When We Rise

 

Why No One Saw When We Rise (and Why You Should)

by Kristin Battestella

Despite a worthy ensemble including Guy Pearce, Mary-Louise Parker (Weeds), and Rachel Griffiths (The Hard Word) with appearances by Whoopi Goldberg (Ghost), Rosie O'Donnell (A League of Their Own), and more; the 2017 LGBT+ docudrama series from Dustin Lance Black (Milk) and Gus Van Sant (My Own Private Idaho) When We Rise came and went quickly on ABC.

In chronicling the history of the Gay Rights movement and AIDS epidemic from the seventies to the present, When We Rise takes on a bit more than it can chew thanks to faulty framework and unbalanced story telling. Hulu even originally listed the episodes as four “Night I-IV” two-hour parts before changing it to eight forty-four minute parts confusingly billed as “Episode Three Night II Part 1” and online episode guides likewise list both formats. Younger players shrewdly address the racism and sexism in the 1972 start before the elder ensemble tackles marriage equality and all the wonderful performances look the period part. However, this should have been two seasons worth with an episode each per character, and it almost feels like When We Rise may have been cut down from ten or twelve episodes – rushing over critical moments across the nation and the decades. Cheap sound alike cover songs likewise punctuate both unequal make out romps for the rebellious titillation and heavy handed declarations on lesbianism, women's rights, homosexuality as mental illness, and religion both as a solace or harsh master. Archive footage and famous cameos pepper the San Francisco oasis, sailors down low, underground clubs, and protests; but the disjointed montages deflate the impactful moments.

Every story in When We Rise has necessary weight and we are emotionally moved by the personal tenderness when we have a chance to breathe. Unfortunately, the magnitudes are uneven – deaths, interrogations, ostracizing, assaults, and speeches crowd together rather than giving the front line lovers or coming out to parents their full attention. We unfairly hurry through Vietnam, feminism, legislation fights, and violence just so every scene has one stern look from an angry lesbian or powerful words from a gay rebel that instantly, conveniently change some nonbeliever's mind. Lovers, friends, and enemies come and go amid raids, sanctioned hate crimes, and assassinations as Transgender activists and Rainbow Flag creators are glossed over and lost in the busy storytelling. Personal struggles on cruising gone wrong or fears of losing jobs if found out are used to string along the bigger revolution with platitudes and voiceover speeches instead of conversations – compromising intimate reflections on poverty, prostitution, idealism versus action, and who we love. Narrations and letters mean our characters aren't talking to each other, and it's lovely when our separate activists do finally meet during interracial relationships, cover marriages, not being able to inherit or adopt, bath houses, drugs, and increasing illness. Today this past and present would be edited as concurrent rather than chronological – negating the individual stories even further – and When We Rise is noticeably better once the voiceover montages stop and the drama is allowed to play out amid eighties neon, roller skating, and the healthcare crisis of what was then called GRID. Gay backlash, panic, the government's blind eye, and candle vigils need no hyperbole because the viewer realizes almost all the men depicted in When We Rise have died. Moving into the new millennium, unfortunately, loses steam again by falling back on voiceover catch ups and divided storytelling.

Although now understandably persona non grata, Jonathan Majors (Loki) is impressive before the subsequent Michael K. Williams (The Wire) as Ken Jones' self medicating drink and drugs remains largely separate from the rest of our leaders. A daughter of lesbian parents clearly assaulted is also inexplicably never addressed as again When We Rise's uneven structure does a disservice to the younger performers. Thankfully, lovely interview montages of symptoms, fatalities, and fears of being alone and forgotten are well done in the second half before strides in the nineties with the AIDS quilt giving the elder stars more to do. Much more time is spent in the final episodes on the medical give and take and more recent legislation than the initial protests and gay liberation – scripting issues which perhaps stem from Cleve Jones' memoirs as the series' primary source. Pearce's portrayal as Jones is very different than his over the top turn in The Adventures of Priscilla Queen of the Desert, petite and effeminate yet with an emotional strength to match the sassy sage for the next generation of activists. There's a tenderness to his hobnobbing for presidential acknowledgment alongside sad adoption attempts and wonderful scenes with David Hyde Pierce (Frasier) as Jones' unwavering, considering electroshock therapy psychologist father. Generations clash amid legal achievements and setbacks before contemporary marital laws come round to embracing the blended nontraditional family.

When We Rise is moving to watch and remember what it was like then. However it's also especially emotional re-watching When We Rise after the not so dissimilar COVID pandemic. To think we only went through a few months of willful spread, misinformation, and turmoil before the expedited COVID vaccine while AIDS victims died en masse in slow, painful decades before the right medical cocktail was available and HIV no longer became a death sentence. Seeing such sociological and scientific parallels only makes me more angry at contemporary bigots and misled anti-vaxxers who are so ungrateful about the privileges we have today – voluntarily ignorant of the high price others have paid to achieve our supposedly better living. Busy, preempted Network television seven years ago at the beginning of the woeful Trump presidency was also not the place for When We Rise and its overdue representation. Although I would buy the video and G-rated Disney parent of ABC could delete your digital purchase at any time, When We Rise is not available on DVD and not always free streaming on Hulu. If it weren't so tough to find, I believe a re-released edition of When We Rise would probably be well received now – a relatable parable since we must fight yet again for women, minorities, and LGBTQIA+ rights in America. When We Rise is a sad, uneasy watch. However despite its structural flaws, this is a necessary historical overview, educational experience, and essential conversation starter.