LGBT Resource Center serves up "Chutney Popcorn"
By Lytle Wurtzle
Cavalier Daily Associate Editor
Reena seems to have her share of problems: her traditional Indian mother will not accept her lesbian lifestyle, her girlfriend Lisa is suffering from commitment-phobia, and she wants to act as a surrogate mother for her unwilling sister.
Reena, the heroine of director Nisha Ganatra's first feature film, "Chutney Popcorn," grapples with the same issues that many young people face in their everyday lives, including family divisions and relationship dilemmas.
But "Chutney Popcorn" serves up these issues with a queer bend, which is why the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Resource Center will feature it Wednesday night at their weekly Queer Movie Night.
"Popcorn," a romantic comedy starring former "Law & Order" actressJill Hennessy, is being shown at 7:15 tomorrow night at the LGBT Resource Center, located in the faculty apartments on Rugby Road. The center, which opened just over a year ago, provides resources for lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgender individuals, as well as their "allies" and friends.
"The LGBT Resource Center is a safe space for queer people and their friends," said Molly Moran, a graduate student in the Education School and director of the center. "Our movie nights provide a place for a small gathering of people to watch movies with a queer bend that might not be shown anywhere else on Grounds or in the Charlottesville area."
The movie nights "work however people want them to work," Moran explained. "It's relatively informal rather than a set group of people every week. Depending on the movie, sometimes we discuss it afterwards and sometimes we don't."
Queer Movie Night is just one avenue the center pursues in bringing a queer focus on Grounds. Those who are "queer or questioning" can view documentaries such as the 1967 film "Homosexuals" or attend a panel discussion run by the Speakers Bureau, the center's educational arm. The LGBTU Resource Center also keeps regular office hours, Monday through Thursday, 3:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. and coordinates the Queer Scholarship program with students and faculty doing queer research on Grounds.
Moran, who runs the center under the Office of the Dean of Students, prefers the term "queer" to "homosexual" - a labelshe said is misrepresentative and misleading. While the resource center targets the same population as the student-run Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Union, it remains a separate organization.
Wednesday's Queer Movie Night selects movies like "Chutney Popcorn" that allow viewers to explore many of the issues that the Resource Center handles.
"We want to feature different cultures and different things in our movies," Moran said. "But of course they have a queer bend"
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