It’s been a while since we’ve had a “gays in forbidden love” romantic drama, but Burning Blue (in select theaters and on VOD June 3) will fill that void.
The film tells the story of two Navy soldiers falling in love while serving under “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” and if a just-released clip is any indication, there will be enough smoldering glances between the two hunky leads and big, bad homophobes to make this worth watching.
Burning Blue is adapted from the popular 1995 play that opened at The King’s Head Theater in London before moving to the West End. It also enjoyed sold-out runs in South Africa and Israel, before eventually coming to the U.S., where it was produced in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Off-Broadway. The story has had a turbulent journey to the big screen, which you can read about here.
Watch the new clip from the film below.
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ingyaom
Navy SAILORS.
RRT
Pfffffft! They are in the Navy. This includes Coast Guard, Marines, Seals and in the Navy they are called SAILORS!
DickieJohnson
A “soldier” is anyone serving in any branch of the military.
ReyMax93
Just some clarification, People in the Navy are sailors. People in the Army are soldiers. People in the Marine Corps are marines. People in the Air Force are airmen. People in the Coast Guard are coast guardsmen. You can call anyone of them troops. However, call anyone of them something other than what they are can be offensive. That’s just coming from me, someone serving active duty in the Air Force.
Ben Dover
Seems strange that Queerty won’t just correct the headline. Well I guess this is an argument for letting transgendered transsexual transvestites into the military so we can have 100-comment threads about what not to call them.
ingyaom
@Ben Dover: I never thought of that. Maybe some of the errors here are “comment bait”.
mcflyer54
@ingyaom: Thank you.
fleetsailor07
Thank you everyone who said we are SAILORS. “Soldier” refers exclusively to the Army. You can call us service members, vets/veterans, or troops if you are talking about all of us as a whole but we are different. I laugh when people call me a “Seaman” because while the Navy does have them – only specific jobs begin as “Seamen” I was a FIRE man, aka a SNIPE not a SNIPER that’s something again different altogether.
As for this romance movie thing, I can’t watch these fake hollywood military movies because they get everything wrong and they hire people to act out roles they have NO CONCEPT to the reality of. I served all of my time during DADT as well as being FDNF. I managed to have a relationship with someone from another ship while I was in, and it was the best part of my time. It ended not because of anything to do with DADT but due to the nature of being forward deployed, poor communication skills, and a problem back in his home which he felt forced him to get admin separated so he could get home immediately. In retrospect he wishes he had not been so hasty, and it was a very difficult period for me adjusting to his sudden disappearance until two months later I get an e-mail explaining what happened.
I finished my time honorably, which was almost 3 years. I plan on going back too, but now on my terms. I could care less about DADT or not because it never stopped me, or anyone else who was a valuable worker. DADT in my time and anywhere I went was just another tool to be able to use in order to remove a bad sailor because it takes a LOT to get anything but an admin separation. You need to really work hard to get an other than honorable or even dishonorable! For me and everyone else I knew, if you were a valuable worker they would not kick you out – they needed you. They still do, which is why I will return after I’ve made myself even more valuable.
fleetsailor07
@RRT: Actually, Cost Guard is not under the Navy, though we share the same rank names and similar uniform rules and regs. SEALS are a special warfare rating in the Navy kinda like anyone in crypto are generally called “Spooks”, and anyone who isn’t an engineer on a ship is called a “topsider”. Marines are part of the Navy yes, and many of them (not all) carry a huge chip on their shoulder because of that. I have intimate knowledge from studying alongside and tutoring them on some tech as well as someone I called my little (devil) puppy. >:}
Danny
@DickieJohnson
We are not all soldiers. Military service does not automatically make you a soldier. Some of us are Proud Airmen, some if us are Proud Sailors, some of us are proud Soldiers, and some of us are Marines. Get it correct. We’ve earned it. The cultures in each of the branches are different DVD the reasons we should respect them are similar but different. We all share one call but different aspects of the mission.
DarkZephyr
@ReyMax93: And it’s offensive because why.
DarkZephyr
@fleetsailor07: This movie was written and made by a guy who was IN the navy. Its based on his own life.
jmmartin
Seafood. The ghost of Hart Crane is wandering on that deck! The ship must be just off Jupiter Point.
Danny
@DarkZephyr
I don’t personally take it offensively if someone calls me a soldier. I do understand how the public generalizes the military because of the media, lack if education on how the military works, and the overwhelming numbers of soldiers compared to others. The Army is the largest branch. It just goes along the lines if people asking if you’re a pilot when you tell them you’re in the Air Force. I think it’s a cultural thing. Sometimes saying the wrong thing can be offensive…like referring to a Okinawan as Japanese. Try calling a Marine a soldier and you may not get a happy response. Or call an enlisted member Sir. The important thing is to realize we are not all the same, different training, purpose, mission, language, culture, attitudes, etc. And we are very proud of our traditions and heritage(individually and as a whole). I worked with the Army for some time and some of them called me an Air Soldier affectionately. It let me know that I was a part of the team/family. But at the same time I recognize that I do not have the training or experiences of a soldier. The key characteristics that make us those things are different.
Texasbear
@fleetsailor07: I totally agree with you, first I would like to give you a big heart felt “Thank You Very Much, Sailor” for your courage and commitment of protecting this nation. Without service members like yourself, we would be in serious trouble. I also agree that the movies don’t portray the real life of being a gay serviceman, not from experience, but from what our few gay enlisted friends tell us about service life. I think everyone figured that after DADT was thrown out the window, servicemen would just start jumping out of the closet. This may never be the case as it still puts a bullseye on good service men’s backs and they will be overlooked for certain detail assignments and so forth. We have a couple of Army friends that are gay and they say that not much has really changed in the fact that other soldiers still are dismissive of gays in the military. A few have come out, but it’s been mostly the female majority that has done so. Our Army friends are however still closeted. I also thought that people calling Sailors , Seamen, was a funny term as well as I have heard that most of my life. Glad you cleared up this whole idea of lumping every service man into the same group for everyone. I was a tradesman, but an electrician, not a plumber, or a heating and cooling tech. Kind of the same idea.
I was never in any branch of service, but I have lived in two very different and distinct military cities with major bases located close by. I grew up in Norfolk, VA., the world’s largest Navy Base and the town was very much alive with Sailors, or for those still needing clarification, the Navy. The Coast Guard has a prescience there as well, but it is mostly Navy. It was an incredible sight to see such nice looking men in their dress whites out and about walking around and having a good time. I knew I was gay , or different, for as long as I can remember and I loved to just watch the Sailors moving about the area and getting the opportunity to see how attractive they where. Massive ships dotted the skyline and it was an incredible town to live in. I really enjoyed my 25 years of living there. My father was in the Navy, but passed away when I was 5 years old. My step father was retired Army and lived in Norfolk as well. He educated me about the differences of the various breaches of service. He was the Father I remember and loved. He was also the first person I came out to. He just said that he still loved me no matter what and just be careful. Before leaving Norfolk in 1999, I met a Sailor a year prior who was a real nice guy and very secretive about our relationship, I understood why, but I did love him and he loved me as well. I just felt left out a lot of the time as he did not take me around his friends very often nor his family. I am very masculine and very straight acting, but it still worried him that, if questioned, I might blow his cover. We finally parted on good terms. It was hard as he was gone a lot, but he said he was monogamous and I believe he really was. It was just too hard emotionally for me. Life’s funny as the last time I talked to him, he asked me if I would move back, I cried as he was honorably discharged and he said he missed me very much, but I found the love of my life and it was hard to tell him that. We still talk and he seems happy and I hope he finds a special person as he was a rare find and an incredible person.
Now at the age of 44, I live very close to Fort Hood on the outskirts of Killeen, TX. As most people know, it’s the worlds largest Army installation. I moved here to be with a man who I met in New Orleans and fell for instantly. We dated for over a year, earned thousands of air miles, and I waited until he decided to give it a try. He had always insisted early on in the relationship that we would never be able to live together, but we have been living together 15 years now. We have always had a very monogamous relationship and always will. He worked for the Army as an auditor, but never served in the Army. He too was very much secretive about our relationship and had a hard time deciding how to explain who I was and how we knew each other. It took him a year to decide to just throw in the towel and ask me to move to Texas and live with him. We had a “story” to fall back on, but somewhere around the 13 year mark, he came out and it was something everyone we knew had already figured out. Most of them figured it out from day one after I met his friends and family.
This area has a totally different attitude to it than Norfolk and has a very different overall feel to it as well. The Army guys are great and generally very friendly. I see them everywhere in their camouflage uniforms on a daily basis and no matter where I go, I run into a soldier. The whole area is Army Proud as it should be. It still is not very open to gay relationships. It is Texas still, but there are more closeted men in this state than any state I have ever spent time in. It seems that it is more tolerant, a word I hate, than Norfolk was in the late 90’s. It may be different now, but I have not been back to Norfolk since I left in 1999.
So next time you are in an airport, mall, or even a resturant and you see a young serviceman of any branch of the military , a simple “Thank You for what you are doing for our country ” will usually make them fell great and have a wonderful day. I gave up a First Class seat on a flight to a soldier that I was talking to in the Dallas airport that had been bumped twice by the airline who was trying to get home to see his family in North Carolina. I was going to Charlotte to see my sister and he was trying to get home to see his mom and dad. The agent was so surprised that I would do this that she put me on a different airline, upgraded my ticket, plus gave me a $200.00 voucher. I thought it was criminal that this poor guy was on standby in the first place. I didn’t do this to have something to brag about, I just felt like it was something that would make us both feel good and help both of us realize that their are still nice and kind people in this country we live in.
We will see this movie even if I have to buy it after it’s released on DVD. We could drive to Austin and see it there as Austin is about 40 miles away. I’ve heard about the stage production, but I am still interested in seeing the movie. Theaters in this area would not even show Dallas Buyer’s Club. It’s still very conservative here and we are considering moving to either Dallas or Austin. We would also like to say “Thank You to all the service men for their dedication and sacrifices as well”.
Texasbear
@Texasbear: Sorry, before the spelling police catch me, I meant to say ” the Coast Guard has a presence there as well. Apples spell check is tricky so please excuse any other misspelled word as well.