The
life of bisexual Oscar Wilde, focusing on his affection for
young adult men and the consequences of his desire to fulfill
his destiny, is passionately portrayed in the British film
Wilde. Directed by Brian Gilbert, the film pits
Oscar Wilde against the Marquess of Queensberry, whose son
is devoted to Wilde. Vexed by slanderous accusations around
London by the Marquess, Wilde responds to a written note,
accusing him of being a "sodomite," by filing a libel suit,
whereupon much of his private life becomes a matter of court
record. Since the court proceedings suggest the truth of the
facts broadcast by the Marquess, Wilde loses the suit and
next is charged with the criminal offense of indecent behavior.
He receives the maximum sentence, two years of hard labor,
which so overtaxes his strength that his life is greatly shortened,
and the world is soon deprived of one of the greatest wits
since Shakespeare. The film shows the folly of a homophobic
morality that somehow arose in nineteenth century England
despite the Biblical David and Jonathan, secular teachings
of Socrates, and the flowering of the Renaissance superstars
Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo. The film, of course, is
more than a biography of one person but a paradigm of the
struggle between proponents of malevolent hate and the polymorphous
impulse to love-the way in which powerful but small-minded
homophobes destroy the careers and shorten the lives of some
of the greatest contributors to civilization. Oscar Wilde,
in short, is portrayed as the first gay rights advocate. The
film is based on the biography Oscar Wilde by Richard
Ellmann. MH
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