A Tragic Glimpse of Gay Life in ‘Hunted’
Photo by Daniel Cheon
Written by Alexander Cheves
“Hunted: The War Against Gays in Russia” is a difficult film to watch. Director Ben Steele, an Englishman who speaks fluent Russian, infiltrated gangs of Russian “pedophile hunters” who regularly find gay people, kidnap them, beat them, torture them, humiliate them and upload the videos of it onto YouTube.
“See this one,” a female activist says to the camera, scanning a list of videos on her desktop. “In this one they almost kill the boy.”
These hunting parties have formed in the wake of Vladimir Putin’s recent “anti-propaganda” laws, which outlaw any visible display of homosexuality to anyone under 18. This includes rainbow flags and public displays of affection. Reflecting the general misconception of gays in Russia, this law links homosexuality to pedophilia, a ridiculous idea that has remained a sticking point even for conservative politicians in this country. “Since gay people can’t reproduce,” their logic goes, “they must be recruiting new members in young children.”
This witch-hunt is not considered extreme to most people in Russia. Steele said the majority of Russian citizens think these beatings are applause-worthy. To illustrate, an older woman tells the camera, “They should just round up all of them and shoot them.”
Screened at the SCAD Museum of Art last Sunday, the film was followed by a brief Q&A session with Steele, who explained how gay people in Russia are being targeted by Putin as scapegoats for Russia’s increasingly bleak economic climate.
The film hits its peak of discomfort when Steele is filming members of one particular group in their small, cramped flat as they enjoy small talk about why all homosexuals deserve to die. Suddenly one of them speaks up: “There’s this guy that wants to meet me!” The men in the group have started using social media sites to lure gay people to the flat.
We’re waiting, hoping it doesn’t happen, before we see the boy whimpering while they hold his hands down and deliver what must be blows to the face. Steele is in the back of the room, holding his camera up to film whatever he can. He’s outnumbered by more than 13 angry young men who have resorted to violence before and surely would again. When they start yelling at him, “Put the camera away!” he keeps filming.
Although the scene ends with the boy overall unharmed, it raises uncomfortable questions about the documentarian’s role. Steele addressed this question: “I felt that I had to keep filming in order to keep myself from becoming complicit. My fear of being a coward was greater than my fear of them.”
When an audience member asked him why Russia had developed this way, he said, “Well, it’s not all public opinion. And it’s not just gay people. Putin’s regime is decreasing human rights for everyone as it moves towards totalitarianism.”
This kind of scapegoating is nothing new. In New York City’s Village District in the 60s, cops disguised in leather gear would cruise gay hotspots, imploring men for sex. When someone took the bait, they were arrested. The U.S. was in the thick of the red scare and anything countercultural was considered anti-American and indicative of communism. Being exposed cost countless men and women their jobs. Many people were imprisoned for crimes as mild as holding hands in the street, and some were taken to mental institutions to cure the “illness” of same-sex desire.
But one night in June of 1969, during a police raid of the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar run by the Italian mafia, a group of drag queens and gay men decided to fight back. The violent street protests that followed would be known to history as one word: “Stonewall,” the beginning of the Gay Rights Movement in America.
As much as Mr. Steele reiterated that his documentary was aiming to be unbiased, the film is slanted — perhaps thanks to gay actor Matt Bomer’s narration — and thank goodness for it. It would be a disservice to stay neutral. Hold strong, my brothers and sisters in Russia. Your day will come.
