Making Love

I saw this in its first limited release, in New York City with a group of gay friends, in February of 1982, on a Saturday night. The picture had been out for about a week, and everyone, I thought, knew what it was about. We saw it in a major East Side theater, the only one where it was being shown as I remember.

Well, I was mistaken about the "informed" audience! This mixed, supposedly knowledgeable New York audience nearly rioted at the first on-screen kiss, discreetly photographed, in a darkened, shadowy corner of a room, in a long shot! The gays (including my group) were cheering and applauding, the older, presumably straight folks were screaming things like "How revolting!" and "Oh, my God!" as they bolted from the theater. This only increased at the second kiss, in close-up, a few moments later. I was never more astonished in my life!

I just saw this again, after a long time. Dated though it is, I still felt the message was clear: be true to yourself. The final ironic shot says it all.

Saw this movie in 1982, and remember the gasps of the audience before half the theater left.

Saw it again 4/24/2001 on Fox Movie, and was amazed at how relevent this movie still is, and how it anticpated the sensitivity which we now take for granted in the portrayal of homoerotic themes.

My hats off to Barry Sandler and Arthur Hill for doing this way before it's time, and to Michael Otkean and Harry Hamlin for a willingness to take on the roles of two gay men way before the American public was ready to see it.

I love how people so eagerly show their prejudice by calling movies like this "gay propaganda." If anything, these folks do us a favor by exposing themselves so that those of us with brains in our heads can steer clear of them.

If the purpose of this movie was to send a message, then that message was obviously this: Trust what's in your heart, and be true to yourself and the ones you love.

Would love to see this little gem released onto DVD, maybe with some commentary. Playing a gay role in a motion picture required much more bravery from an actor in 1982 than it does today. It would be interesting to hear Michael Ontkean and Harry Hamlin give their perspective on this.

Although the film "Making Love"(1982) was done over 20 years ago, I felt than and still feel today that it delivers one of the best and strongest messages about gays and lesbians in our society; a message that unfortunately more people need to 'get', even today. The film explores not only the idea of an individual coming to grips with his true sexuality, but provides the viewer with reasons why. It does an excellent job of depicting not only Zack's 'coming out', but the emotional stages both he and Claire go through before,during and afterwards.

There were a few weak mini-scenes, segue ways into bigger more important scenes that would of, or rather could of been done better; but when one sees this film today, one must take into account that this was still a rather taboo subject and not many people, including gays and lesbians were talking about. I strongly suggest seeing this film on video; it has an excellent message, not only about 'homosexual love', but about 'loving another person',period!

1982 was my coming out year.I was 19...I had just embarked on my first gay relationship and it was a voyage of discovery living in London at that time. I used to frequent the Black Cap in Camden town..still a gay pub..and I remember it was abuzz with anticipation when this film came out. EVERYBODY talked about going to see it. Things are more mainstream and things just don't have that same 'buzz' any more. But 'Making Love' was OUR Brokeback mountain. The 80's were a great era in many ways..they were just the beginning and I am sure 'Making Love' went a long way to making gay people feel good about themselves. I did remember feeling sorry for Kate Jackson's character though..I think I even cried for her. But was pleased also for the guys to be so open. The film was an underrated one and deserved more recognition.