Compared To What? : The Improbable Journey of Barney Frank.

When husband and wife filmmakers Sheila Canavan and Michael Chandler first approached the Democratic Congressman for Massachusetts with the idea of making a documentary about him they just envisioned that it would simply cover his last year in Office prior to his retirement. They quickly discovered that there was a whole wealth of history and stories that needed to be told about Barney Frank, who is unquestionably one of the most colorful characters that the House of Representatives has ever seen, and hence they ended up making this very full and fascinating look at the man’s entire life : well the best (and worst) bits anyway.

Like his name, the Congressmen was extremely frank about all his ups and downs and allowed the filmmakers unfettered access to him, his friends and his archives. Whilst most of the highlights of his career are public record, what is more obvious when they are shown together like this was the heavy personal cost he paid by choosing to go into politics and ‘serve the greater good’. In very candid interviews with friends like author Andrew Tobias he shared that although he knew he was gay when he was 13 years old, he was convinced that if he came out publicly he would have never got elected in the first place. In fact when his sexual orientation was revealed in an ex-colleague’s memoirs just 7 years later and he told the Leader of the House that he would now come clean, Tip O’Neil declared that would be the end of his politically career. (What he actually said that he was doomed since he was about to ‘come out of the room’!)

Thankfully they both were wrong, but as part of the consequences of leading first a celibate life than a very furtive one, just two years later Frank found himself in a scandal as he was sexually involved with his live-in aide who was accused of running a prostitution ring. The Congressmen was cleared of most of the charges but was still reprimanded by the House. His admission of guilt and his very forthright and heartfelt public apology are probably the reason that he was forgiven. His constituents never gave it a second thought and always sent him back to House with an increased majority after every election.

His remarkable intellect and his quick grasp of the current political climate at any time helped his many successes both chairing the House Financial Services and being the Democrats front man during the Clinton Impeachment Hearings. But what shone through more here in the documentary was his acerbic wit and his rapid repartee that ran rings around lesser mortals like Kenneth Starr and any of the airheads that commentate for the Fox Channel. He endeared himself to the crowd (and to me) when out electioneering for the future Senator Elizabeth Warren when he tells them to vote Democratic and adds ‘we’re not perfect, but we’re not nuts.‘

Seeing him now at the age of 74 getting married to a very solid Jim Ready who has two feet very firmly on the ground, the ex Representative seems to have found peace and happiness at last. I’m sure that devoted as he is to his new husband, Ready has his work cut out. Barney Frank may be retired, but somehow I don’t think he will completely remain quietly out of the public limelight.

The title of the movie is one Frank’s very favorite quips and something he ‘borrowed’ by an old comedian who coined it as a reply whenever he was asked ‘How’s your wife?’

P.S. I was fortunate enough to see this at the Provincetown International Film Festival which is hallowed territory for Frank. He is completely revered for what he did for the area and the friendships he made. The whole LGBT community also owe him a great deal of gratitude for his commitments to our struggle for equality. Its therefore hard not to be caught up in this wave of deep affection for this old-school politician, the likes of which we will probably never see again. Great man and a very fitting tribute to him too.