When Pete Buttigieg campaigned to be the Democratic Candidate for President of the USA in 2020, he somehow managed to keep most of us in the dark about who he really was/is. This intensely private man whose sexuality made his candidature so unique and unwittingly such a major focus of his platform still remains mostly an enigma even after Jesse Moss’s new fly-on-the-wall documentary
Moss, an Emmy and Sundance Grand Jury Prize-winning director and cinematographer with a resume that includes The Overnighters and Gay Chorus Deep South, style of cinema verite seemed to suit his subject perfectly. As his cameras followed Buttigieg during the year leading up to the 2020 presidential campaign we see this admirable man so eager to retain his own credibility and values, begin to struggle with the reality that to actually win he must be all things to all people.
This documentary may be about him but two other stars emerge from the shadows. Chasten his husband and Mayor Pete’s biggest fan is a stalwart and a calming influence who at all times encourages him to be true to himself. He is such a positive and loyal force, happy to both remain in the background but also then step up and play whatever central role the campaign needs him to play. Chasten is one of the candidate’s biggest assets and you know instantly he would make a great First Gentleman if the campaign is successful.
On the other hand Lis Smith, the campaign’s communications director, and Mayor Pete’s other big supporter and who is the total opposite of the calm Chasten. She is forthright and blunt in almost shouting her criticism of Mayor Pete’s performance on several occasions. We see no reaction from him ….. this could have been cut from the film …… but our guess is that he didn’t make any, at least not in public.
Mayor Pete’s natural sincerity is such a success on national TV that it propels his campaign to the forefront. It is an overcrowded field with some 20 potential candidates in total, so when he starts to get attention, he ends up going into the Iowa Caucus as one of the leaders.
When Mayor Pete ends up beating the assumed favorite Bernie Sanders against all odds and wins Iowa the first state to vote in the primaries, he suddenly becomes the candidate to beat. We know this as some of the others start to turn the heat on him. Even the usually mild-mannered Sen Elizabeth Warren accuses him of being funded by megarich donors … an irony not lost on Buttigieg who responds by saying he is the ONLY candidate, not a million or billionaire. (Warren herself is worth some $12 million).
The momentum carried Buttigieg until the next primaries that were taking place in New Hampshire, where he also succeeded in overtaking Sanders again. Next was Nevada where he came in third but when he slipped to fourth place in South Carolina, Buttigieg decided this was as far as he could go. His failure to capture any votes from the African/American community was a major disappointment to him, but it was something that the documentary did not dwell on very much.
In fact, Moss chose to rush through the time between the Iowa Caucus and Buttigieg ceasing his campaign with too much haste and hardly documenting this major swing from potential winner to loser.
Strangely enough, it is after South Carolina we witness Buttigieg as a really principled politician. Unlike old hands like Sanders who always insist on dragging inevitable defeat out and both ruining their own reputations and that of the Democratic Party, overnight encouraged his supporters to now support Biden’s campaign.
One of the most touching scenes in the whole film happens here when we see Buttigieg taking a fatherly phone call from Biden, whilst at the same time Dr. Jill has phoned Chasten with her best wishes too.
Moss’s film may have too many gaps that we would have like filled, but nonetheless, Buttigieg’s groundbreaking run deservedly has a place in the annals of LGBTQ+ history and this fascinating documentary will help ensure it is there.
No matter how much (or who little) we may end up knowing about Buttigieg the man after viewing the film, we still are no less in awe of his determination to keep to his authenticity. We now appreciate that he will never falter from his ambitions of wanting to make the world ……or at least the US …. from being a better place.
He so deserves his place as a new queer icon.
Mayor Pete was screening at NEWFEST in NY and OUTshine in Fort Lauderdale: it will be available globally
on Amazon Prime on Nov 17th
Labels: 2021, Amazon Prime, documentary, Jesse Moss, Pete Buttigieg
