Movie review
November 3, 2023 · 108 min · PG-13
Woke Score
Lower is better
Review
Rustin is a 2023 biographical drama about Bayard Rustin, the Black gay activist who organized the 1963 March on Washington while navigating racism and homophobia inside the civil rights movement. The film structures its narrative around Rustin’s unapologetic homosexuality as a central driver of both his marginalization and his character, with explicit dialogue and romantic subplots foregrounding his gay identity and relationships. Produced by Barack and Michelle Obama’s Higher Ground for Netflix and co-written by LGBTQ+ activist Dustin Lance Black, it frames historical events through a modern lens of identity-based erasure and inclusion.
Breakdown
These are the editorial factors and ratings behind our score for Rustin.
Woke representation / casting
Lead role filled by openly gay Black actor Colman Domingo as openly gay Black historical figure Bayard Rustin, with visible on-screen gay romantic subplots; casting matches the real person but production markets it heavily as queer Black representation.
Woke political dialogue
Multiple scenes contain explicit lines affirming homosexuality as innate and equal to Black identity, plus calls for “freedom for all” that include gay people and direct challenges to homophobic movement leaders.
Identity-driven story themes
The story engine is Rustin’s gay identity provoking internal movement homophobia, driving his exclusion, redemption arc, and the film’s central claim that sexuality caused his historical erasure; queer relationships are plot-significant.
Western institutional / cultural critique
Depicts specific civil rights organizations and leaders enforcing homophobic exclusion alongside societal racism as unjust identity barriers, framed to echo contemporary struggles via producer statements and marketing.
Woke character or canon changes
Adds a fictional Black pastor romantic interest and compresses Rustin’s documented socialist and labor priorities to center personal identity struggles; minor dramatization rather than wholesale rewrite.
Anti-woke backlash and complaints
Almost no measurable backlash claiming the title pushes woke or identity-political messaging; coverage treated it as positive representation, with only scattered left critiques for insufficient radicalism.
Creator track record context
Co-writer Dustin Lance Black built a career on explicit LGBTQ+ activist storytelling (Milk, When We Rise); director Wolfe specializes in Black identity narratives; produced by Obamas’ Higher Ground with documented progressive social-justice priorities.
Production
