Customer Reviews

Dear Jesse [VHS]

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Here, now, a gay man addresses Senator No. And one might justifiably expect a hatchet job instead of Mr. Kirkman's elegant and restrained documentary. This piece makes its points quietly, allowing those interviewed by the director to examine what Jesse Helms has come to mean to them. The resulting portrait is all the more damning for the filmmaker's M.O. Helms, arguably one of the most powerful U.S. senators ever, is exposed, finally and conclusively, as a man whose political career has been marked by the most odious forms of scapegoating, and very little else: each of his campaigns has been driven by racist innuendo and overt homophobia, and his political stands are notable more for their brutality and condescension than for any meaningful legislation. Incalculably crafty and evil, Helms has spent his public life hiding behind a crude, jingoistic patriotism which is itself girded by a foul and decidedly cruel Old Testament religiosity. This Kirkman allows to unfold before us with a deft and singular craftsmanship. I recommend this film to anyone, but especially to those who know young, besieged gays and lesbians. Dear Jesse will tell them that, yes, there are forces (political, religious, etc.) that fear them; and, no, they are not, and never will be, alone.

For awhile now, I've been involved in FIGHT (Free Inspire Guide Help Teach), which is a club against any type of discrimination (it just wouldn't all fit into the title.) And, one person I've been researching to the point of almost obsession, was Matthew Shepard. He was a 21 year old student at U of Wyoming, and was beaten to death by Russell Henderson and Aaron McKinney, just because he was gay. I was searching sites about him, and I found that he was in this movie. So, I instantly became obsessed with getting a copy. I watched this film, which is basically a video-letter from a gay film maker to homophobic Senator, Jesse Helms. There are interviews and other interesting footage from around both his and Jesse's hometown, and you really learn a lot about how people viewed Jesse Helms. I found it all interesting, but didn't see anything of Matty Shepard. At the end, in a 'PS', he interviews students who attended lecture given by Senator Helms. The two students were Matthew Shepard, and his boyfriend. While watching this boy, who was only nineteen or twenty at the time, my blood ran cold, because this was the boy I had been fighting for. Who was shot down before he even got a chance to test his wings. As Tim said, all he had was those few minutes of footage of Matty. It's not enough. It's not fair. Only a few minutes of a boy who had hopes and dreams of helping people, and making a difference. I know that this review is more of Matty Shepard than 'Dear Jesse', but he played an incredibly important part, even if it was only less than ten minutes at the end of the film. Tim, the maker of this documentary seemed to be moved by his story, as am I. But, remember, this is coming from a fifteen year old, who still has the passion to keep FIGHT-ing. I haven't let myself become accustomed to going unheard. Tim Kirkman also wanted to be heard, he wanted Jesse Helms to understand that they were really the same, both men under the same god, from the same town, from similar families...and they both were thought to be 'evil, dangerous, and immoral.' Jesse Helms never replied.

it's indeed a rare film that combines the personal and the political in such an emotionally powerful way, i'm so glad i saw DEAR JESSE. it's as much a story of the filmmaker's struggles for identity as it is an examination a major political figure. as the filmmaker is gay and he's focused his film on the notoriously homophobic senator jesse helms, one would assume there might be some overly subjective and even hostile treatment of helms. amazingly, the filmmaker is very even-handed. he talks to all sorts of north carolinians who have been positively and negatively affected by helms. ultimately the film works so well because it's about a fascinating character, the filmmaker himself, who is drawn convincingly as a sweet, vulnerable person trying to deal with the antagonism and prejudice that helms and his followers subject him to.

I loved the film for its humanistic, storytelling approach. It's a personal essay film, a road film, and a political inquiry, all wrapped together into one. While the subject of Jesse Helms and homophobia in the South can be a real button-pusher, the director here tackles everything with true diplomacy and objectivity. In the process, he also brings out a lot of the local color of a small town in North Carolina. I applaud him for addressing the subject with such wit and openness.

This tender, touching portrayal of the modern south is a breath of fresh air. I was pleasantly surprised by how even-handed the director was in his approach, interviewing everyone from an army officer to a mother who had lost her son to AIDS, to members of his own family with respect and delicacy. The director takes a very compicated political subject and humanizes it. I laughed and cried. This is a real eye-opener!

Definitely worth of a fine DVD release. At the time I first caught DEAR JESSE, I was fielding a job offer in Monroe, NC, and interested in learning how much of an assault the area would prove on my SF Bay Area, gay mecca, Californian sensibilities. Kirkman delivers a well-balanced account, caring and thoughtful rather than inflammatory, and by the time the screen faded to black, I'd nodded, satisfied I'd learned something. And then fade up on the Postscript. Struck me dumb and forever etched Kirkman's very different love letter in my memory.

Catch DEAR JESSE however you can. Write and plead for a DVD release.

I don't normally watch documentaries, but I saw this on HBO earlier this year and it was really good. It's a portrait of different people in North Carolina and how they all feel about Jesse Helms. It was very interesting and moving.

I was so excited to see a documentary on the evils of Jesse Helms, but what I got was a self-serving 8 1/2 wanna-be. I just don't understand how such a young filmmaker could have the audacity to do a first film about such a huge public figure and then spend the majority of the footage pointing the camera to himself. I am of the school that says "If the movie shows how hard is is to be Gay in the country it's OK with me" but I still cannot reccomend this one-unless you are fascinated by Tim Kirkman (Who? Exactly.)

What a dissapointment. I was expecting a great film along the lines of a "Roger and Me," but what I watched was a self-serving display of unmitigated ego. It is clear that the subject matter warrents a documentary; Jesse Helms offends many people on many levels. But, instead of documenting this, the dierector turns this into a a self-obsessed piece about his own experiences as a gay man with far too specific references as to how his home state's senator has affected him. This problem manifests itself most blatently when he pulls out a trump card that his ex-boyfriend commits suicide during the filmmaking process. It is a real stretch at best to blame Senator Helms for this act, the suicide victim was a gay man living in New York City at the time; far from the long arm of the Mr. Helms. This is just one of many digresions in a poorly focused film. At 86 minutes, there should have been enough material related to a gay person's experience growing up in North Carolina to keep the author on his topic. But alas, he tries to be "Captain Liberal" and save the day for everyone, including minorities and victims of the tobacco industry; where the experiences of both of those groups could easily fill their own documentaries. So, in the end we just see a tapestry of possibilities, each (with the exception of the author's own personal experiences that are not exactly unique) of which could have made a great film, or even a good film. But, this film is merely a hodgepodge of a young, inexperienced filmmaker's high ideals that need to be focused. I would like to say that I look forward to see another film of his as his craft matures, but considering he has the capacity to be so ego-maniacal as to create a film about himself for his maiden effort, I don't think so. One day there will be a great documentary about the evil that Jesse Helms has done to America and the World, but this isn't it.