There's never any great risk as long as you have money

M  A  S  S

I N  M O T I O N
X - R A T E D
I T ' S   A   M A N ' S   W O R L D   A N D   Y O U   M E N   C A N   H A V E   I T

Nature pulls one way and human nature another

M  A  S  S

I N  M O T I O N
X - R A T E D
I T ' S   A   M A N ' S   W O R L D   A N D   Y O U   M E N   C A N   H A V E   I T

Matthew Rush, Part II

M A S S

in

M O T I O N
C L A S S I C S
IT'S A MAN'S WORLD AND YOU MEN CAN HAVE IT

It's been fifteen years since Matthew Rush's debut feature, in Falcon's Bounce (2000). Today, he's generally acknowledged as the last real porn star.

From Frisky Fans, who have an excellent writeup of his career: "Happy faced, ruby lipped muscle titan Matthew Rush arguably is the last of this special breed. From the start, Falcon Studios groomed him to be an exclusive model. After rapidly generating huge success, he inked a contract to the studio's Lifetime Exclusive. And unlike [Joan] Crawford, Rush never ever became box office poison.

A company scout first contacted Rush while visiting a gay bar in Ohio. During this time, Rush worked as a personal trainer with a degree in Exercise Physiology, his original profession which he has recently returned to. Keeping his body in top shape clearly made him stand out as a prospective porn star. At first, Rush considered the idea of working in porn purely a fun fantasy. Several years later, Rush got the nerve to contact the studio for a follow-up. The studio flew him to California, where he auditioned. This audition ended up in his Alone With movie scene."

Here's the second in a two part series of a special KAOS Matthew Rush retrospective (the first part is here), comprising nearly five hundred pictures - after all, too much Matthew Rush is never enough.

Be sure to follow Matthew - aka Greg Grove - on his always entertaining Twitter.

Matthew Rush, Part I

M A S S

in

M O T I O N
C L A S S I C S
IT'S A MAN'S WORLD AND YOU MEN CAN HAVE IT

It's been fifteen years since Matthew Rush's debut feature, in Falcon's Bounce (2000). Today, he's generally acknowledged as the last real porn star.

From Frisky Fans, who have an excellent writeup of his career: "Happy faced, ruby lipped muscle titan Matthew Rush arguably is the last of this special breed. From the start, Falcon Studios groomed him to be an exclusive model. After rapidly generating huge success, he inked a contract to the studio's Lifetime Exclusive. And unlike [Joan] Crawford, Rush never ever became box office poison.

A company scout first contacted Rush while visiting a gay bar in Ohio. During this time, Rush worked as a personal trainer with a degree in Exercise Physiology, his original profession which he has recently returned to. Keeping his body in top shape clearly made him stand out as a prospective porn star. At first, Rush considered the idea of working in porn purely a fun fantasy. Several years later, Rush got the nerve to contact the studio for a follow-up. The studio flew him to California, where he auditioned. This audition ended up in his Alone With movie scene."

Here's the first in a two part series of a special KAOS Matthew Rush retrospective, comprising nearly five hundred pictures - after all, too much Matthew Rush is never enough.

Be sure to follow Matthew - aka Greg Grove - on his always entertaining Twitter.

We come spinning out of nothingness, scattering stars like dust

MASS

in

MOTION
X-RATED
IT'S A MAN'S WORLD AND YOU MEN CAN HAVE IT

The KAOS Top 30 Porn Stars of 2015

The kaos Top 20 Porn Stars 2013

IT'S BEEN A while since our first Top 20 Porn Star list - it was back in November 2011, in fact! Only Hotrod has managed to make it into our new Top 20, as most of the original list have retired from the business.

Happily, no one from 2011's list is dead, which is a relief after the rash of deaths over the last few years.

We think we've narrowed down to 20 the best models working in porn today (it's certainly a better list than Cybersocket's dreary - and all white - list).

Did we get it right? Who do you think should've made the list?

Skin Deep the Series

kaos talks exclusively to Skin Deep the Series creator David Summers.

||| Let's kick off with "Skin Deep the Series" - what's it all about?

In a nut shell, the shows about six gay men, three black, three white who struggle with their experiences and understanding of race culture and sexuality while living in Atlanta, the birthplace of the Civil Rights Movement. Since Atlanta's gay population is primarily from the Black and White communities, and since that is where the majority of racial tension have been historically, we begin there. The other cultures which are very important will be introduced as the show progresses.

||| What was the inspiration for the show?

This has been a process of steps and experiences over the past fifteen years of living in ATL, and my personal experiences of the last twenty-five years or so. But if you want something specific, I can say it was due to an observation when we travelled. "We," meaning my husband Chuck and I. It became apparent we would see more interracial gay couples as we travelled to other cities than we see living here. So I wondered, with a city the size of ATL and the large gay population of black and white guys, why were there so few. So I pondered the thought. I discussed it with others, and the more I talked the more thoughts and feelings began to flow. I found there was a lot of emotion about the subject that everyone seemed to be afraid to discuss on record. So I wanted to find a way to generate an open discussion on why the gay community is so segregated, but especially here in the ATL.

A book was too limiting, a movie didn't allow for proper and lengthy character development, a documentary was out of the question because people didn't want to express their personal feelings on film, and I was not going to create another reality show were people just behave badlyand make fools of themselves. So I thought a scripted TV series was probably the best route to go. I had conversation with some friends in the business who confirmed my thoughts. I then began a development process for ideas, characters, storyline etc. I decided to started with focus groups. My feeling was that I must get the absolute truth from the people who attended, therefore it must be in a comfortable environment. So I decided to hold three separate groups. One with black and white guys who were comfortable with dating outside their race, one with only black guys and one with only white guys. I did not attend the all black group, being a white guy I would have been an obstacle to the truth.

And so it began. I received fantastic information that helped format the show. characters and story line. I continued to interview anyone who wished to be interviewed. My total is now about 150 or so.

||| That's incredible. So your series really is "about something" - a contrast to the sort of gay scripted series we've seen in the past. Is Atlanta really that polarised, compared to other major US cities?

Yes this is really about something. And I will be recreating major events that occurred here in the city that will be very controversial, but true.

And yes the city really is that polarized. I am not saying that this doesn't exist in other cities, I am not that misinformed or naive. But in comparison, yes. Especially for the size of the city.

And I have interviewed men who moved here or visit often from other cities and they can't believe it, the energy or consciousness of the city. "You can just feel it", they say. This is from guys who have attractions for men outside their own race.

||| That's intriguing. The view from the UK is that interracial relationships in the US are really frowned upon, and there's a very vocal section of the black gay community that's actively opposed to them - something that's really apparent online, with the dialogue on sites like BGCLive and Rod 2.0. What are your thoughts on that?

I would agree. I have seen and heard comments and felt the energy from the black and white community. But the show is not about picking sides, far from it. This is merely showing the lives of six men who have different interpretations of attractions and how they live those attractions out. We are then lead down a path of challenges, successes, and failures in love and acceptance of others.

I hope to generate conversation between members of our community to open doors of understanding. There are so many untruths out there, and I hope to clear them up.

I on the other side of that, I will be showing that even though there are men who may frown upon interracial dating/sex/relationships. There are a good number of men who do it in secret.

I have been the "experiment" of a few black guys myself. Things like, "I've never been with a white guy before, wanna check it out" or "Oh and by the way, don't tell anybody we messed around". Those sort of comments. I never took offense to them. It sort of turned me on to be some guys first. But I also know there are a good proportion of white guys who fantasize or secretly play with guys outside their race.

There are fears of friends turning on them, or being pigeon holed into thinking that if you date one guy outside your race then that means you don't like guys who are within your race. To me, and hot man is a hot man is a hot man! Using skin tone to determine who you speak to or play with or date is a question I plan to propose in the show. And that goes for black guys who only date with other black guys who are light skin as an example.

||| That's a great point -  there's one particular celebrity in the black gay community who's had some success with his screen work, where he only depicts black-on-black relationships. But he also dates white men, "on the down low..." That's the kind of hypocrisy that's mind-boggling - the racial separatists who condemn interracial relationships, whilst putting light-skin and mixed race peeps on a pedestal. One of the refreshing things in the "SDTS" trailer - the way you flipped the convention of the white guy experimenting with being with a black guy.

What sort of reaction have you had to the trailer so far?

Very very very positive. 97% of the comments are great. People really are hungry for a gay drama. and this is ground breaking in so many ways. Casting is balanced, story's are real, men are masculine, breaking stereotypes. However some stereotypes are hard to avoid if you want to keepthe show real.

||| It's been a long time coming. Were you a fan of shows like "Queer As Folk" and "Noah's Arc"?

I watched them, but I recognized that there was much more that could be done. The shows had their purpose and were successful, in addition paved the way for others. So I must give them props for that. Now to be clear when I say that SDTS is a culmination of Noah's Arc, and Queer as Folk, I refer to that for casting only. Not for style or story line. The movie Crash obviously is the portrayal of the race and culture element and also the fact that none of the characters know one another, just like in SDTS. The characters live different lives in different universes.

I wanted to get away from the same formula of four, five or six friends who all hang together, eat together, call each other all the damn time, and sometimes sleep together. Each main character has their own core of relationships but they are all supporting roles.

And they will come and go throughout the series.

||| In other words, just like real life, rather than an artificial bubble world.

Getting back to reaction, there was a pretty unpleasant article about "SDTS" on The 360 Experiment. How did you feel about that?

It was a copycat post. The blogger just cut and pasted from another gossip blogger whose purpose was to bring down one of the actors. Nothing in the article was correct. It was gossip only. I asked the blogger from 360 to do a legitimate interview with me but of course I never heard from him. I guess that would have been too much work, its so much easier to cut and paste falsehoods. That's why I appreciate you so much. Thank you for the proper interview.

||| Ah, the joys of internet trolls, huh?

What's it going to take to get "SDTS" into production?

I am currently beginning negotiations with a company in Hollywood, as well as one in NY who has interest to to take it on. This is great news, but still a long way to go.

||| That's fantastic. Tell us a little about the man behind "SDTS"?

Me? Little ol me?

||| But of course!

I'm 55, so there is a lot to tell. I can tell you that Skin Deep The Series just didn't come out of thin air. I have twenty-five years experience in theatre and had my own company for seventeen years, wrote ten other productions and had audience totals close to if not over one million people during that seventeen years. But ask me some questions, I hate talking about myself.

||| Okay, tell us about your previous work.

Company was also called ARCH Productions (Artists Raising the consciousness of Humanity). But I organized as a Not for Profit. I was primarily working with youth who needed extra attention. Very very talented kids who were misguided or hurt in life and were acting out, badly in some cases. So I took those kids and put them through a very powerful self observation, acting, rehearsal process that compelled them to look at themselves and take responsibility for their actions. Kids did not come out the same as when they started.

One of the most powerful steps to the program was it was kids teaching kids about behavior, and the kids on stage, the actors were the ones who usually were the perpetrators. I know that I worked kids who killed. They never admitted it, but I just knew. I saw their power, brilliance, talent and potential and turned it into something healing and transformational.

In 1994, ARCH received recognition from the Presidents Council on the Humanities as one of the top 100 companies in the country. This was under Bill Clinton.

||| That's amazing, truly inspirational - and a real life story worthy of adaptation itself! What happened to ARCH?

Well. I got burnt out. After seventeen years, I needed to find something that was going to pay better, less hours, and not as much stress. As much as I loved it, it was time to move on. So I sold it to another organization who wanted to carry on the work, but they failed and were out of biz in a year.

It pointed out to me and, gave me pride to know that not many people could do what it took to keep ARCH afloat. I was honored to have had the opportunity to serve the community in which I lived, and to have been touched by the lives of some many young people.

||| David to finish off, would you like to tell us a little about you and your husband, who you mentioned earlier?

I am in love with this man. I don't want to sound co dependent, but I couldn't do anything without him. We spend twenty-two hours a day together. Not many people can do that, and we've been together for going on thirteen years. Married in Montreal five years ago, just had our anniversary. He is bright, humble, loving, accepting, supportive, sexy, gorgeous, and other attributes you will have to use your imagination on.

||| That's beautiful, and a great foundation to build "SDTS" on!

He also was crucial in my writing process. I would write a scene and he would critic it, spell check it etc. He was/is a very big part of my life and of this show. He just doesn't like to do interviews. He will be part of the production team when its picked up.

||| David, thank you so much for talking to kaos today. I for one can't wait for a full series of a "Skin Deep the Series".

Thank you so much for the opportunity.

||| Skin Deep the Series - Official Site.

||| Visit Skin Deep the Series on Facebook.

||| Watch the trailer:

EastEnders' Ray comes out

...of the shower.

We've all waited months for EastEnders' Ray to show us his beautiful body in all its glory, and Tuesday's episode really delivered the goods. In case you missed it, we've taken some handy screenshots to mark the occasion. Enjoy!

Have a problem with interracial dating? Take a look in the mirror

Have you ever noticed that people who have a problem with "interracial dating" are just plain fugly? Here's today's top tip, kids: hot boys want hot boys, regardless of their race, and if you look like Shrek, you'd better lower your expectations, and stop blaming that hot white boy for getting his claws into the hot brotha you can't have.

Zeric Seymor-Armenteros

Oh oh - here we go again. A black guy has come out and said that he prefers white guys to "people in the African American community."

In this case it's a model called Zeric, interviewed on vlog Pillow Talk. Cue a tsunami of apoplectic outrage from The Righteous Brothas (you know - those self-appointed righteous guardians of black manhood, who think it's their job to police who fucks who) on blogs and vlogs all over the World Wide Web. Because, you know, this is America, and The Righteous Brothas don't believe in personal preference. Despite interracial marriage being legal in all US states since 1967, some people still can't break out of the "stick with your own kind" mentality. A Brotha's gots to be with a Brotha, and if he isn't, you can bet The Brothas (or that high priestess of hate, Jill Scott) will have something to say about it.

Remember when American news anchor Don Lemon came out? Shortly after that, the news that his boyfriend was white shocked and appalled certain quarters of the black gay community. Read, if you dare, the comments sections of blogs like Rod 2.0 and Living Out Loud with Darian, where you'll discover a tiny, narrow-minded world of race-baiting haterade.

Here's a simple truth: guys who have a problem with interracial relationships are, more often than not, fugly trolls past their use-by date.

Here's an another simple truth: The single most valuable commodity in the gay world is sex appeal, and that overrides race. If you're an ugly troll - say, the revolting love child of Kanye West and Cee Lo Green - you're just going to hate the fact that that hot white boy has got the hot black boy you can't have - and never will have. Because the sad fact is, even if that hot black guy was into the brothas, he still wouldn't want you, Shrek. He'd want Tyson Beckford. As Zeric says, "I love my black boys" - just not those pearl-clutching queens who sit in judgement on others.

This fact is bourne out by Zeric's haters. Lord ha' mercy, these queens are f**kin' ugly. Face it kids, righteous ain't pretty. That's why the world of blogs and forums is heaven for the racial separatist - the kids who look like the odious queens in the I Hate Zeric video, look like that.

One of the video's contributors says of Zeric, "Models should be seen and not heard." Oh, the irony!

They don't really hate Don Lemon's boyfriend, or the hot white boys Zeric is hookin' up with. What they hate is the ugly reflection in the mirror, and the fact that Zeric and Don just don't want them.

The ka-os|theory top 20 porn stars

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Oompa Loompa, do-ba-dee-doo, I’ve got a perfect puzzle for you...

Chile-based advertising agency TBWA Frederick designed these cute ads for Japi Jane Adult Joy Boutique. Two more after the jump...

Beyond the invisible

L

ast Sunday night, I went cruising in the park.

Actually, that's not true. My friend "Maxey" (longtime readers might remember Maxey from our 2007 bust-up) took me on a guided tour of London's Hyde Park after dark.

Maxey is a fan of the park. In fact, at the tender age of 24, Maxey likes the park, he likes the sauna, he likes Grindr, he likes Adam4Adam. It's what comes from being brainwashed by Christianity in his native Malawi, and growing up in do anything, do anyone London.

Several years ago, I took Maxey (one of my closest friends) along to the sauna for the first time. He was extremely wary at first, but eventually, it was a curious Maxey bundling me into the dark room; I was spooked by what I couldn't see, and fled, but for him, it was an awakening. I'd created a monster!

Maxey's been keeping me entertained with his tales of the park for a while now - outrageous stories of uninhibited, all male debauchery - so, as we were drinking in the area on an unusually fine Sunday evening, it seemed like the right time for a recce...

There isn't a soul in sight as we venture into a virtually pitch black Hyde Park in central London. But as we move deeper inside, away from the boundaries, shadowy figures begin to appear out of nowhere. Men: on the moonlit paths, loitering in arbours, and disappearing into trees and bushes.

We leave the path and walk up a hill to some trees. Maxey leads me into them, telling me about the well-trodden dirt paths that he knows like the back of his hand. I should hope he does - in the dark, I'm totally disorientated. We pick our way through the trees, passing other men who attempt eye contact.

Maxey is looking for the action.

"Watch where you step," he advises as we pass some muddy puddles. "Don't want mud on your shoes. That's how you know your man's been in the park: mud on the shoes. 'Why've you got mud on your shoes if you've been on road man?' Dirty slag."

I couldn't have hoped for a more engaging tour guide. To him, this is like being at the fairground, and he delights in describing its hidden secrets (and pleasures) to me. Maxey knows exactly who's who and what they're after. One fairly built guy is impatiently stomping from patch to patch, hunting. "He's a power bottom," Maxey explains. "I've seen him before. He just wants to get fucked. My boy's got lube and a condom in his back pocket ready to go." And some back story: "Last time he was pissed, man. Everytime it was on he'd get interrupted. He was getting pissed."

Another guy Maxey calls Chinos, and then there's Black Hood, and the Polish Boy. Just off one dirt path three white men are busy getting it on. Maxey goes in for a closer look, near enough to touch. I hold back, not sure if I should be looking, and if I do, might I be expected to participate? What's the etiquette? It feels rude to stare.

I ask Maxey later about that. "Shut up man," he says, mock-vexed. "If they don't like being watched they can move on." I don't ask what he does when he's being watched.

Our quarry doesn't appreciate our presence, and certainly not Maxey's close inspection. I don't think he wants a piece of the action, just the thrill of blatant, in-your-face voyuerism. The triumvirate zip up and leave, and I see one of them is grey-haired, the other two younger and at least one well built.

"He's into pensioners," Maxey says dismissively, and we move on. Next stop is a circular gravel path with well-manicured hedges. "This is where the fat people come," he says, indicating the benches. "They can't do laps of the park so they wait here." We pass an older man on a bench. "See? Too fat, man," he says, loud enough for our elders to hear. Maxey is endowed with both good looks and the confidence of youth. And, shamelessness.

I ask him how you can be sure what you're getting when it's so dark. Maxey shrugs, "Try before you buy." That seems cold - how can you give someone the green light then turn your nose up at the last minute?

Maxey leads me into a huge tree with umbrella-like branches that reach to the ground. The effect is a sort of large room with a tree trunk in the middle. Men are standing around, silently, eyeing one another up. Someone grabs my dick through my trackies. I step aside without a word. The uninvited touch isn't welcome, but I'm not offended. Outside, Maxey's exasperated by our fellow cruisers. "It just takes two to get it started then everyone'll drop their pants. People are being long tonight, man."

We're followed several times throughout the night, particularly when we venture into the dirt paths in the trees. "People think because we're together we're going to do something," Maxey explains. Ah ha, so the hunters become the hunted... We stand on the hill overlooking the orgy tree, watching guys going in. "Go and see what's going on," Maxey orders me, clearly expecting his student to strike out on his own. I hesitate, curious about the spectacle I might witness in the orgy tree, but not curious enough to put myself in the line of fire. Maxey prods me towards the tree, "Just go man, don't be a lesbian." Again, he's loud enough for people to hear, and I'm embarrassed into going. If I'm a lesbian, then he's a pushy soccer mom.

Nothing much is happening inside: guys are standing around, waiting for someone to make the first move. Black, white, Middle-Eastern, young, old, scene and closeted. They're all here. Everyone looks towards me as I step in. I can smell stale cigarette smoke, beer breath, and that unappealing stale dick smell. It's not nice. Back on the hill, Maxey calls me a frigid slut, and we do a few more laps of the route, a road everyone seems to know.

Although there's been one or two cute guys over the few hours we're in the park, I'm never tempted. Perhaps I really am a "frigid slut" as Maxey joked, or perhaps the relative clarity online hook-up sites offer (pictures, and even video, of exactly what you're getting) - and the fantasy of porn - has rendered this shadowy, uncertain world too much of a gamble. One of Maxey's rules of play is no kissing - unless someone's clearly just arrived - or you could end up with a nasty taste in the mouth. No kissing is not my idea of sex. And the quality control issue looms too large - never mind how many dicks someone's had in their mouth, I want to know they've just stepped out of the shower.

One dark-skinned guy in shorts and an anorak with the hood pulled up, who's been impatiently stalking the park as long as we've been there, has grabbed Maxey and refused to let go whilst I've been watering a tree. "The Nigerian," Maxey says by way of explanation. He doesn't seem phased by it. It's all part of the fun.

And it has been a fun night, but mainly because I'm here with my friend, who happens to be a hugely entertaining (and informative) tour guide, and because it's an eye-opening experience. I suspect I'd get bored and frustrated if I was on my own and looking for sex. Ultimately, although I like the idea of a sexual free-for-all in the park, the reality is a bit too lonely - and grubby - for me.

Land of the giants

THROUGHthe
LOOKINGGLASS

a pixelated pick'n'mix

Sex and the soap

In the absence of religion, I have my soaps. I'm just slightly older than EastEnders, and Coronation Street's history stretches back to 1960s. I've watched both my whole life.

There's also Emmerdale, a series I never took to. Likewise Hollyoaks, the young upstart: loud, brash and shallow. It won't enjoy the sort of history EastEnders or Coronation Street do (as a child, Coronation Street's Steve McDonald was a devastatingly handsome teen; I now watch him as a middle-aged wreck) because its cast is an ever-changing parade of pretty young things cast solely for their looks. It's totally disposable.

Brendan teaches Ste a lesson in lurve.

All four soaps boast a variety of ongoing GBLT storylines: EastEnders has Christian and Syed, an inter-generational, inter-cultural, interracial relationship that could have been so interesting, yet is saddled with clumsy writing and cringe-inducing performances (particularly John Partridge's deeply embarrassing prima donna Christian). Coronation Street has its lipstick lesbian teens, and dreary asexual frumps Sean and Marcus. Emmerdale has a cute "lad" struggling with his sexuality.

Then there's Hollyoaks, a show I don't follow. I recorded the omnibus from a weekend or two ago, fast-forwarded through the tedious hetero shenanigans, and discovered a thrilling, red hot, super-sexual gay interracial love/lust triangle.

Brendan: "I am your father." Noah: "Love in the club."

Brendan Brady is a dangerous, nightclub-owning Irish thug, with an excellent line in menace. His psychosis is palpable. He became embroiled in a secret, abusive relationship with cute twink Ste, beating, bullying and manipulating him within an inch of his life. Enter nice guy Noah, a grounded personal trainer who takes Ste under his wing. Ste and Noah become love's young dream - but Brendan isn't about to let Ste escape his clutches, and embarks upon a campaign to destroy the couple, mainly by tempting Noah over to the dark side.

This can't end well.

The scenes between uber-psycho Brendan, and grounded nice guy Noah (who's fighting a losing battle to hold onto Ste whilst overcoming his lust for Brendan) are some of the most sexually charged scenes I've seen on TV in a long time. There's danger and sexual tension and lust.

EastEnders and Coronation Street, which command huge audiences, aren't doing the GBLT community any favours with their tepid, cringe-worthy gay storylines (both are currently fixated on gay parenthood, a massive turnoff for anyone with a pulse). Hollyoaks - lightweight teen soap, and underdog - is telling it like is, and giving us a helluva ride to boot.

Le fate ignoranti

THROUGHthe
LOOKINGGLASS

a pixelated pick'n'mix

The Guest Spot

Don Lemon's Boo: Much Ado About Nothing (Interracial Love is A Okay!)

Dear Friends

One week ago CNN news anchor Don Lemon was widely applauded for coming out as a gay man (at the same time he released his tell all memoir Transparent). Speaking for myself I was so very proud of him. Granted, I clocked his tea long before he ever said a word about his sexual orientation (hello, he is 45-years-old, unmarried, and still looks fabulous?); however, it was wonderful - as a young black gay man - to see someone as positive and influential as Don Lemon letting his truth be known.

Be that as it may, upon coming out, Don Lemon informed the public that he's been boo'd up (translation: In a relationship) for the past four years (which is nothing unusual). However, this became controversial when blogger "Wandering Caravan" (I will not link to the article because the blog has, apparently, been deleted) went on a tirade about Mr. Lemon's life partner being a white man. Honestly, I don't remember the specifics but the blog posting itself was pretty... well... racist (there is no other word for it, sorry). What I do recall is that the blogger in question said, "This is the reason Don Lemon is calling the black community out as homophobic."

Okay, deejay stop the music for just a moment...

One day your life will flash before your eyes. Make sure it's worth watching

R

eports are starting to appear that the actor and model Maurice Murrell has died.

His cousin, Keyontyli Goffney, has written on Facebook, "ALL I KNOW IS THAT MY WORLD IS GONE.... O GOD I DON'T UNDERSTAND YOUR CHOICE THIS TIME, BUT PLEASE GIVE ME, GIVE US THE STRENGTH TO LIVE WITH THIS. I LOVE YOU MAURICE THIS IS SO UNFAIR".

Murrell appeared in the film Finding Me, and its sequel, Finding Me: Truth, wich is due for release. The film's director, Roger Omeus Jr, posted this message on Facebook: "The lose of a family member is always very hard, and Maurice was family to us. We have lost a very kind and giving spirit. It's hard to believe we will no longer hear his laughter or see his smile, but what we will continue to feel is his positive energy. Maurice Murrell will forever be in our minds and in our hearts. So in a time like this rather than mourn the lose let us rejoice the wonderful life of someone we loved. May you rest in peace Maurice. I know you will forever be with us."

Our condolences to his family and friends.

"One day your life will flash before your eyes. Make sure it's worth watching."

Quotation; Gerard Way, American musician.

I love you because to understand our love, they would need to turn the world upside down

review

From Beginning To End

Last weekend, my friend Oura and I watched the controversial Brazilian film From Beginning to End, which has just been released on DVD. Here's what we thought of it.

Liberator Émigré Éire says...

D

o Começo ao Fim (English: From Beginning To End) was always going to be a victim of its own hype. Critics generally seem to have given it the thumbs down, disappointed at a perceived lack of insight into the taboo that gets everyone - one way or another - hot under the collar: incest.

Incest. Even the word is somehow icky. A little too much like insect, or cesspool. It somehow conjures up visions of babies with three eyes and eight legs, and is thus necessarily largely illegal (although one would hope brothers and sisters - outside of certain religious sects, and the British upper classes - don't need the law to tell them it's wrong to breed). But what of gay brothers practicing brotherly love with gay abandon? Could it be the ultimate victimless crime?

The arguments for and against will rage from here to eternity, but we're not here to discuss that in any depth: nor does director Aluizio Abranches' film of two brothers growing up in a comfortably well-off family in Brazil; the mother, a doctor and the father, an artist. We witness the boys - Francisco and Thomás - growing up, from Thomás' birth through until the boys' twenties.

It's slow and meandering, progressively building a picture of an unusually intense bond between the brothers, against a backdrop of some very handsome cinematography, and an impressive musical score. It's subtle, and understated, but a journey nonetheless, and one punctuated with sudden, startling visceral thrills (yes, there is sex and nudity).

"To understand our love," Francisco, the older brother, says at one point, "they'd have to turn the world upside down."

It's a hugely profound piece of dialogue, that instantly, and almost certainly, renders the entire audience as a pitchfork-wielding mob, à la Frankenstein. It forces those of us who are fuming, sniggering, or otherwise judging to pause and reflect, and begs the question, "How could any of us possibly understand?"

The picture perfect Cosby Show set-up works equally well for the film as it does against it - we, the audience, constantly anticipate the dark forces of the "real" world breaking through and tearing everything apart. Much of the film's audience will similarly be wishing for a moral denouement that sets the boys straight.

Reactions to the love portrayed in From Beginning To End often veer from "UGH" to "MMM", as if the act of physical lovemaking - of sex - is somehow subject to judge and jury. Puerile minds just can't see beyond that.

Oh, how we gays love to judge. The good and righteous thrive on shaking their fists and proclaiming how "wrong" this or that is, how yukky, how depraved! And as is the case with vitriolic homophobes, one has to wonder why they protest so much... Moreover, are we all so full of self-loathing that we need to hang yet another scapegoat out to dry?

As the brothers' mother says, "I don't know exactly what they are doing... But we cannot tell them it is a bad thing." Indeed.

From Beginning To End is beautiful, in every sense of the word. Its soul is unblemished by self-loathing, unblighted by prejudice, and free from the scars of a world that seeks to beat to a bloody pulp anything it doesn't understand.

Truly unique - and truly misunderstood - this is a beautiful love story, of a depth and intensity few of us will ever experience, let alone comprehend. And I can't help but think that's our loss, isn't it?

Oura says...

On the surface of things, this film is essentially a love story between two men, with a twist. The twist being that the men happen to be brothers.

When I first heard about this film from Liberator Émigré Éire, I will admit I was disgusted. All the things that a raging mob might think about the subject suddenly went through my head and I could easily have found myself being a pitchfork wielding peasant. However a few days later I happened to see a video that made me think about the subject slightly differently by adding a little humour.

As comical as that video is, by the time I actually sat down to watch the film I’d had some time to do a bit of thinking. My pitchfork and branding irons were firmly set aside and I have to say I’m glad that I watched with an open mind, because if I had gone in still being disgusted and sceptical, I don’t think I would have enjoyed the film as much as I did. Having said that I am extremely 50/50 in my opinion.

The story is told in two parts, the first showing the brothers bond as they grow through childhood, and the second showing their relationship as young men somewhere in their twenties. Both parts for me are amazing and cringe-worthy at the same time. In the first section I thought the way the story was told and the relationship is explained, was all very well done. The issue of incest is brought up and looked at... But it’s never really talked about, which to a certain degree is understandable, what family would ever really talk about something like that openly? After a while though, I got the feeling that this was deliberate.

As things progressed I found myself thinking “this is too perfect”, and it started to get annoying. Yes the story telling was beautiful, and the perfect house with the perfect garden and perfect parents are all beautiful too. They understand, they won’t judge their children. They’re family after all, they all love each other and they’ll learn about these things together... All very beautiful, after a while though I couldn’t help feeling that all this beauty was a very subtle (or maybe not so subtle) distraction.

The second half of the film takes a different turn. Rather than shoving beauty in your face it now decides to shove naked bodies at you instead (though actually, the brothers are beautiful so maybe it still is going down that route). I got the feeling that this part of the story was trying to display how the relationship had matured over the years, and that is was just as beautiful (loving that word right?) as it had been when they were younger. I will admit that it does achieve this, and it is very moving, however this part of the story becomes punctuated with over dramatic, overblown and unnecessary attempts to persuade you of what’s happening.

I found it quite jarring, one minute I was watching a film that had a decent rhythm, and the next minute I’m watching something that’s trying to convince me of its own sincerity. “Can you see how much they are in love?” Yes actually I can, please stop asking that question now.

The strange situation the brothers are in gets brought up again, and again it’s glossed over and dismissed as if to say “is this really an issue?” It’s not flippant, but it doesn’t really get addressed properly at any point either, and again I found myself thinking it was all a bit too perfect. No one objects to them being together, and whenever the subject comes up, you get this perfect family response of love and support which is periodically reinforced throughout the film. It fits nicely, but it’s a fantasy image. These are not realistic responses to such a delicate topic.

In the end, I have two different opinions on the film. Which one I lean towards will probably depend on whether you want to talk about a love story or controversy. I really enjoyed watching the love story, even with its cringe moments and picture perfect settings, us romantic folk will always go fuzzy for a nice love story. However, if you’re looking at this film to speak on incest in any meaningful way you’ll be disappointed by its deliberate avoidance of the subject.