Mama's Boy: A Story From Our Americas (2022) -
I rewrote this review about five times, because it came across in such a negative way, but all the points that I made were valid, yet without any additions that I could make to say why it was actually good.
Initially I thought that this film was produced, written and directed by Dustin Lance Black, as a sweet dedication to a Mother that he obviously loved, but I wondered whether it was really worth making? Was the story special and different enough to warrant it or was it just self indulgent on Dustin's part?
Was it just another story of a sick person that just happened to have a screenwriter for a son or was there something more extraordinary to it all? And did it ultimately fulfil the promise that his Mum claimed that he had made at the Oscar's?
Upon completion I really didn't know. In some ways it felt a bit like "Poor me, my life has been so hard and it started with my otherly abled mum", but by the time it got to the end, it showed how Dustin was using his position as a relatively public figure to deliver a One World message and bolster support for the LGBTQ+ community as well as others. Although it still had a touch of the "Aren't I brilliant?" about it even then.
Personally, I barely even march at pride anymore and I know that I could be doing more to promote acceptance, tolerance and understanding within every community, but at the same time there is a part of me that doesn't want to make a fuss anymore, in order to stop acknowledging differences, because I do believe that the more Pride marches we have, the more Black History Month's and Trans Recognition Day's we have, the more we are saying that there are differences, when actually we are all the same human race, with the same ability to love if we choose to.
We really should have moved passed these fights for our rights already, it is 2022 for Christ's sake.
As the film progressed, I started to wonder who it was really about, because although the start of the film suggested that it was to be about his mum, even his memories of her were very centred on himself. And that was true all the way through it too. But I suppose that it was the title of the story - Mama's BOY!
When I realised that it wasn't made by him, I started to feel that whoever was making the film was doing it as a favour in order to boost Dustin's media presence and to give him a platform for his own work. It was almost an advert for 'Milk' (2008), and perhaps if it had been more about what Mr Black has achieved since his Mother's passing as well as how others can get involved and less about his Mum's origins, Etc, I might have been more impressed and interested in this piece, because the work he is doing now is the important thing to take away from this film.
I didn't know Dustin or his work enough to be watching this as a devoted fan. I only really knew that he was the somebody, who'd made a film, that had married Tom Daley, so I was hoping for something more from this documentary that made it stand out, that made it different from all the "Sob Stories" that have been heard on reality TV shows for years now. And I don't wish to diminish the ladies achievements, because Mrs Black (Not Tom, Dustin's Mother) was very impressive for the way that she lived her life with what appeared to be so much drive and determination and probably far more strength than I'll ever have, but now, after the event, it seemed that the film didn't really know what story they were making and the waters were muddied about where it was going. The ending was wrapped up a bit too quickly as a result and as I've stated above, I believe that was where the most relevance was.
I also felt that he was swearing to emphasise points, but that the words were unfamiliar to him, so I suppose that there was an element of disingenuousness about it too.
Having known nothing about him and especially his Mother, I didn't realise how depressing and upsetting it was going to be to watch this film either, because one of its strong points was how it sensitively showed the pain and the losses that the family endured.
These coming out tales are always hard to watch for me, especially with my own Mum, because it almost seems to dredge it up all over again, but neither of us says anything, because we don't want to upset how things are now and maybe that's why I'd rather see films that are about openly gay men who don't have any issues like that. Films like 'Bros' (2022), 'Single All The Way' (2021) and even 'God's Own Country' (2017), because they don't bring it up. I realise that this film was a documentary and not fiction, but the principal was the same, it could have easily been about the positives in Dustin's life instead. That's just my thoughts in general though and with Dustin's religious background that element was probably very relevant to everything else in this case. Even the smallest coming out stories are relevant and important to the individual coming out, but not all of them will have such an impact on a family, town or the world.
Funnily enough, my Mother actually enjoyed this film a lot, she even made me pause it every time she went to the loo, which was unprecedented. And that's not to say that I didn't like it, because I did, but I noted these points as I watched and so few were anything that could be seen as positives, yet all of them seemed to be connected.
I suppose overall that the two stories combined did make it worthy of being produced, as a piece that was poignant to the world we still live in and as a history of this young and talented writer, because 'Milk' was very good, but I still believe that there should have been more of a focus on Dustin's campaign work, despite his Mum's fantastic lust for life.
640.93/1000.
I rewrote this review about five times, because it came across in such a negative way, but all the points that I made were valid, yet without any additions that I could make to say why it was actually good.
Initially I thought that this film was produced, written and directed by Dustin Lance Black, as a sweet dedication to a Mother that he obviously loved, but I wondered whether it was really worth making? Was the story special and different enough to warrant it or was it just self indulgent on Dustin's part?
Was it just another story of a sick person that just happened to have a screenwriter for a son or was there something more extraordinary to it all? And did it ultimately fulfil the promise that his Mum claimed that he had made at the Oscar's?
Upon completion I really didn't know. In some ways it felt a bit like "Poor me, my life has been so hard and it started with my otherly abled mum", but by the time it got to the end, it showed how Dustin was using his position as a relatively public figure to deliver a One World message and bolster support for the LGBTQ+ community as well as others. Although it still had a touch of the "Aren't I brilliant?" about it even then.
Personally, I barely even march at pride anymore and I know that I could be doing more to promote acceptance, tolerance and understanding within every community, but at the same time there is a part of me that doesn't want to make a fuss anymore, in order to stop acknowledging differences, because I do believe that the more Pride marches we have, the more Black History Month's and Trans Recognition Day's we have, the more we are saying that there are differences, when actually we are all the same human race, with the same ability to love if we choose to.
We really should have moved passed these fights for our rights already, it is 2022 for Christ's sake.
As the film progressed, I started to wonder who it was really about, because although the start of the film suggested that it was to be about his mum, even his memories of her were very centred on himself. And that was true all the way through it too. But I suppose that it was the title of the story - Mama's BOY!
When I realised that it wasn't made by him, I started to feel that whoever was making the film was doing it as a favour in order to boost Dustin's media presence and to give him a platform for his own work. It was almost an advert for 'Milk' (2008), and perhaps if it had been more about what Mr Black has achieved since his Mother's passing as well as how others can get involved and less about his Mum's origins, Etc, I might have been more impressed and interested in this piece, because the work he is doing now is the important thing to take away from this film.
I didn't know Dustin or his work enough to be watching this as a devoted fan. I only really knew that he was the somebody, who'd made a film, that had married Tom Daley, so I was hoping for something more from this documentary that made it stand out, that made it different from all the "Sob Stories" that have been heard on reality TV shows for years now. And I don't wish to diminish the ladies achievements, because Mrs Black (Not Tom, Dustin's Mother) was very impressive for the way that she lived her life with what appeared to be so much drive and determination and probably far more strength than I'll ever have, but now, after the event, it seemed that the film didn't really know what story they were making and the waters were muddied about where it was going. The ending was wrapped up a bit too quickly as a result and as I've stated above, I believe that was where the most relevance was.
I also felt that he was swearing to emphasise points, but that the words were unfamiliar to him, so I suppose that there was an element of disingenuousness about it too.
Having known nothing about him and especially his Mother, I didn't realise how depressing and upsetting it was going to be to watch this film either, because one of its strong points was how it sensitively showed the pain and the losses that the family endured.
These coming out tales are always hard to watch for me, especially with my own Mum, because it almost seems to dredge it up all over again, but neither of us says anything, because we don't want to upset how things are now and maybe that's why I'd rather see films that are about openly gay men who don't have any issues like that. Films like 'Bros' (2022), 'Single All The Way' (2021) and even 'God's Own Country' (2017), because they don't bring it up. I realise that this film was a documentary and not fiction, but the principal was the same, it could have easily been about the positives in Dustin's life instead. That's just my thoughts in general though and with Dustin's religious background that element was probably very relevant to everything else in this case. Even the smallest coming out stories are relevant and important to the individual coming out, but not all of them will have such an impact on a family, town or the world.
Funnily enough, my Mother actually enjoyed this film a lot, she even made me pause it every time she went to the loo, which was unprecedented. And that's not to say that I didn't like it, because I did, but I noted these points as I watched and so few were anything that could be seen as positives, yet all of them seemed to be connected.
I suppose overall that the two stories combined did make it worthy of being produced, as a piece that was poignant to the world we still live in and as a history of this young and talented writer, because 'Milk' was very good, but I still believe that there should have been more of a focus on Dustin's campaign work, despite his Mum's fantastic lust for life.
640.93/1000.