Common Ground (film)
Encyclopedia
Common Ground is a 2000 Showtime television movie
directed by Donna Deitch
and written by Paula Vogel
, Terrence McNally
and Harvey Fierstein
. It stars Brittany Murphy
, Jason Priestley
, Steven Weber
, Jonathan Taylor Thomas
, Edward Asner and James Le Gros. The film contains three short stories about gay Americans during different time periods in the fictional town of Homer, Connecticut
, and their efforts to find "common ground" or respect from the heterosexual majority.
) joins the US
Navy
where she meets the Friends of Dorothy
, a code name for a group of gay and lesbian sailors. Nelson meets Billy (Jason Priestley
), who takes her to an interracial nightclub that tolerates gay people. However, the NCIS
raids the nightclub, and Nelson is among those servicemembers who receive a Section 8
discharge for "sexual perversion." Returning to Homer, she tries to restart her life as a public school teacher, but her Section 8 discharge prevents her from getting a job. When her homosexuality becomes public knowledge, her mother expels her from the house, forcing her to seek shelter at a family friend's grocery store. However, the townspeople disapprove of this arrangement, and Nelson becomes homeless
. An independent-minded woman named Janet (Helen Shaver
) at the local diner defends her against the verbal harassment and advises Nelson to go to the bohemian Greenwich Village
, the only place where she might be free to be herself.
. There a closeted
gay high school French language teacher, Mr. Roberts (Steven Weber
), has a student named Tobias, nicknamed Toby, (Jonathan Taylor Thomas
) who is on the verge of coming out of the closet, and who he suspects wishes to confide in him. Roberts must keep his homosexuality a secret for the fear of losing his job, but his live-in boyfriend pressures him to set a good example for the students by illustrating the importance of tolerance and justice. Tobias visits a prostitute on the advice of his swimming coach, with the idea that she can help him "become a man", but rather instead gives him some good advice about being himself.
After Tobias is sexually assaulted
by bullies and is discovered by Roberts, Roberts then himself comes out
to his students and lectures them on the evils of bias-motivated hatred. Tobias graduates from high school and leaves Homer to attend college in the big city.
Television movie
A television film is a feature film that is a television program produced for and originally distributed by a television network, in contrast to...
directed by Donna Deitch
Donna Deitch
Donna Deitch is an American film and television director best known for her 1986 film Desert Hearts. The film was groundbreaking as one of the first releases to depict a lesbian love story in a generally mainstream, albeit art house, vein but with positive and respectful themes...
and written by Paula Vogel
Paula Vogel
Paula Vogel is an American playwright and university professor. She received the 1998 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for her play, How I Learned to Drive.-Early years:...
, Terrence McNally
Terrence McNally
Terrence McNally is an American playwright who has received four Tony Awards, an Emmy, two Guggenheim Fellowships, a Rockefeller Grant, the Lucille Lortel Award, the Hull-Warriner Award, and a citation from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. He has been a member of the Council of the...
and Harvey Fierstein
Harvey Fierstein
Harvey Forbes Fierstein is a U.S. actor and playwright, noted for the early distinction of winning Tony Awards for both writing and originating the lead role in his long-running play Torch Song Trilogy, about a gay drag-performer and his quest for true love and family, as well as writing the...
. It stars Brittany Murphy
Brittany Murphy
Brittany Anne Murphy-Monjack , known professionally as Brittany Murphy, was an American actress and singer. She starred in films such as Clueless, Just Married, Girl Interrupted, Spun, 8 Mile, Uptown Girls, Sin City, Happy Feet, and Riding in Cars with Boys...
, Jason Priestley
Jason Priestley
Jason Bradford Priestley is a Canadian-American actor and director. He is best known as the virtuous Brandon Walsh on the television series Beverly Hills, 90210, a role which catapulted him to recognition in the early 1990s....
, Steven Weber
Steven Weber (actor)
Steven Robert Weber is an American actor. He is best known for his role in the television show Wings which aired throughout the 1990s on NBC.-Early life:...
, Jonathan Taylor Thomas
Jonathan Taylor Thomas
Jonathan Taylor Thomas is an American actor, voice actor, former child star, and teen idol...
, Edward Asner and James Le Gros. The film contains three short stories about gay Americans during different time periods in the fictional town of Homer, Connecticut
Connecticut
Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...
, and their efforts to find "common ground" or respect from the heterosexual majority.
"A Friend of Dorothy's"
In the 1950s Dorothy Nelson (Brittany MurphyBrittany Murphy
Brittany Anne Murphy-Monjack , known professionally as Brittany Murphy, was an American actress and singer. She starred in films such as Clueless, Just Married, Girl Interrupted, Spun, 8 Mile, Uptown Girls, Sin City, Happy Feet, and Riding in Cars with Boys...
) joins the US
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Navy
Navy
A navy is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake- or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions...
where she meets the Friends of Dorothy
Friend of Dorothy
In gay slang, a "friend of Dorothy" is a term for a gay man. The phrase dates back to at least World War II, when homosexual acts were illegal in the United States. Stating that, or asking if, someone was a "friend of Dorothy" was a euphemism used for discussing sexual orientation without others...
, a code name for a group of gay and lesbian sailors. Nelson meets Billy (Jason Priestley
Jason Priestley
Jason Bradford Priestley is a Canadian-American actor and director. He is best known as the virtuous Brandon Walsh on the television series Beverly Hills, 90210, a role which catapulted him to recognition in the early 1990s....
), who takes her to an interracial nightclub that tolerates gay people. However, the NCIS
Naval Criminal Investigative Service
The United States Naval Criminal Investigative Service is the primary security, counter-intelligence, counter-terrorism, and law enforcement agency of the United States Department of the Navy...
raids the nightclub, and Nelson is among those servicemembers who receive a Section 8
Section 8 (military)
The term Section 8 refers to a category of discharge from the United States military for reason of being mentally unfit for service. It also came to mean any serviceperson given such a discharge or behaving as if deserving such a discharge...
discharge for "sexual perversion." Returning to Homer, she tries to restart her life as a public school teacher, but her Section 8 discharge prevents her from getting a job. When her homosexuality becomes public knowledge, her mother expels her from the house, forcing her to seek shelter at a family friend's grocery store. However, the townspeople disapprove of this arrangement, and Nelson becomes homeless
Homelessness
Homelessness describes the condition of people without a regular dwelling. People who are homeless are unable or unwilling to acquire and maintain regular, safe, and adequate housing, or lack "fixed, regular, and adequate night-time residence." The legal definition of "homeless" varies from country...
. An independent-minded woman named Janet (Helen Shaver
Helen Shaver
Helen Shaver is a Canadian actress and film and television director.-Early life:Shaver was born and raised in St. Thomas, Ontario, Canada, a small city located near London, Ontario, with five sisters...
) at the local diner defends her against the verbal harassment and advises Nelson to go to the bohemian Greenwich Village
Greenwich Village
Greenwich Village, , , , .in New York often simply called "the Village", is a largely residential neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City. A large majority of the district is home to upper middle class families...
, the only place where she might be free to be herself.
"Mr. Roberts"
The second story flashes forward to the town of Homer in the 1970s, towards the end of the Vietnam WarVietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
. There a closeted
Closeted
Closeted and in the closet are metaphors used to describe lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning and intersex people who have not disclosed their sexual orientation or gender identity and aspects thereof, including sexual identity and sexual behavior.-Background:In late 20th...
gay high school French language teacher, Mr. Roberts (Steven Weber
Steven Weber (actor)
Steven Robert Weber is an American actor. He is best known for his role in the television show Wings which aired throughout the 1990s on NBC.-Early life:...
), has a student named Tobias, nicknamed Toby, (Jonathan Taylor Thomas
Jonathan Taylor Thomas
Jonathan Taylor Thomas is an American actor, voice actor, former child star, and teen idol...
) who is on the verge of coming out of the closet, and who he suspects wishes to confide in him. Roberts must keep his homosexuality a secret for the fear of losing his job, but his live-in boyfriend pressures him to set a good example for the students by illustrating the importance of tolerance and justice. Tobias visits a prostitute on the advice of his swimming coach, with the idea that she can help him "become a man", but rather instead gives him some good advice about being himself.
After Tobias is sexually assaulted
Rape
Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse, which is initiated by one or more persons against another person without that person's consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority or with a person who is incapable of valid consent. The...
by bullies and is discovered by Roberts, Roberts then himself comes out
Coming out
Coming out is a figure of speech for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people's disclosure of their sexual orientation and/or gender identity....
to his students and lectures them on the evils of bias-motivated hatred. Tobias graduates from high school and leaves Homer to attend college in the big city.
"Amos and Andy"
The final short story takes place in the present day (2000), when a father and the townspeople have to come to terms with the fact that two men will be getting married during a commitment ceremony to be held in the town. The father is planning to lead a protest march against the wedding, while his son, Amos (James Le Gros), is nervous about getting married and going against the cultural stereotype of gay men. The film ends on a positive note, with father and son reconciling and the wedding taking place as scheduled.Cast
- Edward Asner as Ira
- Beau BridgesBeau BridgesLloyd Vernet "Beau" Bridges III is an American actor and director.- Early life :Bridges was born in Los Angeles, the son of actor Lloyd Bridges and his college sweetheart, Dorothy Bridges . He was nicknamed "Beau" by his mother and father after Ashley Wilkes's son in Gone with the Wind, the book...
as Father Leon - Harvey FiersteinHarvey FiersteinHarvey Forbes Fierstein is a U.S. actor and playwright, noted for the early distinction of winning Tony Awards for both writing and originating the lead role in his long-running play Torch Song Trilogy, about a gay drag-performer and his quest for true love and family, as well as writing the...
as Don - Erik KnudsenErik KnudsenErik Kenneth William Knudsen is a Canadian actor. He is known for playing Daniel Matthews in Saw II and Robbie Mercer in Scream 4 and played Dale Turner in the CBS series Jericho.-Life and career:...
as Young Johnny Burroughs - James LeGrosJames LeGrosJames LeGros is an American film and television actor. He is known as a star of independent films with a diversified body of work in the early to mid 1990s.-Personal life:...
as Amos - Brittany MurphyBrittany MurphyBrittany Anne Murphy-Monjack , known professionally as Brittany Murphy, was an American actress and singer. She starred in films such as Clueless, Just Married, Girl Interrupted, Spun, 8 Mile, Uptown Girls, Sin City, Happy Feet, and Riding in Cars with Boys...
as Dorothy Nelson - Jason PriestleyJason PriestleyJason Bradford Priestley is a Canadian-American actor and director. He is best known as the virtuous Brandon Walsh on the television series Beverly Hills, 90210, a role which catapulted him to recognition in the early 1990s....
as Billy - Helen ShaverHelen ShaverHelen Shaver is a Canadian actress and film and television director.-Early life:Shaver was born and raised in St. Thomas, Ontario, Canada, a small city located near London, Ontario, with five sisters...
as Janet - Eric StoltzEric StoltzEric Hamilton Stoltz is an American actor, director and producer. He is widely known for playing the role of Rocky Dennis in the biographical drama film Mask, which earned him the nomination for a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture...
as Johnny Burroughs - Jonathan Taylor ThomasJonathan Taylor ThomasJonathan Taylor Thomas is an American actor, voice actor, former child star, and teen idol...
as Tobias - Steven WeberSteven Weber (actor)Steven Robert Weber is an American actor. He is best known for his role in the television show Wings which aired throughout the 1990s on NBC.-Early life:...
as Gil Roberts