Documentary Review: Pieces of Us

Text © Robert Barry Francos / FFanzeen, 2023
Images from the Internet

Pieces of Us
Directed by Cheryl Allison
Wow Films; EEC! Productions; Blue Door Films II; Freestyle Digital Media
92 minutes, 2021 /2023
www.piecesofusthefilm.com/
www.facebook.com/PiecesofUsDocumentary

Originally, I was going to say something about how this is a challenging time to be openly gay, what with the rise of Republican autocratic Christianity, and while that is definitely true, I cannot think of a time after, say, the Stonewall Riots of 1969, where is has been safe to be LGBTQetc. Sure, the arrests have gone down (for now) and there is more of a presence on media, but uncalled for and unnecessary violence towards the community continues, if not recently increasing due to hateful pundit right-wing talking points.

I have to admit, growing up in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, I had my own biases for most of my early life because I did not know better, but through education and working at a Baskin-Robbins a block away from the Stonewall, I quickly became a proud ally, and have marched in a number of Pride events. That’s me; but it is time to discuss this documentary.

While LGBTQetc. violence is a social problem, it most effects those who has had direct contact with this force. It is the post-violence that is the focus of this film, telling the story of five particular people. What is important to acknowledge is that though these subjects have had horrendous things done to them, it is not these actions that are the main focus, in a woe-in-me fashion, but is rather centered on coming through on the other side, with love and support around them. Despite the pain, this is a positive project.

JP Masterson aka Jipster

The film starts in earnest when we meet Jipster (JP Masterson), a white rapper who works as a middle school psychologist in Brooklyn; he was beaten in a New York subway station - West 4^th Street, of all places, the heart of the city’s gay community – for holding hands with Peter, his partner. Interestingly, we see the local television news story about the incident to launch the topic. Masterson is an engaging talker (as a rapper, one would hope). We get to meet his school’s principal, Dakota Keyes, and even some students, who fully support him.

Mykel's flag dance

Flag dance performance artist Mykel picked someone up and brought him home, where he was attacked and beaten. Back in the mid-1980s, I worked with a man named Glen who had a great sarcastic sense of humor, who was murdered by someone he brought home, so I can empathize with the event. While being afraid of reporting this incident to the NYPD, he reaches out to Beverly Tillery, who is the Executive Director of the New York Anti-Violence Project (AVP). She is also interviewed, giving a lifeline for those who may need her services. The person who counseled Mykel was transgender icon, Victoria Cruz.

Victoria Cruz, Mykel

Victoria was at the Stonewall riots in 1969 (as was musician Jayne County), becoming a crisis counselor at AVP, literally saving lives with her generosity of spirit (e.g., to paraphrase, “Don’t say ‘victim,’ say ‘survivor’”). Dressed in Native American paraphernalia, she meets with Mykel at a Brooklyn beach and they talk. I am not ashamed to say I was teary at one point.

Leia

Thus, the viewer is introduced to Leia. She is a single mother from Denver, whose 9-year-old son, Jamel, committed suicide after being bullied. In my opinion, this is being fostered by right-leaning hate speech that is flooding the media. To me, outlets like FoxNews is as much to blame as his classmates that bullied him until he could not take it anymore. This is the desired future of the Republican party, while they hypocritically scream “save the children.”

Leia was counseled by members of local and national organization PFLAG, here represented by Bianca and Brett, who explain their services. It is really smart filmmaking to not only show the problems that the people who were attacked went through, and their journeys back to their lives, but also to focus on the organizations that are there to support people in those situations. I respect that a lot. Another example, which is focused on here is the first Straight-Gay Alliance advocacy group, The Swish Ally Fund, founded by Sue Sena, who is also featured.

Prince Manvendra Singh-Gohil

The centerpiece of the film is Prince Manvendra Singh-Gohil, the “world’s first openly gay prince,” who is from India. Of course, he received numerous death threats and abandoned by his family, which led him and his husband, Duke DeAndre, to become global ambassadors to LGBTQetc. rights. We meet him in India at a compound set up as a safe place for the LGBTQetc. community in that country. As he visits New York, they touch on the importance of Stonewall, and we see the triangular Christopher Street Park (a place I have been many times), directly across from the Stonewall. Nearly everyone in the film comes together for the coda at the World Pride Parade there (if I may digress, if you have the chance to get to a New York Gay Pride Parade, do it!). It is truly a joyous moment.

The director of this documentary, Cheryl Allison, is an actor, producer, and a filmmaker focused in on sexual-based injustices (e.g., Shatter the Silence in 2019). She does a magnificent job here getting the point across. One aspect of this I particularly liked is that she takes each case study and shows them individually, rarely cross-cutting back and forth between them until further on, when you realize all of the subjects intertwine in their lives one way or another. And yet, they roll from story to story, organically growing as one introduces the other and the effects they had on their lives. This gives a better picture of “flow,” from hurt to healing for each individual, since everyone had their own pathway through PTSD into health.

This film is mostly New York-centric, a “Blue” city in a “Blue” state, where generally being LGBTQetc. is not only broadly recognized, but mostly accepted. And, yet, even in this melting pot, there is a unfounded hatred for the “Other,” be it due to various religious beliefs or just being afraid to come out of the closet (e.g., Republicans like American Conservative Union chairman Matt Schlapp, who is currently accused to sexually assaulting a male driver during Hershel Walker’s failed campaign). What I would like to see, going forward, is this film become a series, because once one gets below the Mason-Dixon, I am willing to assume that the violence level would increase exponentially, and it needs to be addressed to be able to heal as a country.

This is a powerful testament to love that arises like a phoenix from violence, giving voice to advocacy and positiveness, rather than negativity. It manages to be emotional, inspiring, and pointed, without being maudlin, sappy nor sensationalistic. It is a powerful piece of work. This should be shown in schools across the country, especially in Red states like Florida and Texas, where homophobia is rampant.

The documentary is available on Apple TV, iTunes, Amazon, Vudu, DirectTV, and Spectrum, among others.

IMDB listing HERE

SEX IN MIAMI [1984]

Text by George Beke / FFanzeen, 1984

Introduction © Robert Barry Francos / FFanzeen, 2016

Images from the Internet

This interview was originally published in FFanzeen 12, dated 1984, by George Beke. If I remember correctly, Beke is actually a pen name of one of our staffers who wrote so much they wanted to use a pseudonym for some of their articles.

I don’t remember exactly how or where I met Sex in Miami’s lead singer, Clark Render (or if we only talked on the phone), but he was quite happy to have this piece published about the band. They were raucous in a milder-than-Electric Chairs way. That being said, the gender-bending was not common on the scene back then, with drag being more sequestered to gay bars and the like, even with Jayne (then Wayne) County being such a force on the scene. It wasn’t until Wigstock followed by the popularity of the PRIDE and Halloween parades that it became a bit more acceptable and – for lack of a better term – mainstream.

After this piece came out (pun not intended), Clark called me regularly to chat, and to ask for further coverage in FFanzeen. I explained that we were not in the habit of having follow-up pieces as we did not publish that often, but he kept at it, and I did enjoy our conversations. However, I had predicted that as soon as I stopped doing the ‘zine, I would not hear from him again. And I was correct when, in 1988, FFanzeen ceased in its print form.

Over the years I didn’t hear much about him, but in researching this reprint, I found he’s been active in the community performing at various venues, including off-Broadway and Wigstock, in a tour de force piece called “Dueling Bankheads,” a hilarious bit based on the oft sodden Tallulah.

Mikky Zsedely (guitar) studied photography and now owns the 10 Thousand Steps Bookstore in New York. Ralph Robinson (drums) moved on to play more jazz, including for the group C’Est What. He passed away in 2009 (a blog about him HERE). Tom Gartland (bass) would later work at Secret Sounds Studios in New York. – RBF, 2016

Self-described as “most confounding,” transvestite-led Sex in Miami extoll the virtues of preening through chaos. The band members – Clark Render on vocals, Tom Gartland on bass, Ralph Robinson on drums and Mikky Zsedely on guitar – are interviewed in Mikky’s East 13 Street apartment, sans Gartland, who was unavailable for comment.

FFanzeen: You’re very Kabuki theatre.

Clark Render: Thank you. Kabuki is a good word. Much better than drag or transvestite. Those words feel obsolete. I guess I wear mini-skirts because they feel good.

Mikky Zsedely: Clark has great legs.

FF: Right up front is a strong sense of humor.

Clark: We can’t take ourselves too seriously, without incurring fratricide; still, we do dream about world takeover.

Ralph Robinson: We want lots of money.

FF: You’ve managed to combine certain elements of cabaret, psychedelia, hardcore and salsa. Is this the ‘80s formula?

Clark: It really just reflects our own tastes. Destroy All Monsters [excellent noise band from Detroit, including singer Niagara and late guitarist Ron Ashton – RBF, 2016] is probably my favorite band, and of course its predecessors, the Stooges and the MC5. Those and other odd, obscure bands, like Pavlov’s Dog.

FF: What about new bands?

Clark: The Stars That Wouldn’t Shine from Bard College is great.

Mikky: I just like whomever I happen to be listening to at that moment.

Ralph: It’s a free-for-all and you steal whatever you can get away with.

FF: Do you see a new psychedelia movement bubbling up?

Clark: Well, one does get the feeling of a new chapter starting occasionally.

Mikky: Coca-Cola and coffee are psychedelic these days.

FF: Where is each of you from?

Clark: I was born in Florida and raised in Detroit.

Mikky: New York

Ralph: South Beach, Miami.

Clark: Tom, our bass player, is from West Haven, Connecticut.

FF: You’ve come across as a very New York band.

Ralph: We’re a Florida band.

Mikky: We’re an American band.

Clark: Florida via New York.

FF: You have followings in Philadelphia and Baltimore. Digress a bit on these.

Clark: Well, in Baltimore, people actually flock to buy our record and even line up for autographs.

Mikky: John Waters has our record. I can see why he made those movies [Polyester, Pink Flamingos, Female Trouble, etc. – RBF, 1984]. They’re nice people. They write fan letters and make you feel it’s well worth it.

Ralph: Baltimore likes winners, as in ’83.

Mikky: They have pink hotel rooms.

FF: And what about Philadelphia, the City of Brotherly Love?

Clark: Well, we got the ol’ brotherly shove from the Philadelphia police, but the audience and club people are great. One person, whose name I won’t mention without permission, has really helped us win the hearts and minds of Philadelphia.

Mikky: When the police searched us, they wouldn’t touch Clark.

FF: Your debut record features a song called “Japan Must Be Stopped.” What was all the fuss over it?

Clark: We received a letter from the Japanese embassy, inquiring as to the intent of the song, but anyone who listens to the last verse carefully will know we’re actually flattering Japan.

Mikky: “Japan” is a hot record on progressive radio stations from Iowa to Maine, from Tampa to Clearwater, and, of course, New Jersey.

Ralph: There’s a Sex in Miami record-burning wave sweeping the Southeast. They’re buying them up and burning them down.

FF: What’s next?

Clark: Well, a record deal would be nice for starters. We’ve got about a hundred great songs now and even though we’re in the process of recording a couple of them, namely “Celebrities on Booze” and “Here Come the Magnetic Discs.” We’d rather not be forced to put it out ourselves.

FF: But if forced, would you?

Clark: Absolutely.