Tom Daley: Illegal to Be Me
- Director: Luke Korzun Martin
- Writer: James Phillips
- Producer: Emma Hindley, Michael Jochnowitz, Luke Korzun Martin, Selina Mehta, Fozia Nasir
CGiii Comment
It's admirable...what he's trying to do. But...Tom Daley just scratches at the surface. He dares not mention the root of all this hatred. Religion.
The whole ethos behind the Commonwealth is equality...not just between countries but between their citizens. Obviously, that's all just wishful thinking. The Commonwealth is, quite frankly, an outdated farce and not dissimilar to the symbolic institution that prevails over it...namely, the UK monarch.
Member states can come and go, be suspended, get ejected, be re-installed and terminally dissolved. In other words, apart from a loose colonial thread that attaches itself to most [not all] members, the Commonwealth has little in common...apart from that hideous and condemning religious zealotry.
Tom's surprising naïveté cannot be conquered by his charm. Much, much more research would have armed him appropriately before he stepped in front of the camera. Then...he could have gone in with all guns blazing...instead of his entrance-level idealism that simply disintegrates in front of his very puppy-dog-like eyes. His comfortable perspective is a world away from those of his interviewees.
Was he the right man for the job? Yes and no...his popularity has raised awareness and for that he can only be applauded. And...it might even cajole him into educating himself with regard to the vast complexities that surround every idealistic notion that has ever popped up.
Tom...we have all watched you grow up. Now, let us see you grow. Make the same programme 10, 20 years from now...but, if you make the same programme...then, you definitely were the wrong man for the job.
Trailer...
The(ir) Blurb...
As thousands of athletes prepare to compete on the global stage at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, Olympic gold medallist and double world champion diver Tom Daley wants to shine a light on an issue that he cares passionately about. Some competitors live in fear of horrific brutality inside the countries they represent. With punishments including whipping, life imprisonment and even death, it is illegal to be gay in over half of the 56 member states of the Commonwealth. His journey takes him to some of the Commonwealth's most homophobic countries to ask what the sporting world can do to help. The film culminates with Tom taking a very public stand at this year's opening ceremony, in a powerful statement against homophobia.
Cast & Characters
Tom Daley (as Self - Presenter)