Pedro (2009)
Directed by Nick Oceano
Screenplay by Dustin Lance Black
85 minutes
MTV Films
When MTV presented The Real World: San Francisco in 1994, nothing much was expected. Until housemate Pedro Zamora revealed that he was gay and living with full blown AIDS. Doors were flung open as the astonishingly handsome 22-year-old educated America about HIV — and fell in love — all while the cameras rolled. Pedro lived and died on national television, his tragically short life was heroic and left a lasting impact.
Now, Oscar winning screenwriter Dustin Lance Black (Milk) presents another masterful gay biopic: Pedro recreates Zamora’s almost storybook life.
Newcomer Alex Loynaz shines in the title role, capturing Pedro’s physical and spiritual beauty. It’s a heartbreaking performance. While The Real World was in production, Pedro’s doctors inform him that his T cells are gone. He realizes that time is running out. MTV offers to back off, but Pedro insists that everything be filmed: including his doctor’s visits, his HIV prevention lectures at high schools, and his blossoming romance with Sean (DuJuan Johnson) who lives in San Francisco, near the Real World house. Additional ground is broken when Pedro and Sean are married on the air, a telvision first.
The film also deals with Pedro’s off-screen family. Screenwriter Black courageously does not shy away from the homophobia that’s intrinsic to Latin culture. Justina Machado plays Mily Zamora, Pedro’s caregiver sister, while Anibal Llares is the largely silent Dad. They disapprove of homosexuality and especially of Sean. But in their eyes, you can see the genuine love they have for Pedro. They’re struggling with their own inner demons, trying as best they can to accept Pedro for who he is.
Matt Barr makes a brief, scene-stealing appearance as Puck, the foul-mouthed homophobe who’s thrown out of the Real World household after taunting Pedro’s HIV status. Barr plays the role quite well, though the actor is too cute to come across with the kind of ugly venom we saw in the real, hateful Puck.
Hale Appleman and Jenn Liu are attractive and likable as Judd and Pam, two housemates who fall in love off-screen and become Pedro’s closest friends. After Pedro passed away, Judd Winnick wrote a best-selling book: Pedro & Me, and continued Pedro’s AIDS advocacy work in his friend’s memory. Judd and Pam are now married and have two children.
The film is introduced by former President Bill Clinton, who also makes a brief, vocal cameo, recreating the actual phone call he had made to Zamora in 1994.
Pedro is a superb film: it’s good enough to have been accorded a theatrical release. We must never forget Pedro Zamora’s remarkable life, or his message of AIDS prevention.
There will be two more airings of Pedro on MTV this very weekend:
- Saturday, April 4, at 3 p.m.
- Sunday, April 5, at 8 a.m.
These are Eastern times: check local listings for verification. And look out for even more airings in the future.
David Alex Nahmod lives in San Francisco. Visit him at: DavidsOpenForum.Blogspot.com
