The Rejected
| The Rejected | |
|---|---|
Dr. Karl Bowman explains the Kinsey scale in The Rejected. Bowman, a psychiatrist, disputed the notion that homosexuality was an illness and supported legal reforms.
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| Directed by | Richard Christian |
| Produced by | John W. Reavis |
| Narrated by | James Day |
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Production
company |
KQED
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| Distributed by | National Educational Television |
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Release date
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September 11, 1961 |
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Running time
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60 min. |
| Country | USA |
The Rejected (1961) is a made-for-television documentary film about homosexuality, produced for KQED in San Francisco by John W. Reavis.The Rejected was the first documentary program on homosexuality broadcast on American television. It initially ran on KQED on September 11, 1961, and was later syndicated to National Educational Television (NET) stations across the country. The Rejected received positive critical reviews upon airing.
Reavis, an independent producer who was apparently unconnected to the homophile movement, wrote up his idea for The Rejected in 1960. Reavis originally titled the documentary The Gay Ones. He explained his goals for the program in his proposal:
The object of the program will be to present as objective analysis of the subject as possible, without being overly clinical. The questions will be basic ones: who are the gay ones, how did they become gay, how do they live in a heterosexual society, what treatment is there by medicine or psychotherapy, how are they treated by society, and how would they like to be treated?
Thus, Reavis approached the topic from the standpoint of homosexuality being a social problem akin to alcoholism or prostitution. This echoed how many earlier programs, often produced as episodes of local talk shows, addressed homosexuality with shows bearing such titles as "Homosexuals and the Problems They Present" and "Homosexuality: A Psychological Approach". The Rejected focused exclusively on gay men, with no representation of lesbians. Reavis expressed his reluctance to include lesbians in his proposal:
First, the repugnance — or desire not to think about the problem — is even greater in society than that towards the problem of Gay men. Second, the number of persons involved is much smaller.... Third, the problems are vastly different, as are the solutions. For example, promiscuity is much less, relationships apt to be bilateral, economic and social sanctions are less, and the ability to carry on a relationship of this sort is greatly simplified.
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