Wonkette Movie Night: Pride

'Now, there is a long and honorable tradition in the gay community and it has stood us in good stead for a very long time. When somebody calls you a name... You take it and you own it!'

"When you're in a battle with an enemy that's so much bigger, so much stronger than you, to find out you had a friend you never knew existed, well that's the best feeling in the world. Can you see what we've done here, by coming together all of us? We made history!"

Spoken by Dai Donovan in a gay night club in London, representing the miners in Onllwyn, Wales. He is there to meet with the group LGSM who have been collecting money for the striking workers in the small Welsh town. Not realizing that L was for lesbian and G was for gays, he is surprised but not afraid to accept the hand of friendship.

The 1984-85 strike by the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) in the United Kingdom was to protest the closing of coal mining pits which was driving many communities into poverty. They were up against Margaret Thatcher’s Conservative government who wanted to diminish the power of unions. Thatcher used the police to violently battle strikers, and NUM’s leadership was in disagreement over the strike itself. There were many small communities being devastated by the loss of jobs and no plans to help them change with coal mining no longer being a viable profession.

In Pride, a small group of “poofs and a dyke” decide they will find a way to support the striking miners. The leader, Mark, believes that they are suffering at the hands of Thatcher’s government just like the abuse the gay community endures. They begin collecting money and name themselves “Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners.” Fighting against distrust from their own community and the town they want to help, they persevere.

Making a few friends in Onllwyn, they work their way into the hearts of the townsfolk, except for a bigoted few. The two groups learn much about each other as they fight together to prevent the painful poverty that the strike has inflicted on the miners. The members of the LGSM bring music, dance, joy, and hope with them. It is a powerful thing to be reminded that when all seems lost joy can still exist.

This flick also offers up some fun music so get up and dance baby! A little “Love and Pride” for you. The film is a time capsule of 1984, which was a hell of a year. It’s when I dropped the Hoosier part of myself and became a New Yorker, and came flying out of the closet in the process. Shaved my head, got a leather jacket, combat boots and a girlfriend or two and found myself.

🏳‍🌈HAPPY PRIDE! 🏳‍🌈

Pride stars George MacKay, Bill Nighy, Ben Schnetzner, Jessica Gunning, Paddy Considine, and Imelda Staunton. Directed by Matthew Warchus.

Pride is available with subscription on Peacock. $3.99 in the usual places.

To make requests and see the movie lists and schedules, go to WonkMovie.

Tonight we have the first Superman cartoon from 1941. Superman or The Mad Scientist was produced by Fleischer Studios and is considered to be one of the 50 best cartoons of all time, receiving a nomination for the for Best Animated Short Subject at the 1942 Academy Awards.