Okay the whole movie is posted right here if you want to watch it. It’s half an hour, so if you don’t want to or don’t have time to… I’ll give you the quick rundown about it… so don’t read this next part if you’re planning on watching it….. ***spoiler alert “The Johnsons are an attractive, well-to-do, upper-middle class family. Sidney, husband and father, is a famous poet, known and adored for his kindness and sensitivity. Joan, wife and mother, is a dutiful housewife, an obsessive homemaker and the life of every party. Their son, Isaiah, is a charismatic young man who has just gotten married to an equally appealing young woman. In fact, there is only thing that separates the Johnsons from their charming friends and neighbors: Isaiah, the son, has been molesting Sidney, the father, since he was twelve years old. And what’s more, Sidney has written a memoir that chronicles, in great detail, the ins-and-outs of this unseemly father-son relationship. Will the manuscript ever see the light of day, or will young Isaiah have a thing or two to say about it? THE STRANGE THING ABOUT THE JOHNSONS is a dark satire of the domestic melodrama, which asks “What if…?” and then, for some reason, comes up with an answer.” I haven’t read everything about it, but there was some debate (especially in the African American community, as the family in the movie is African American) over the white filmmaker’s freedom of expression and the rejection of ownership from the community. However, as one writer puts it “So as people continue to submit comments like sick, disgusting, deeply traumatized, or even WOW, I believe we should first ask ourselves, “If this is how I feel as the viewer, how must it feel being the victim of incest?” Personally, I think we make a terrible mistake in vilifying filmmakers, storytellers or messengers because when we do this in some strange way we simultaneously and unwillingly empower the abusers. If films like The Johnsons aren’t openly produced and seriously discussed, we silently say to the vermin that perpetrate these atrocities – “Your secret is safe. Carry on.”” (article link below) Article about the movie: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/malcolm-harris/srange-about-the-johnsons_b_1147630.html
