Common Ground (Harvey Fierstein)

REVIEW
A Showtime film of three short plays about the emerging gay culture by three of America's leading gay and lesbian playwrights: Paula Vogel, Terrence McNally and Harvey Fierstein. Deitch's entertaining film shows how straight and gay America have interacted with each other for the past 50 years. The first segment, A Friend of Dorothy by Vogel, is set in an America, fresh from WWII in the early '50s. Joe McCarthy was railing against Communists in the State Department and the Navy was ridding itself of undesirables, like our heroine, Dorothy (Murphy) and her adorable gay buddy Billy (Priestley). After her dishonorable discharge she went to a less friendly home in Homer, Connecticut. As news of her sexual deviancy spread around town, the only warm face was that of closeted lesbian Mrs. Nelson, who gave her some money and sent her down to Greenwich Village. McNally's piece, Mr. Roberts is set in a country rife with an anti-war movement and a people who are beginning to question some of the dominant paradigms, including homophobia. Monsieur Robert (Weber) is a closeted French teacher at Homer High School, and his prize student, Toby (Thomas), is dealing with issues of coming out and gaybashing. The third play is Fierstein's Amos and Andy, about two upwardly mobile gay men who decide to get married, much to the chagrin of Ira (Asner), Andy's dad. Ira raises a fuss in Homer and all the bigots come out to protest, though the groom's dad walks down the aisle with his son anyway. A worthy film filled with education for people who need it, and entertainment for the rest of us.