#latterdays

by:Antonio Castaneda

(Latter Days movie cover)

This film revolves around Elder Aaron and Christian as they seek to find a piece of themselves, they never thought they’d have as one seeks finding himself the other falls in love. Elder Aaron holds a high ranking and is serving his mission in Los Angeles and believes in the word of the lord and has never questioned it till he meets Christian. Christian is an out and proud individual that takes no shame in who he is, since he is always sleeping around with curious guys and other gay guys. He makes a bet that he can sleep with Aaron yet falls for him and eventually only gets a kiss from him, without knowing that the brothers of his congregation saw it. This sends Aaron back home as he is dis-communicated yet now seeks the approval of his parents, he soon faces suicidal thoughts as he is shunned. Christian searches for him only to find his parents who tell him that he’s taken his own life because of what he did to him, when he’s actually been placed in a conversion therapy camp.  Aaron is placed through torture and one night listens to a song that moves him to leave and find Christian, while Christian has been unable to forget Aaron touch.The film deals with the coming out narrative as well as the set up of opposite sides of masculine/feminine gays, while also trying to create a good image of what every gay wants.

When introduced to Christian one might notice that he takes the form of what it is to be a stereotypical gay as he embodies characteristics of the opposite sex. He dresses in short shorts and doesn’t care if he seen as macho as his own roommate considers him almost like one of the girls. He is un-apologetically himself because one realizes in the film that his parents rejected him when he came out and left him to fend for himself. He takes on these stereotypes and is challenged by a closeted gay to be more than the superficial man he’s been. This is a perfect example of an over exaggerated representation of a gay man as he starts off flamboyant without a care for who he sleeps with and this only feeds into the negative ideas that gay men only seek sexual contact. The film feeds into negative portrayals as well as centers around this idea that gay men seek to change straight men and its almost like a game to them.

(Moment in which Aaron and Christian kiss)

Aaron is a great representation of the queer narrative and coming out. He is sent home in exile and is forced to confront his family and searches for approval from his congregation. He forced himself to be one thing to be accepted by his family and searches for their approval as he returns home. In one scene he even asks his mother to look at him and he realizes that she will never love what he has become, which in her eyes is nothing. “that the most important personal relationships a gay or lesbian character has are those he has with heterosexuals (Dow,pg. 10)).” This is proven when Aaron chooses to attempt to take his life and put himself out of this shame, he only takes their views in consideration and forgets that Christian fell and cared for him. Although he is unsuccessful and is sent to conversation therapy, he starts to accept himself and moves away from the seeking acceptance. “‘the internal ruse of confession’’:  the assumption that’ ‘confessions free, but power reduces one to silence; truth does not belong to an order of power but shares an original affinity with free-dom’’ (p. 60). (Dow, pg4).”

(Aaron confronts his mother 1:43-4:41)

“Homosexuals want the same thing: to be open in this society, to live a life without fear of reprisal from being homosexual- to live a life of respect. (Gross, pg. 45).” This explains something the characters in the film attempt to create towards the end which is a good relationship in which they even have a sexual scene. They embody some positive characteristics, but this is only for the last 15 minuets of the film, where there is isn’t any real growth from the characters. This part of the film is a positive outlook yet doesn’t last and although it is a good view it lacks detail or any idea of them having a happy ending. There is also a song that is played by a straight actress and she takes Christians feelings and places them in the song. It is similar to the idea of queerness in music and not actually being represented, since she sings about him calling to heaven for him, yet nobody is there to represent these two guys as one. The film also has a moment where the radio talks about her song actually being about her and not about the man she wrote it about.

(The end to their story)

The ways this affected me as I did watch this film when I was 18 and it gave me an insight into what many would expect me to be, especially considering that I was active in the congregation of my church. This film made it hard for me to want to come out because I didn’t want to lose my family or be pushed out of the church. These representations create these negative experience’s which are a reality but also exaggerates the only other option that exists when one isn’t closeted which is half a man. These representations can damage the ways in which younger generations choose to come out and or the ways in which they create an identity for themselves.  One strength to the film is that it does allow the audience to see the two characters have intercourse and sleep together, yet the lighting is adjusted so that their bodies can be confused for a heterosexual couple, especially since Christian has long hair and Aaron's body cover his when he isn’t covering Aaron's. “From the OTS and the long shot to camera distance and framing, cinematographers often use their art to give gay viewers just enough to placate them, so they cannot launch Facebook campaigns decrying the ways a show romantically treats its gay characters (Martin, https://www.flowjournal.org/2012/09/it%E2%80%99s-not-in-his-kiss-gay/).” These methods are used to make gay relationships non-offensive to straight audiences, which is why although its a step in the right direction it ins’t as good for queer audiences. 

The song from the film:

References:

Bonnie Dow (2001) Ellen, Television, and the Politics of Gay and LesbianVisibility, Critical Studies in Media Communication, 18:2, 123-140, DOI: 10.1080/07393180128077

Gross, Larry (2001). “Ch 2: Coming Out and Coming Together” and “Ch 3: Stonewall and Beyond” in Up from Invisibility: Lesbians, Gay Men, and the Media in America, 21-55. 

It's (Not) In His Kiss: Gay Kisses, Narrative Strategies, and Camera Angles in Post-Network Television Comedy Alfred L. Martin, Jr. / The University of Texas at Austin. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.flowjournal.org/2012/09/it’s-not-in-his-kiss-gay/

J. (2011, October 06). Latter Days -Last Scene. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mt5Z97LR9Q8

M. (2011, January 22). Latter Days, Steve Sandvoss, He loved me (mormon persecution of gays). Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZoLKb7KuS-w

Releasing, T. (2011, July 13). Latter Days - Gay Movie Official HD Trailer - TLA Releasing. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5K0RLg3c0w

The Time of the End: End of the Old Testament or End of the World?

Eli of Kittim

This is the most misunderstood concept in the entire Bible and the cause of much misinterpretation and confusion. It is the root of bad theology and the cause of much misinformation in both eschatology and theology proper.

When John says, in 1 John 2:18, “it is the last hour,” he’s not talking about the time in which he’s composing the letter. Rather, he’s saying that the “message” we’re writing of is about “the last hour”! As I will show, the so-called “last hour” is referring to the last days, not to the end of the Old Testament or the end of the Jewish age. As we shall see, it is actually a reference to the last days of the world, to judgment day, the end time, the consummation of the ages, and the end of the world! In fact, this particular time period is given special treatment in 1 Corinthians 15, which is referring mainly to the time when everything will conclude in Christ, namely, when he will fight all his enemies, re-create the universe, and glorify his people.

The “last days” are not the last days of the Old Testament, as Scott Hahn argued in a recent interview on the More pints with Aquinas podcast. He claimed that the “last days” do not refer to the end of the world but rather “to the end of the world as the people of God knew it.” But, as I will show, the biblical phrase “the end of the world” does not in any way, shape, or form, refer to the first century c.e. or to the time of Antiquity.

Let’s start off with First Corinthians 15:22-23, which references the general resurrection of the dead that will take place at “the time of the end,” an event that has not yet happened (“For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive”). The next verse (1 Cor. 15:24) is obviously talking about “the end of the world,” not about the first century c.e., when it talks about “the end”:

“Then the end will come [εἶτα τὸ τέλος], when he [Jesus] hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power.”

So, “the end” will come (1 Cor. 15:24) at approximately the same time period when the general resurrection of the dead will take place (1 Cor. 15:23 ff.), as well as the rapture (see 1 Thess. 4:16-17). Moreover, in Daniel 8:17, a specific “vision concerns the time of the end” (Heb. לְעֶת קֵ֥ץ lə·‘êṯ qêṣ), which refers to judgment day because, in Daniel 8:19, we are told “what will happen later in the time of [God’s] wrath, because the vision concerns the appointed time of the end.”

Furthermore, Daniel 12:1 speaks about the worst time period in human history (“a time of distress”). This is repeated in Matthew 24:21 as a cataclysmic future event, which is apparently contemporaneous with the general resurrection of the dead (see e.g. Dan. 12:2). Then, in the following verse (Dan. 12:4), the angelic messenger refers to this specific time period as “the time of the end” (Gk. καιροῦ συντελείας; LXX).

Just as in Daniel 12:4, a similar phrase (συντελείᾳ τοῦ αἰῶνος) is used throughout the New Testament to refer to judgment day, the harvest, the lake of fire, the consummation of the ages, and the time of the end. The King James Version translates it as “the end of the world.” For example, in Matthew 13:39, the reader is told that “the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels.” In Matthew 13:49, we are told what will happen “at the end of the world: the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just.” In fact, in Matthew 24:3, the sign of Jesus’ coming is intimately associated with “the end of the world.” What is more, in Matthew 28:20, we read of Jesus's command to his followers to spread his teachings globally (the Great Commission), as he promises to be with them “even unto the end of the world.” Thus, the apocalyptic phrase the end of the world is not connected to the first century c.e. but rather to the “end times”!

Similarly, in Matthew 24:6, the Greek phrase τὸ τέλος (“the end”) is not referring to the first century c.e. but to “the end of the world” when there will be something analogous to world wars (“nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom”; Mt. 24:7), and, in this eschatological context, Jesus uses the phrase τὸ τέλος to refer to the future, not to the first century c.e.:

“You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end [τὸ τέλος] is still to come.”

The word τέλος means “the end.” In Matthew 24:14, Jesus says, “this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end [τὸ τέλος] will come.”

El título de la película alude a la "Iglesia de Jesucristo de los Santos de los Últimos Días", organización religiosa cuyos miembros son conocidos como "mormones". Cuatro jóvenes arriban a Los Angeles con la misión explícita de comunicar su fe, todos ellos llevando el título de "Elder" (son chicos de entre dieciocho y veinticinco años): Elder Aaron Davis (Steve Sandboss), Elder Paul Ryder (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), Elder Harmon (Rob McElhenney) y Elder Gilford (Dave Power). El grupo se hospeda en un complejo habitacional y descubre que su vecino es Christian (Wes Ramsey), un joven abierta, orgullosa y (también hay que decirlo) promiscuamente gay que trabaja de mesero en Lila´s, un restaurante propiedad de Lila Montagne (la ganadora del Globo de Oro e ícono cinematográfico Jacqueline Bisset).

El inevitable choque de pensamientos y creencias genera una grieta entre los cinco, pero es Aaron quien, luego de un pequeño accidente en el patio, ayuda al díscolo Christian con su herida e inicia un acercamiento que lo aterra porque teme convertirse en una deshonra para su familia y su comunidad, además de ser excomulgado. Pero el amor puede ser más fuerte que el temor, ¿o no?

Una vez más, los prejuicios (los de Aaron y los de sus compañeros, pero también los de Christian) se convierten en una amenaza a la interacción e incluso a la vida humana. La historia de C. Jay Cox, autor y director del filme, tiene muchos puntos en contacto con la de Aaron, aunque su obra no es estrictamente biográfica: proveniente de una familia mormona, luego asumió su homosexualidad tras su paso por Los Angeles. Así, logró una película considerada de culto en la riquísima y variopinta historia de la cinematografía LGBTQ: cálida, divertida e incluso tensa debido a los efectos de la decisión de sus protagonistas, a los que se suma Mary Kay Place como la atribulada madre de Aaron, Rebekah Johnson como Julie, gran amiga de Christian, Khary Payton, en el rol de Andrew, un compañero de trabajo (también gay) de éste, y Erik Palladino, que interpreta a Keith, a quien Christian ayuda debido a que enfrenta el sida en su estado final.