Philadelphia (film)

"Philadelphia is a 1993 film. It was one of the first mainstream Hollywood films to acknowledge HIV/AIDS, homosexuality and homophobia. It was written by Ron Nyswaner and directed by Jonathan Demme. The film stars Tom Hanks and Denzel Washington. It was inspired by the story of Geoffrey Bowers, an attorney who in 1987 sued the law firm Baker & McKenzie for unfair dismissal in one of the first AIDS discrimination cases." -via

* Last week while visiting my sisters friend in Los Angeles, I had the pleasure of running into this film at its introduction. I remember watching a few scenes from Philadelphia as a child, not fully understanding the extent of the message behind it. As I sat back and watched the film from beginning to end, I thought about the changes we (as a society) have gone through from the year 1993 to today 2010. Both Tom Hanks and Denzel Washington did a tremendous job in this film, the movie also won an academy award (Tom Hanks - Best actor in a leading role). The film was very successful, which also led to controversy due to the Bower's (family of Geoffrey Bower, who the film is based off of) being promised compensation but never receiving anything. This movie can do two things for you 1. Open your eyes and 2. Open your eyes, its simple. Prejudice still exists, less than before but it still breaths.

Philadelphia is an overall great film, I do recommend watching it (but of course with an open mind).