A Fire in My Belly

Catalyst has joined the nationwide protest over the removal of David Wojnarowicz’s 20-minute film A Fire in My Belly (1986-87) from the “Hide/Seek: Difference and Desire in American Portraiture” exhibit at the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery on December 1, 2010. Catholic Leader president Bill Donahue and some members of congress including Speaker of the House John Boehner assailed the video as “an outrageous use of taxpayer money and an obvious attempt to offend Christians during the Christmas season.” As a reaction against the death of his lover due to AIDS and his own diagnosis as HIV positive, Wojnarowicz intended the video to serve as a symbolic representation of the unjust sufferings gay AIDS victims had to endure during the time. Due to misconceived interpretations of the piece that were enacted upon by the Catholic League and certain members of Congress, the video was wrongfully removed. One scene within the film of ants crawling over a crucified Jesus, has been misperceived as hate speech against Christians. All the circumstances behind the video epitomizes the constant struggle between free expression within the arts and its censorship from outside contributors.

Kids

A disturbing portrayal of teenage life, AIDS, and the Kids of New York City. Controversial in its content, the film exposes the grim reality of a group of skate-boarders in the space of 24 hours. Primarily the story consists of Telly (Leo Fitzpatrick) a 17 year old slacker whose mission is to de-flower as many young girls as possible, whilst unprotected. Things turn bad when an old flame finds out she has tested positive for HIV and the only person she has had sex with is Telly. She chases through New York to find him but is too late as he has already de-flowered yet another innocent pre-teen.