Philadelphia

Hollywood studios hadn't made very many major movies about AIDS before 1993, so Philadelphia represented a fairly safe way into this difficult subject. Many considered Jonathan Demme's picture soft and weak, but Ryan's solo show tries to explain why his approach was the right one. Casting stars like Tom Hanks and Denzel Washington in the leading roles was a huge step to drawing people in. And while Hanks won his first Oscar as a gay man wrongfully dismissed by his law firm, Denzel is just as good...although in an entirely different way. But, yes, there are troubling issues with this film. There are the politics of a straight actor playing a gay character, not to mention how Hollywood dealt with HIV & AIDS 30 years ago...and how they still deal with it now. Homophobia, fear of catching an incurable disease, fear of the unknown, all of it is touched on in this 549th edition of Have You Ever Seen. So, counsellor, please devote nearly an hour to the opening, middle and closing arguments that make the case for Philadelphia's relevance, then and now.

Well, Actually: just before the 24-minute mark, the phrase is "his baby's sister" when it should have been "his sister's baby". Also, Ryan botched Obba Babatunde's name (it came out "Odda"), which was an unfortunate flub of such a great name. Also also, it should have been mentioned that Jonathan Demme was the one who directed Mary Steenburgen to her Oscar in Melvin And Howard.

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