Oscar frontrunner Renée Zellweger spoke with Brut about Judy Garland and her positive impact on the LGBTQ+ community.
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🎥
Short filmTranscript
00:00My question to my friends was what is it that you think is the appeal?
00:07What do you think is the thing that has drawn so many people to sort of feel that she,
00:15I don't know, in some way represents advocacy for the community?
00:20Somewhere over the rainbow
00:28When she's singing about not finding love, when she sings about feeling alone,
00:32when she says, you know, that she's not going to give up, I'll make my own way,
00:36all of these things are inspirational for anyone who feels that the deck is stacked against them some way
00:42or that they have felt lost or cruelty.
00:58When people would mention, oh, you know, there's a lot of gay people in your audience,
01:03a lot of homosexuals in your audience, and she would say, nobody's going to make fun of my audiences,
01:08I love my audiences.
01:10I can only imagine what that must have meant, especially back then,
01:15when it was not only illegal to live authentically, but very dangerous to live authentically,
01:25and that you could be ostracized and have no protection under the law.
01:29I mean, it's so outrageous.
01:31And then someone of her stature would come out and speak publicly in your defense
01:35and acknowledge that she sees you.
01:38And the dreams that you dare to dream really do come true
01:50She's singing about dreaming the place where you belong, of belongingness,
01:55of feeling different than everyone else, but hoping that at some point you're going to find your place,
02:00or recognizing at the end of The Wizard of Oz that, oh, you have enough.
02:05You have enough within yourself all along.
02:08You don't need to go to the fantasy place.
02:10You don't need to be given it by some magical wizard,
02:13but that it lives within you to create and manifest your dreams.
02:17I mean, what that must mean in the imagination of a child who feels ostracized in some way.
02:23I mean, indelible, right?
02:25And what must it mean to someone who feels that they can't exist authentically,
02:30and a woman who is so beloved as Judy Garland speaks out and says,
02:35uh-uh, that must have meant everything.
02:38She never gave up having hope, and likewise inspires us all.
02:45I had London Pride last year, one of the most special days of my life.
02:50You won't forget me, will you?
02:53In a love...
02:55Promise you won't.
02:56When we premiered the trailer and shared it for the first time with anybody on the screen at, you know, London Pride,
03:06and everyone joined in singing Somewhere Over the Rainbow,
03:11suddenly the celebration expanded.
03:14It just grew.
03:15Like, everybody jumped in and joined in the celebration, and it made me cry.
03:19It just brought me to tears.
03:21It just felt so special to me that 50 years after her passing in London,
03:26in London we were all singing together because she mattered.
03:31You know?
03:32It just...and what she did mattered, and how she advocated mattered.
03:36Somewhere over the rainbow
03:44Skies are blue
03:50And the dreams that you dare to dream
03:57Really do come true
04:06LONDON PRIDE