Stunning, magnificent movie - and it is stunning the world

Rating: 10/10 (26 November 2004)

I congratulate Oliver Stone on being the first director to create a major motion picture about a historical figure who happens to have been gay in a relatively accurate manner. Bravo, Oliver! "Alexander" is a huge film, about a huge person from an era that most people have almost no understanding of. It had to be a very difficult film to make, since there was so much to tell. Credit must be given for tackling such a formidable task. I found "Alexander" to be moving and magnificent. The acting, the battle scenes, the storyline all fell into place to me. I am puzzled as to why so many bad reviews of this film have appeared in mainstream American publications, but after considering AUDIENCE reaction I think I know why: Most straight people seem to have been stunned by this film. I heard snickering and giggles during the most serious, somber and beautiful scenes between Alexander and Hephaestion. It was quite pathetic, actually. It showed ho incapable most straight people STILL are of accepting the fact that those of us who are gay also experience love - just as they do. I will never understand why so many people can not grasp this simple notion, but I assume it is simply the result of having never SEEN it, since even the show "Will & Grace" never shows any of the gay characters in an actual relationship, in love, or in bed with a lover. The straight character, Grace, is in bed with countless men and no one blinks an eye, yet the networks refuse even a kiss to Will. So it should be no surprise that Americans remain homophobic and rather clueless about this harmless aspect of the life of all gay persons: love. I think the movie "Alexander" is revolutionary inasmuch as it allows people the first view of a gay hero which does not TOTALLY hide the truth of who he truly loved. It will stimulate debate, and some learning will take place as a result. Alexander built libraries and improved conditions for people in many places that he conquered... he was hailed as a liberator in some places... he revolutionized the treatment of women to some extent and he made shaving one's beard popular for the first time. Many things about Alexander were left out of the movie, and I hope that Stone's film ill encourage people to go read about him now. The book to read is Robin Lane Fox's "Alexander the Great." This is the best book written for a thorough overview of his life. Many others written are rather uninteresting - and it is a shame when history is made boring. When you tell the truth in history, it suddenly pops to life, and Fox's book does just that. All scholars recognize it as the best source of info.