All people take a stand for their beliefs in Pride

This movie wasn’t initially on my schedule. Granted I didn’t know anything more than it was something about gay activists. When it came out and started getting stellar reviews (currently a whopping 94% on Rotten Tomatoes), I took a chance, and very happy I did. It is much more than a story about gay rights. For one, it takes place in 1984, at a time when homosexuals faced more public derision and hate than they do now. But more, the movie is about so much more than just their plight. It is obviously about acceptance, but also the coming together of different people against oppression.

I didn’t know going in, but the movie is based on the true story of the 1984/85 miner’s strike in the UK. In London, a young idealistic gay man named Mark is participating in the annual gay pride parade. He and his friends see the normally harassing police force isn’t as heavy as in years past, leading Mark to realize they are all up north troubling the picketing mineworkers. Feeling for their situation and knowing what it is like to be persecuted, he decides to start the LGSM, or Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners. Starting out just asking for pocket change on the streets, and growing from there, they eventually raise thousands for the struggling miner families. At first, the conservative miner families resist the LGSM, but when Mark refuses to quit, they finally are accepted and become members of their tight-knit group.

This movie is more than just a gay pride film. It is about the pride we can all take in who we are, and also how one man can help another, even if they really have nothing in common. What I really like about the film is it is eye-opening without pushing an agenda, and uplifting while not stooping to tugging at your heart strings. Some films with a similar subject matter have the protagonists standing on a soap box screaming at the world about the injustices they face. In Pride, they accept the way the world is while hoping for it to be better one day, and subtly striving for that. No matter your views or religion, there is a lot any person can take away from this movie.