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria recently announced its intention to abandon the next round of funding due to a ten billion dollar shortfall. While services currently financed will continue with transitional finances, this means there will be no new funding possibilities until 2014. The announcement comes alongside a new report released by the World Health Organization, UNICEF, and UNAIDS. The report revealed that increased access to HIV services resulted in a 15 percent reduction of new infections over the past decade, and a 22 percent decline in AIDS-related deaths in the last five years."


With funds being taken away, however, that positive trend may not last much longer. 


The issue of HIV/Aids and how serious a problem it is has really come to my attention since I began working for a gay travel magazine. The more I read about how HIV affects people's lives and how many people are affected, the more I understand the importance of days like World Aids Day, and the importance of Aids research. If you didn't do it yesterday, then reflect a little today and do some of your own research to stay informed and stay protected, and if you can, to help.