Worth: $17.00
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Cast:
Various
Intro:
Politically-charged efforts like this can fall into the trap of merely reaffirming pre-existing bias – whether an audience agrees with the film’s thesis or not – but the way that this film keeps the personal stories intact makes it truly sink in.
On the 26th of June 2015, same-sex marriage was legalised across the United States of America. On the 9th of December 2017, it became legalised here in Australia. To quote Macklemore’s ‘Same Love’, a certificate on paper isn’t gonna solve it all, but it’s a damn good place to start. And indeed, the struggle only continues.
The same people who opposed same-sex marriage in both countries began claiming fear for their freedom of religion and speech. All the issues in the world and yet, in the public eye, this is what they care about most. Through the lens of director Daniel Karslake (For The Bible Tells Me So), it’s highlighted as a mentality that needs to be curbed. For everyone’s sake.
Politically-charged efforts like this can fall into the trap of merely reaffirming pre-existing bias – whether an audience agrees with the film’s thesis or not – but the way that this film keeps the personal stories intact makes it truly sink in. The varied experiences of the gay and transgender focal points in each family shows a breadth of reactions to ‘coming out’, from confusion to acceptance, from alienation to outright rejection. It mixes the sweet with the bittersweet with just the right dose to give a properly three-dimensional perspective.
And it’s through that perspective, like taking an image of the entire Earth and zooming into the window of a single house, that gives the film’s more pointedly political musings much needed bite. By putting these individuals into a more global perspective, even attached to more publicised events like the Pulse nightclub shooting (the subtitle declaring it the worst mass shooting “at that time”), the doco shows how the treatment of individuals ripples out into groups at large.
For They Know Not What They Do illustrates how that kind of division and controlling fear tears apart people, families and whole communities, including those in the pews. It shouldn’t take a mass loss of life, or a suicide note, to realise that one’s sexual or gender identity doesn’t negate your worth as a human being. But just as fear can destroy, love is able to heal, to bring people together, and this documentary proves that while the struggle may be far from over, living true to one’s self is a freedom everyone deserves.
