Why Larry Kramer’s The Normal Heart Is So Important

HBO’s presentation of The Normal Heart, chronicling the efforts of playwright Larry Kramer to bring the AIDS crisis to world attention, was beautifully cast and filmed. The reviews describe it as having a “universal message” of “hope and love.” It’s also more than that. It shows what one man can do when he feels so passionately about something that the rest of the world be damned if it doesn’t hop on board. Larry Kramer was and is that man. He saw gays dying left and right at the height of the AIDS epidemic and he wasn’t going to sit idly by without doing something.  And he wasn’t  going to be intimidated or mellowed, even if it meant being dismissed from the Gay Men’s Health Crisis, the organization he started, or breaking with his own brother, who couldn’t bring himself to see Larry as an equal.

Anyone who has any doubts about whether gays deserve equal rights; anyone who doesn’t understand why current battles about gay marriage are so important; anyone who has any doubt that one person’s vision and steadfastness can make a difference needs to see The Normal Heart.

By: Alan

Alan Colmes is the publisher of Liberaland.