A few years back, when I was a budding young film student, technology was not what it is today. In order to edit video on a computer, you needed an AVID, or something similar, which consisted of about the biggest Macintosh tower you could buy along with what amounted to another computer that was just the AVID hardware. The AVID components were additional processors, memory cards, video cards, and a bunch of other things I couldn’t even begin to imagine.

Retail on a system like this was, I believe, minimum $60,000. And that didn’t even include the hard drives, video tape machines, sound system, monitors, and on and on.

About two years later, however, things started to change. Computers began to get so powerful that we no longer needed all that expensive hardware to store and edit video. Software-based systems with lots of RAM became accessible to the average individual. The “PRO-sumer” grade video camera was born – which offered rather striking high-quality video at a fraction of the cost of a traditional broadcast television camera.

And then came the very collegiate debate… Available technology would soon give everyone the opportunity to become motion picture and video artists. But should everyone have the opportunity to be an artist? Or would access to affordable, powerful technology overrun us with an endless supply of “bad” or “self-indulgent” video art?

I have always maintained that the advancement of technology is a wonderful thing. And if people are compelled to shoot a video and edit it and display it for all the world to see, then they should go for it! Listen, elitists will always be elitists, and they will have their reasons for excluding people from their little clubs. Hollywood has shown time and again that just because you have access to tons of money and the newest and fanciest tools, doesn’t necessarily mean that you that you have good taste or even the ability to produce something worth watching.

So why not celebrate the fact that the latest technology has given anyone who has a couple of thousand dollars lying around the ability to make something fun and eye catching? I think it’s great, and I also think it’s fabulous that the internet has provided a means for people to distribute their work easily and basically for free.

Keep the creativity coming!

In this day and age, where corporations grow stronger everyday and are able to manipulate Congress like puppeteers, how could the Supreme Court, the institution charged with interpreting our Constitution and defending our system of government, decide to allow corporations potentially unfettered financial access to the Democratic process? In my opinion, they have simply legalized corruption. Instead of working for the people, many more politicians will begin to cast their allegiances toward the corporations that exploit the people.

Equally disappointing for me was the Obama administration’s participation in the Senate election in Massachusetts. I honestly believe that had President Obama not campaigned alongside Democrat Martha Coakley, she would have had a much better chance of beating Scott Brown. The results are very clear. Voters want change. They want action. They are sick of speeches and excuses. Obama’s platform of change was and is just that. Change. If he and his administration cannot provide it, the people will look elsewhere. That is what happened in Massachusetts, and that is what will continue to happen across this country.

In my opinion, the mistake the Obama administration continues to make is that they posture themselves as if Obama’s win and subsequent popularity are about him. It has never been about him. It has always been about the HOPE and CHANGE that he represented. Those were his campaign promises. He was the new guy in town, and he was the exact opposite of George W. Bush. And that, I believe, is why Obama won.

Days before the election in Massachusetts, I started to get the usual mass emails from Camp Obama. “We’ve got an important election coming up.” “Call here.” “Send money there.” Yet, instead of being motivated by their repeated calls to action, I couldn’t help but wonder where the Obama administration was during the important gay marriage election in Maine. Or where they were when New Jersey voted on gay marriage. Or New York. Where were the supportive emails for the LGBT community saying, “Please stand up for equality”? There were none. Obama and his administration stood silent and watched as a community of his most ardent supporters was repeatedly kicked to the curb. Take a look at Maureen Dowd’s piece this week on Gavin Newsom. He has some great observations about Obama’s position on gay marriage.

The sad irony today is that the fear-based forces who have pumped millions upon millions of dollars into the hateful doctrines of “separate but equal,” “don’t let THEM redefine marriage for US,” and “keep the gays away from our school children,” are the same people whose money bankrolled the campaign of Republican Scott Brown in Massachusetts. The National Organization for Marriage’s latest press release proudly announces, “The National Organization for Marriage spent $50,000 in the closing days of the campaign to identify marriage voters in Massachusetts and make sure they turned out and supported Scott Brown.”

Believe it or not, I still have a lot of hope, though! I have hope that maybe now things WILL start to change. Maybe now the Obama administration will see that when they support equal rights for all Americans, they also take a stand against the hateful PAC’s that aim to slowly undermine them, too. Maybe now, when the corporations begin pumping millions of dollars into the campaigns of various elected officials, the publicity generated by those donations will keep the politicians more honest and accountable to the people they are supposed to be serving. I hope so. It is truly time for some CHANGE.

Wednesday afternoon, I called my Mom to lament the loss we all suffered in Maine on Proposition 1.

Side note: By “we all” I mean our entire nation.  You see, I believe that as Americans, one day we will look back on all the gay marriage propositions and referenda put on ballots in our states that essentially strip rights from people and be ashamed.  Ashamed of ourselves.  Ashamed for ourselves.  And then we will feel shame as our grandchildren look at us and ask, “Why?”

But I digress.  The irony and ridiculousness of the whole situation is laughable.  But there is no reasoning with people who live their lives in fear, anger, and envy.  They are like steamrollers in high gear without drivers.  No one is in control.

And so, while I was going through all of this with my Mom, her first response was, “But dear, you don’t spend any time in Maine.  The last time you were there was more than 20 years ago.  Don’t worry about them.  They will take care of themselves.  And you’ll see.  All this will get sorted out in due time.”

As an aside, my Mom lives in Connecticut, one of the five states where gay marriage is currently legal.  When Proposition 8 passed in California and I was so brought down, her response was simply, “Come home to get married.  So many of those people in that state where you live are just so provincial.  Anyone who would vote in favor of something as ludicrous as Proposition 8 is a provincial, small-minded person.  Get married here among intelligent people who love you.”

Back to the phone call…  I went onto explain that now I was afraid that President Obama and Congress would be unlikely to help us and stand up for our cause because of the response of the voters in Maine.  Again, her response was more big picture, “But that man was never going to stand up for you, no matter what happened in Maine.  Those people in Congress are fools, too.  Look at what is going on in this country.  They can’t even get health care right.”

She went on to encourage me to live my life by my own ideals.  To lead by example.  “The way to affect change,” she reminded me, “is to change yourself.”

I hung up with her and thought about where we were now versus where we were even just five years ago.  We have seen rapid change in a very short amount of time.  Things will continue to change, but we must look inward first.  We need to change ourselves, and that will ready us and steady us for the changes to come.

She is absolutely right.  We must win the vote next month in Maine.  A win in Maine will send the message to our elected officials that the tide has turned, “that public opinion is with us, and it is time for Federal action.”

Please go to PROTECTMAINEEQUALITY.ORG to lend your support!

A couple of days ago, I was really moved by this ad from Equality Maine. What a wonderful, positive, clear, truthful and simple message! Well done, Equality Maine! Thank you for finally putting a very real and human face on a very real and human issue.

After watching the ad, I thought back to the No On 8 movement here in California, which was in full swing about a year ago. All the effort, the millions of dollars spent, and the calculated messaging on both sides, led only to anger, misunderstanding, resentment and fear. Ironically, it wasn’t until the sad day that Prop 8 passed that the gay community really banded together as one. We joined each other in the streets as a community to march peacefully and let our voices be heard. We finally had the courage to abandon the careful façade that focus groups and highly-paid PR firms asked us to adopt to avoid “scaring” conservative voters. We finally stood up and showed the world that we were real people with real lives, real loves, and real values.

During the fight against Prop 8 and in the days following its passing, I grew increasingly angry and saddened. What right did these people have to tell me how to live my life? I wasn’t making road trips to their communities and holding up signs, or trying to legislate their lives! I took everything personally. The proponents of Prop 8 told lies and half truths. Some of them even went so far as to go door to door and use the confusing Prop 8 language to mislead bewilders voters, who were actually against Prop 8, into voting in favor of it. Their fear mongering and anger seemed to know no bounds. Their Christian minds appeared to have made an unspoken deal with the devil that the end would justify the means.

I was horrified. After all, this was the 21st Century! I wanted those awful, disgusting people to be put in their place. I wanted them to be embarrassed and shunned by their communities. I wanted justice and retribution, and yet I saw none. The world seemed to quietly return to business as usual after we had been hung out to dry.

And now, I have a very different outlook. I realized something after watching the Equality Maine ad. I looked again at these angry, bigoted, fearful people screaming at the top of their lungs to protect “traditional marriage” in this country. They have, in reality, walled themselves into their own personal hell. They have become so limited and stunted by their fears and their contempt that I pity them. After all, they’ve decided to trade love for hate, tolerance for fear, and in their judgment of others, have reaped judgment unto themselves. What really have they gained?

The world is growing and changing constantly. We as human beings must grow and change along with it, or we will be left behind. Forget marriage being “redefined.” The world redefines itself every moment of every day. As citizens of the world, we are in a state of flux. There is only one constant in our lives, and that constant is Love. Marriage is simply about love. Two people wanting to declare their love for one another. Instead of looking at Marriage Equality as a redefinition of marriage for the few, why not look at it as a means of expanding a simple and profound blessing for the many? ]]> http://www.jpcapozzi.com/2009/08/21/finally-a-new-outlook-on-marriage-equality/feed/ 1