Los Angeles Journal


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2008-02-21

by John Esther

Interview: Bill Duke

Summary

Actor and director means to Cover the down-low

Article

Aunjanue Ellis plays Valerie Maas, a woman who has economic security, a healthy child, Nicole (Tomorrow Montgomery), and a loving husband, Dutch (Raz Adoti).

She was living the high life in the suburbs of Philadelphia until Dutch brings her down low with an extramarital affair with Ryan (Leon). Now Ryan has been slain and it is up to Detective Hicks (Lou Gossett, Jr.) to get to the bottom of the murder mystery before an ambitious district attorney (Clifton Davis) announces formal charges at a press conference.

Directed by Bill Duke, who has about as many acting credits as directing ones (47-46 as of this writing), Cover unmasks the perils and dangers of a closeted sexual life.

In this exclusive interview we spoke to the big man about making small efforts to keep the family safe.

Los Angeles Journal: Why did you want to tell this story?
Bill Duke: I’ve had some experiences in my own family with HIV and unfortunate deaths of a number of friends. This was years ago and I was ignorant as everyone else. Then Magic Johnson made the announcement. Recently I started doing research. One in seven black men in Washington, D.C. is infected. Out of the newly reported AIDS cases, 70 percent are black women -- a large number of them are infected by men who already know they have this disease. I’m not a politician or an activist, but I am a filmmaker and I wanted to at least create a debate or discussion about these issues. In our community we still think AIDS is a white, homosexual disease. We don’t understand the degree to which it has impacted our community. There is a lot of ignorance out there and a lot of shame connected to the entire thing. That silence and shame can kill us if we do not discuss this.

LAJ: You mention the issue and how it affects minority communities. I have seen films like this previously, but they were set in working class milieus – although there is Noah’s Arc. Was it one of your intentions to show this hits the middle and upper classes, too?
Duke: Oh yeah. AIDS is an equal opportunity employer. It really doesn’t care what you’re sexual preference is, or your gender, your economic status, if you are a famous person or a person working in a deli. It doesn’t really care. It’s a threat to all of us. The thing that’s amazing is that it’s a preventable disease. It’s not polio. It’s not cancer. It’s something that if you are a responsible human being and you care about yourself more than this moment of pleasure, it’s a preventable disease. You have to wrap up. You have to know whom you’re sleeping with. These days if someone wants to be with you it’s a good thing to go get tested together before you sleep with him or her. Or ask to see some recent papers. Right here and now it’s a very devastating disease.

LAJ: Which of the characters in the film do you feel you have the most in common with and why?
Duke: The father, which Richard Gant plays, up to a good extent because the metaphorical point of the movie is the important scene in the hallway when he tells his son, “You don’t put your family in danger!” It’s the personal family, but it’s also the human family to a great extent. You’re going to be with a man or woman tonight and you don’t want to use a rubber because “It’s not going to feel that good.” It’s going to be great, but what is the cost of that? Another thing, we don’t want to condemn anybody. We don’t really care what somebody’s sexual preference is. That’s none of our business. But if you’re sleeping with my sister or my daughter, and you’re sleeping with Carl unprotected at the same time, my sister or daughter has the right to know. Then she has the ability to choose whether she’s going to stay with you. I don’t care. Sleep with Carl, Joe, Jimmy, Jodie, whomever you want to sleep with, but when you’re sleeping with my sister or daughter, say, “I’m sleeping with Carl, Joe, Jimmy and Jodie and I’m sleeping with you, too.”

LAJ: Not to blame women, but does it not require a bit of denial to not see your man is attracted to other men?
Duke: It’s denial, but it’s not like these guys are irresponsible or bad people. Good fathers. Great husbands. Great caretakers. Responsible individuals. If you’re a woman in a relationship and all the things you’ve married a person for are happening, then there’s no reason for you to think anything other than what you were promised is occurring.

LAJ: There is also the denial of many men on the down low that they are gay.
Duke: I’ll tell you another thing. A lot of these thug guys, if you say they’re gay, you’ll get your butt kicked. [Tapping the table to each word] They do not consider themselves to be homosexual men. They are men who like women and from time to time like to be with other men [end of tapping the table]. They consider that it’s their business and when we question their sexuality or their masculinity that’s a personal offence and if they’re bigger than you [laughs], I’m serious, you’ll get your butt kicked. That’s the reality.

LAJ: Something subtle about your film is that it has an all-black cast.
Duke: I did it for a couple of reasons. Unfortunately, as a black director and as black actors we don’t get a chance to explore murder mysteries. It’s usually comedy or some-over-the-top something else. I wanted to do something Hitchcock-ian. I wanted to do it with an all-black cast because it hasn’t been done that much before. The message of the film is intended for everybody to a great extent, but more specifically it’s to black people who are in denial. There’s an element of shame in our community connected to homosexuality and AIDS. There are a lot of people who will go to their grave rather than tell you they’re infected. There are a lot of people who get sick and, rather than go to a doctor and find out they have the virus, they’d rather not go and live with the mystery of what they have. That may not make common sense.

LAJ: If they knew then lifestyle choices would need to be made and responsibilities for others would have to be acknowledged.
Duke: That’s exactly right. There are many layers to this story.