With each passing day that brilliant conspiracy looks increasingly tattered and beleaguered, and the men at the center of it seem less fearsome than pathetic. Its accusations of hypocrisy and betrayal are pointed and in many cases persuasive, but they would have sounded different � more urgent, and perhaps more incendiary � a few years or even six months ago. I say present-day, but “Outrage,” a battlefield report from the culture wars clearly intended to rally the morale of one side while attacking the exposed flanks of the other, is also a snapshot of a rapidly changing landscape.
The choice of the word conspiracy may be deliberately provocative, but this indignant and methodical new documentary, directed by Kirby Dick, offers a lot of insight into the ideology and psychology of present-day political homophobia. With horror-movie music and stark white-on-gray titles, “Outrage” promises to illuminate a “brilliant conspiracy” that protects the secret lives of some powerful politicians while ensuring that the rights and interests of ordinary gay and lesbian Americans remain marginal.
