Review of "Gone, But Not Forgotten," 2003, film, directed by Michael D. Akers. Stars Matthew Montgomery and Aaron Orr. Produced by Michael D. Akers & Sandon Berg.
Two rather disefranchised young men meet…
Caseworkers, counselors, social workers, and others helping on the street can get a great deal of information on how two men have taken on disenfranchised roles and how they cast them off.
In this low-budget gay-themed film, Mark (Matthew Montgomery) falls during a thunderstorm and driving rain on a mountain side in the Pacific Northwest, then winds up in the hospital with amnesia. Drew (Aaron Orr) is the forest ranger who saves him and then checks in on him on a regular basis. The challenges facing these two men are important ones to investigate, crucial ones to consider when trying to understand how one helps gays on the street, homeless persons dealing with rejection, and bullied students who are harassed and injured because of their perceived sexuality or their weaknesses.
Disenfranchise, according to the Cambridge Dictionary, means “to take away power or opportunities, especially the right to vote, from a person or group” (https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/disenfranchise#google_vignette).
Gay men, just like the homeless, are often disenfranchised, further dehumanized in many cases and this treatment goes on even today, in many settings, cultures, countries, and neighborhoods. This film drives home the point that people must learn somehow to cast off the disenfranchised role they are forced to accept. It is important to consider also—and this is important for understanding the development of these two men in the film—how people find allies not only in their setting but also in themselves to recover from the disenfranchised role they sometimes have forced upon them.
A recent article by Michael Friedman, Ph.D., tells us of the psychological impact of discrimination against persons in the LGBTQ communities. Outside forces—persons who judge gays and others harshly—disenfranchise or at least attempt to do to. Friedman reminds us that gays and lesbians are ten times more likely to be discriminated against based on their perceived sexuality than heterosexual persons are. Further, Friedman tells us that “Mistreatment comes in many forms, from seemingly benign jokes to verbal insults, unequal treatment, and in the most extreme cases, physical violence” (https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/brick-brick/201402/the-psychological-impact-lgbt-discrimination).
Social workers, street helpers, caseworkers, and others should be aware that there is a significant crossover between members of the LGBTQ and homeless communities. Those members then are doubly disenfranchised and often discriminated against more dramatically. This double mistreatment is especially true for younger people.
The Trevor Project conducted a survey and found some distressing results indeed. They remind us that “28% of LGTBQ youth reported experiencing homelessness or housing instability at some point in their lives—and those who did had two to four times the odds of reporting depression, anxiety, self-harm, considering suicide, and attempting suicide compared to those with stable housing” (https://www.thetrevorproject.org/research-briefs/homelessness-and-housing-instability-among-lgbtq-youth-feb-2022/).
So what happens in this movie? How does disenfranchisement occur? And to whom?
In this film, Mark falls and is struck with amnesia. He is a person without a past, a person without rights. He has to be rescued from the hospital and the powers that be. This role of man-with-amnesia by its nature means that the rainy night when he almost died he took on a different personality, a different self.
Drew is a forest ranger who works for his brother—the main negative and judging force in his life—and the main source of the direct disenfranchisement of this character. An indirect source is the judging society surrounding the mountain. Drew has many decisions he has to make at several points in the film. Maybe we become advocates for him escaping the disenfranchised world in which he is forced to function.
We see a tremendous amount of change in both men toward the end of the movie when not just Mark’s past but also the reality of his present open up for us as viewers. What is meant to be is sometimes meant to be, and the disenfranchised roles are thrown out.
The men live happily ever after, we have to assume. It looks as though there is light at the end of that tunnel, and plenty of love and happiness on the mountain * (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gone,_But_Not_Forgotten_(film)).
If only there were a universal road map for understanding how to help people recover from those disenfranchised roles. That would make helping others so much easier.
.
.
Editor’s note: The Wikipedia entry for the film states that Mark falls while “rock climbing.” However, this is not accurate. Mark was attempting to commit suicide and falls while climbing, then attempts to climb again so he can jump to his death. He is interrupted by the park ranger, Drew.
* The poster for the film—and the cover or the film—show a misleading picture. There are almost no scenes of the men naked and making love—that being a very brief part of the film. There is some kissing, but even that is very brief and not highlighted.