Introduction
Discrimination against race, religion, gender, and sexual orientation is openly discussed in modern society. Despite the declaration of human rights, many minority groups still experience oppression in some countries. For example, African Americans had to march on the streets during the COVID-19 pandemic to fight discrimination and protect their rights. Although homophobia is more prevalent among religious communities today, people who self-identified as gay, lesbian, or transgender were marginalized and discriminated against in the United States in the past (Sugarman et al., 2018). Indeed, the film Philadelphia is one of the first movies that raised issues of marginalization upon sexual orientation and a positive HIV status. Philadelphia illustrates how the lack of understanding about the disease can create prejudice and discrimination against minorities by the privileged groups, creating oppression that violates fundamental human rights.
A Synopsis of Philadelphia
The central theme of Philadelphia is discrimination against the LGBT community and people who had HIV/AIDS back in the 1980s and 1990s. The film’s main character is Andrew Beckett, a brilliant lawyer working for the largest law firm in Philadelphia (Demme, 1993). The movie commences with Andrew winning a construction company’s case in which his opponent was a lawyer Joe Miller. Becket is a gay man who was diagnosed with HIV/AIDS and later developed Kaposi sarcoma. His family and friends are very supportive; thus, he does not feel emotional pressure. Moreover, he manages to withhold this information from his employers and colleagues for some time. However, when the company officials learn about his disease, they decide to compromise his professional reputation to have a legitimate reason to fire him.
Andrew realizes that he lost his job because he had HIV/AIDS; thus, he decides to file a suit against this firm. However, he struggles to find an attorney who would agree to defend him in court; therefore, he decides to protect himself after Joe Miller refused to take his case. Miller changes his mind after seeing how Andrew was discriminated against in the library for his illness. Andrew and Joe start working together to find evidence of the illegitimacy of the firm’s decision to dismiss Andy from his position. Although the judge reassures Miller that there is no discrimination in the courtroom, Joe says, “We don’t live in this courtroom, do we?” (Demme, 1993, 1:07:10). By the end of the trial, Andrew is exhausted by the disease; he collapses during the last hearing and is immediately hospitalized. Eventually, Becket wins the case and receives about $5 million of compensation, but he dies in hospital soon. The film ends with Miller coming to the funeral and watching a home video about Andrew’s childhood.
Prejudice, Discrimination, and Privilege
Prejudice, discrimination, and privilege are the primary topics, which the conflict of the movie revolves around. Privilege can be defined as an advantage provided to a group of people for some social characteristics that are not earned, causing a sense of entitlement among them (Sugarman et al., 2018). Prejudice and discrimination elicit a negative attitude towards a group of people who are different in race, ethnicity, gender, religion, and sexual orientation (Sugarman et al., 2018). These issues still exist in the United States, challenging American democracy.
One of the classic examples of prejudice in Philadelphia is homophobia. The main character was a gay working as an attorney for the most prestigious firm in Philadelphia. Andrew wanted to confess to his boss about his sexual orientation, but he decides not to do it after hearing jokes about gays from the company officials. It appears that homophobia stems from the fact that heterosexuality predominates for evolutionary reasons; therefore, many people view homosexuality as unnatural and immoral behavior. When Becket was asked about a gay theater, the counselor claimed that “this line of questioning is vital to the issue of credibility,” exposing the stigma that gays cannot be professional (Demme, 1993, 1:31:55). Moreover, Wheeler testified that Becket was not fired because he had AIDS, but further questioning revealed his prejudice about gays. Indeed, homophobia was the main reason for the firm’s leaders to ask Andrew to leave despite his professional excellence.
Andrew Becket’s case of being fired for being homosexual is also a representation of discrimination against sexual identity. Bias often leads to hatred and violence against marginalized communities (Sugarman et al., 2018). Indeed, prejudices lead to discrimination, indicating the fact that these two terms are closely related because the stereotype about gays created a negative image of their professional credibility, resulting in violence against these people.
As previously mentioned, privilege creates a sense of entitlement in a group of people provided with an unearned advantage. For instance, historically, white Americans were a privileged group for a long time, placing other races living in the United States in an inferior position (Sugarman et al., 2018). Andrew belonged to a distinguished group until those who offered him this job found out about his sexual orientation and his disease, causing his dismissal from the privileged circle. The company leaders recognized this young attorney as a promising candidate who proved them right in every assigned case. Moreover, he was the only young employee allowed to participate in all formal and informal meetings with the firm’s officials. However, their attitude changed when old white conservative men learned about Andrew’s homosexual predilections, re-qualifying him to the underprivileged group.
The Five Forces of Oppression
Philadelphia also demonstrates the problem of oppression in American society. Oppression can be defined as the form of tyranny that dehumanizes some population groups (Young, 2004). Five forces of oppression were described in the literature: exploitation, marginalization, powerlessness, cultural imperialism, and violence (Young, 2004). The five forces are presented in this film through various lenses, allowing viewers to see how minorities can suffer from prejudices invented by conservative groups.
Although this film is about attorneys, who belong to the affluent class, the exploitation and powerlessness issues are demonstrated in the background. Indeed, the opening scene of the movie shows black communities who were primarily in low-paid service jobs. This scene is very subtle, but all referrals to black people’s exploitation were made unobtrusively. Moreover, these people appear to accept their powerlessness and do not want to change this situation. Powerlessness is equivalent to the absence of decision-making capacity among those who are being oppressed (Young, 2004). There is no doubt that powerlessness is the worst form of oppression because people are not aware of injustice being done to them by others.
Marginalization is one of the central problems raised by this film. Marginalization can be defined as excluding some groups of people from participation in social life (Young, 2004). Andrew, like many gays, was marginalized for being different than the majority. Becket was sabotaged and asked to leave the company after his employers learned about his sexual orientation and disease. He was no longer a member of their superior circle, and that sharp demarcation was shown when Andy came to their office and was asked to sit at another side of the long table.
Heterosexuality is an accepted form of relationship worldwide and an example of cultural imperialism. Cultural imperialism means establishing a ruling class’s culture as a norm for everyone (Young, 2004). Therefore, anything that deviates from the standard is amoral and unnatural. Indeed, many people in this film have an aversion to gay men viewing them as “a danger to little kids,” which was “the general thinking” in this country (Demme, 1993, 1:16:45). However, the main issue of this thinking is violence against minorities.
Violence is often the consequence of continuous discrimination and oppression. People who are different are hated and may frequently experience emotional and physical abuse. For example, about 20% of hate crimes are committed due to sexual orientation issues (Sugarman et al., 2018). Andrew experienced emotional violence in the courtroom: “You’ve spent your life pretending that your something you are not, so much so that the art of concealment and dishonesty has become the second nature” (Demme, 1993, 1:34:01). It appears that the defendants wanted to portray gay men as immoral, distrustful, and incompetent people.
Conclusion
To sum up, Philadelphia was the first film to demonstrate all inadequacies of our society which is ruled by the privileged groups who create rules for discrimination and oppression. Analyzing this movie helped me to understand the importance of self-identity, which is the essence of cultural humility. I am prejudiced about people who are different, but diving deep into this issue helped me grow to the point that I will not ignore when others are oppressed or discriminated against.
If I need to discuss prejudice, privilege, and discrimination in the future, I have three points to add. Firstly, all people are born equal; thus, discrimination and marginalization are illegitimate. Second, children should be taught that their voices are essential to eradicating the powerlessness issue. Finally, violence against minorities stems from the privileged groups’ entitlement, which establishes cultural imperialism; therefore, violence will be terminated when people stop creating artificial higher and lower circles.
References
Demme, J. (1993). Philadelphia [Film]. Clinica Estetico.
Sugarman, D. B., Nation, M., Yuan, N. P., Kuperminc, G. P., Hassoun Ayoub, L., & Hamby, S. (2018). Hate and violence: Addressing discrimination based on race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, and gender identity. Psychology of Violence, 8(6), 649-656.
Young, I. (2004). Five faces of oppression. In Heldke, L. & O’Connor, P. (Eds.), Oppression, privilege, & resistance (pp. 37-63). McGraw Hill.