On the Downlow

Recently I watched a film called On the Downlow. The film follows several homosexual black men who live in Cleveland, Ohio. According to many of the men in the film, it is difficult to live as an openly homosexual within the urban black community, as it is in many other communities.

The beginning of the film introduces several men, all of who live in different circumstances. One character lived in a “foster home” for gay men living on the “downlow,” which basically means being openly homosexual only when the circumstances allow. Another character was a divorced father fighting to get custody of his two children. One character was an ex convict searching for love and a job. Each of these characters, and the ones I did not mention, explain when they knew that they were homosexual, the difficulty that they have had coming out, how they live their lives as “straight” men, and how they live their lives as the homosexual men when they are in comfortable environments.

Most of the perspectives offered in the film are the perspectives of the characters themselves. However, the film also interviews the mothers of a few of the young men. The film also captures one of the young men coming out to his father and one of them coming out to his girlfriend. The scene where the character comes out to his father is particularly emotional.

The film isn’t so much pushing an agenda as it is telling the stories of young men whose stories have not yet been told. The film is only 70 minutes long, which limits how much it can get across. An interesting technique that the film makers used was to film the young men both going about their daily activities in their home and among friends and family who they are out to, and going about their daily activities in public, where they feel the need to act straight. I myself did not see a huge difference in the identities, but then again, I knew that they were truly homosexual.