The Rejected facts for kids
Quick facts for kids The Rejected |
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Dr. Karl Bowman explains how people's feelings can be different in The Rejected. Bowman, a doctor who studied the mind, believed that being different was not an illness and supported changes to laws.
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| Directed by | Richard Christian |
| Produced by | John W. Reavis |
| Narrated by | James Day |
| Studio | KQED |
| Distributed by | National Educational Television |
| Release date(s) | September 11, 1961 |
| Running time | 60 min. |
| Country | United States |
The Rejected is a documentary film made for television. It was about how society viewed people who were different. The film was made for KQED in San Francisco by John W. Reavis.
The Rejected was the first documentary about this topic ever shown on American television. It first aired on KQED on September 11, 1961. Later, it was shown on other National Educational Television (NET) stations across the United States. Many people liked The Rejected and it received good reviews.
Contents
Making the Film: The Rejected
John W. Reavis was a filmmaker who had an idea for The Rejected in 1960. He first called his documentary The Gay Ones. Reavis wanted to show the topic in a fair way, without being too scientific.
He explained what he wanted to do with the film:
The goal of the program will be to give a fair look at the subject. The main questions will be: who are these people, how did they become this way, how do they live in a society where most people are different, what help is there from doctors, how does society treat them, and how would they like to be treated?
Reavis wanted to explore how society saw people who were different. Many earlier TV shows had talked about this topic, often with titles like "Homosexuals and the Problems They Present." The Rejected mainly focused on men. Other TV stations and sponsors did not want to show the program. But KQED bought the project in early 1961 and changed its name.
Filming Locations and Budget
Most of the documentary was filmed in the KQED studio. One part was filmed at the Black Cat Bar in San Francisco. This bar was a place where people who were different gathered. It had been facing problems with the state and police since 1948. Reavis and co-producer Irving Saraf made The Rejected for less than $100.
How the Film Was Made
Reavis and director Richard Christian used a talk show style for the film. They broke the topic into smaller parts. Each part had one or more experts talking about the topic from different angles. In each part, Reavis would mention a common idea about people who were different. Then, he would use the expert interviews to show if that idea was true or not.
His goal was to make viewers think about the topic. He wanted them to feel that society was confused about it.
Experts in the Film
The experts who were interviewed for the program included:
- Margaret Mead: She spoke from a cultural point of view. Mead talked about how being different was seen in cultures like Ancient Greece and the South Sea Islands. She said that society, not the person, decides how being different is viewed.
- Karl Bowman: A doctor who studied the mind from the Langley Porter Psychiatric Institute. He explained how people's feelings can be different. He also said that people who were different should not be punished. Another doctor, Erwin Braff, also talked about health issues.
- James Pike: An Episcopal Bishop from San Francisco.
- Alvin Fine: A rabbi.
* Both Bishop Pike and Rabbi Fine talked about religious views. They believed that being different was a condition that needed help. Bishop Pike said that people who were different should be treated with "love and concern." He said they should not be called "evil."
- Thomas C. Lynch: The city's district attorney.
- J. Albert Hutchinson, Al Bendich, and Morris Lowenthal: Lawyers who discussed legal issues. Morris Lowenthal had helped the Black Cat Bar in its long legal fight.
- Hal Call: The president of the Mattachine Society.
- Donald Lucas: The Mattachine executive secretary.
- Les Fisher: The Mattachine treasurer.
* These three men spoke for people who were different. It was very unusual for a film at that time to include actual people who were different. Most films only showed experts who were not.
James Day, the station manager for KQED, started the documentary. He read a statement from California's Attorney General, Stanley Mosk:
Even with the strong feelings some people have about this topic, we cannot just ignore it. It is a subject that needs to be discussed. <...> It cannot be hidden. It will not just disappear.
Finding the Lost Film
After showing The Rejected, KQED did not keep a copy of the documentary. For many years, the full film was thought to be lost. Only written notes of what was said were available.
Robert Chehoski, an archivist for KQED, and Alex Cherian, an archivist for the J. Paul Leonard Library at San Francisco State University, looked for a copy for up to six years. They finally found that WNET, which helped pay for the film, owned a copy. A single videotape was kept at the Library of Congress.
The Library's Recording Laboratory had already made a digital copy of the film. They gave a copy to the San Francisco Bay Area Television Archive. This was so the film could be put online. The 60-minute film was released online by the TV Archive on May 22, 2015.
The co-producer of the film, Irving Saraf, also said there were 30 extra minutes of footage that were never shown. This included parts filmed at the Black Cat Bar. This extra footage has not been found.
Images for kids
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Dr. Karl Bowman explains how people's feelings can be different in The Rejected.
See also
In Spanish: The Rejected para niños
