The Letter Men
Funny how I don't remember when was the last time I actually wrote a letter. Postcards? Yes. Cards? Yes. A letter? It's been literally years since I wrote one, and this short film reminded me of why is it that I used to write them. Letters are so... intensely private that few people write them anymore. But in this short film we can see how they may have brought this couple a lifeline.
Every generation thinks that the generation ahead of them has had it 'better' but you can bet it was hard being gay in the thirties and forties. Apparently during WW2 you could be jailed and sentenced to death in the army for having gay sex, let alone being in a relationship with a man. Gilbert Bradley did something unusual for the times: he kept the letters Gordon Bowsher wrote to him and that's why today we have this sweet little short film. I cannot imagine living in those times, to be honest. I would have been extremely difficult for me to 'pass'.
But here we are. I know that many gay men that came before me think I've had it easier. And I have. After all, during my time we've had Gay Marriage, there have been laws put in place that protect me at my workplace and that AIDS, even though still a threat, it's a manageable disease. I know the Truvada generation does not have any idea what it would have been to write a letter to your lover and having to destroy it because it would send you both to jail, but I hope that the Queer kids of today will not have to fight the bigots, homophobes and TERFS we have to keep at bay today.
XOXO
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So lovely, so sweet, so sad.
ReplyDeleteXOXO
P.S. So aggravating - but typical filming. The lettering at the end is on the screen for too short a time to fully read each line before it vanishes. Or is that the point? xoxo
I know, right?
DeleteIt was really sad, but it was the reality at that time.
And they may have done that to make people like me go and look for more info about them. That's how this post came to be...
XOXO
Lovely.
ReplyDeleteLetters are so personal, and private and many times worth keeping.
It's a lost art, to be sure.
xoxo
It is a lost art!
DeleteStarting with the penmanship! Writing letters, like journaling, seem so very quaint in this age of ones and zeroes...
XOXO
What a beautiful short film! It was a huge risk to have kept those letters but apparently, they were written in such a way that it was easy to assume the writer "G" was a girlfriend. And such an assumption in the 1940s would have been automatic if anyone else read them.
ReplyDeleteIt was dangerous to keep anything that would half incriminate you in anything 'gay'.
DeleteThey did use the 'G' as a way out. That was smart. That's also why I think that the letters survived.
XOXO
I haven't written letters for at least 20 years, but I write emails. So if I want to say something profound and meaningful, I have a way of thinking carefully about what I write and how I write it. I like writing and I find emails very convenient.
ReplyDeleteOh, absolutely.
DeleteEmalis are very convenient. A little bit cold, but practical. Writing letters required a desk, a pen, paper. A minute of reflection. Penmanship.
XOXO
Penmanship. Mine used to get complimented. Now, the M.D. has robbed me of the ability. Sometimes I can't even read my own stuff. Today's kids don't even learn cursive - it's just all block-letter printing. Sad, ain't it? XOXO
DeleteOh yes.
DeleteDid you know that all they teach now is block letter printing? They don't really teach cursive anymore...
Sad.
XOXO
It's a shame, because maybe cursive is no longer needed, but writing different styles stimulates the brain.
DeleteIt is a shame.
DeleteAnd you may be right about the advantages of writing in different styles. I actually got a little kit that helps you remember how to write in cursive. So much fun!
Remember those cursive worksheets?
XOXO
HuntleyBiGuy:
ReplyDeleteWhat an amazing story. To think that this story survived the war and to this day is astonishing. And to think that it could just as easily have literally gone up in flames.
I haven’t written a letter in I don’t know how long. Now with electronic communication through email, text, and instant messaging I fear this is becoming a lost art, like the fountain pen he used to write the letters. I know that, personally, I can’t hand write a letter because my penmanship is horrendous.
XOXO 👨🏼❤️💋👨🏽
Oh, they were in danger of being discovered the whole time.
DeleteIt would have been catastrophic. And you are right, even the instruments to write letters now seem quaint.
I don't write letters but I write thank you notes and postcards and cards. And I don't remember your penmanship. You'll have to write something to me...
XOXO
Call me old fashioned....but i still send postcards cards and letters. Unusual for a youngish middle aged. People think I'm nuts. Course I just gave up my horse and buggy last year.
ReplyDeleteAt all my older gay friends all say how much better it is now, the liberties we have the freedoms we have and the openness of it all.
Same!
DeleteCards and postcards are my favs. I don't really write letters anymore (I used to when I did some correspondence with SWAP behind bars!). It's a lost art, Mads. I can imagine people are surprised when they get them.
And it's always very illuminating to talk to someone who is a generation or so detached from our own. You always find something to learn from them.
XOXO
I don't do anything that needs a stamp. I remember getting scolded because I didn't write more often when I was over seas... what was I supposed to say? "Hey we went out to the bars last night. We're going out again tonight. Miss you."
ReplyDeleteHahaha
DeleteOh, I still pay my bills with checks when I can. And I send holiday cards and postcards when I'm away in vacays.
And I imagine you would have written more if you'd have a love interest in the States when you were stationed abroad, though...
XOXO