Pink Triangles Response

Pink Triangles is a documentary film that depicts homophobia and the oppression of the gay and lesbian community in America. Although the documentary focuses on the opinions of Americans during the time that it was filmed, the documentary takes viewers back to the days of the Holocaust and shows some of the history of homophobia around the world. Pink Triangles not only seeks to expose homophobia, but also seeks to show why it is a feeling based around ignorance.

Throughout the film, interviews are done with random people on the streets to gauge their feelings about homosexuals. The people interviewed ranged from young teenage boys to grandparents. These interviews show firsthand the true feelings of people and support the director's views that homophobia is widespread across many different generations of people. Additionally, the director uses logos to support his claim by interviewing historians who speak about homophobia during the Holocaust and how homophobic feelings have progressed since then.

At one point in the film a man on the street states that he does not feel personal displays of affection (PDA) should not be displayed in public and that homosexuals often use PDA in order to show pride for their group of people. While this man is speaking, the director cleverly displays images of magazines and advertisements that show men and women kissing, hugging, and showing other types of PDA. This sequence of images shows the director’s use of the rhetorical appeal of ethos and how he seeks to discredit the man’s comment and ultimately increase the credibility of the film and his stance on homophobia.

The director of Pink Triangles also uses the rhetorical appeal of pathos to support his argument by interviewing gay and lesbian men and woman about their experiences dealing with homophobia. One particular young man speaks about his struggles with being openly gay in high school and how he was beat up in the hallways and booed at during his graduating ceremony. Because most all viewers of the documentary have experienced high school, this story is one that many people can relate to. Overall, I feel the director does an excellent job of portraying homophobia in America and uses all three rhetorical appeals in a way that is very convincing to the audience.

Documentaries such as Pink Triangles and newspaper articles such as "Coming Out in Middle School", media that deals with homophobia and the oppression of gays and lesbians, are very interesting to me, as I have dealt with all of this before in my own life. I have both witnessed and experienced homophobia many times in my life and much like “Coming Out in Middle School” suggests, most of these events took place when I was a middle school student. There was one boy, Dee, in my sixth grade homeroom that was openly gay. Dee always had a little turtle purse/backpack on and would occasionally wear lip gloss and body glitter to school. Stories were always exchanged in the hallways about how Dee was gay, which guy he told one of his friends that he liked, how some other boys made fun of him in class, and so forth. I specifically remember one time in the boy’s locker room when some kids hid his turtle purse/backpack, said a few mean things to him, and left him crying in the corner for the rest of class. Eventually, Dee transferred to another school, probably to get away from all the bullying that he endured at ours. It was then, in sixth grade, when I knew I could not come out to anyone because I would get treated the same way that Dee did. Even though I never told anyone that I was gay until high school, somehow people in middle school still knew and I was the butt of jokes during those three long years. Perhaps my classmates needed someone to let out their insecure heterosexual frustration on now that Dee was gone. I am not sure.

In high school I was still made fun of, but not as often. While we all got older and matured, I was also becoming more comfortable with who I was. Eventually I learned to accept myself and in my sophomore year of high school I told my friend Mary that I was gay. As time went on I came out to my very close friends, but to everyone else I still denied my sexuality and tried to blend in with the straight boys. Like “Coming Out in Middle School” mentioned, my high school did have a Gay Straight Alliance, but I was too scared to join because I thought that everyone would think I was gay and not a straight supporter. My school also had a few openly gay students, both boys and girls, but I was still too insecure to let everyone know. I feel that most of my friends, and the rest of the student body for that matter, knew I was gay, but coming out and admitting it was something I was unable to do at the time.

These days I am openly gay to both my friends and family. I’m happy to say that I have not lost any friends over my sexuality and all of my family members accept me for who I am and love me the same as they always have. Reading “Coming Out in Middle” school made me happy for the middle school students who are comfortable coming out to their friends and family. I understand how difficult that can be for a person and I am very impressed with the courage that these young kids have.