For My Wife… (2010/Cinema Libre DVD)
Picture:
C Sound: C+ Extras: C+ Documentary: B
People
can make a change under all kinds of circumstances and the last thing Charlene
Strong probably ever imagined is that an ugly incident in her life would have
ramifications on a federal level. Miss
Strong was in an all-female relationship and her partner Kate died in an ugly
flooding incident that nearly killed them both, but making things worse was the
fact that the hospital and other entities dealing with Kate tried to bar
Charlene from being with her and seeing her as she died. For My
Wife… tells how that shock made her take action.
Mostly
comprised of the state hearings that caused legislation to be passed in Washington on Domestic
Partnership laws, Miss Strong gave the testimony about her situation that many
felt was the final tipping point to get the votes needed to make the bill a
law. It is a moral victory for those who
believe that a free country means freedom in privacy and private relationships
and the documentary gives us background on the people involved, as well as
recent laws that (no discussed much) were passed to make gays and lesbians
second-class citizens in ways that had never happened in the U.S., reflecting a
much deeper problem about Right Wing radicals in this country getting more and
more extreme as this posts.
At an
hour, this was a learning experience and document that needed to be made,
proving once again how the mainstream media is being too silent about a wide
range of issues that is affecting the country in the worst possible way.
The image
is an awkward combination of anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 and 1.33 X 1, with
the NTSC videotaped hearings in 1.33 that has aliasing errors and the like,
while other footage is not that ratio.
This could have been corrected but that is what the makers choose in
this case. The Dolby Digital 2.0 sound
is barely stereo and sometimes monophonic, but is better overall than the sound
and clear enough to hear. Extras include
Gloria Steinem on Marriage Equality,
Warren Report podcast interviews, trailer, a Music Video (Sam Harris’ My Reclamation) and Meet The Filmmakers piece.
- Nicholas Sheffo
