A Love Story. Unequaled.

I believe it was some time late last year that I heard about a YouTube video called "It Could Happen to You," the heart-rending story of Shane Bitney Crone, a young gay man whose partner of six years died in a freak accident. Moreover, it was the story of the added anguish visited upon him because, in the eyes of the law, he could claim no relationship between them.

The story made the rounds on a number of web sites. I believe it was mentioned on George Takei's Facebook feed, in one of his rare breaks from humor. Wherever the story appeared, the response was "this deserves more." Not only did people's hearts go out to Shane Crone, they wanted more people to see the story.

Televsion producer Linda Bloodworth-Thomason (the creator of the series Designing Women) had met Crone briefly, and contacted him following the groundswell of public support. She thought the story could be expanded into a full-length documentary film, and after a swift Kickstarter project, that's exactly what they did. The movie, Bridegroom, first debuted in April at the Tribeca Film Festival, and now it's available for streaming through Netflix.

Bloodworth-Thomason directed the documentary herself, and wisely lets the story speak for itself with very few bells and whistles. After a brief introduction that hints at the tragedy ahead, the first half of the film is dedicated to the stories of the two men themselves, Shane and Tom, and how they fell in love. We see two very different reactions to two different "coming out" processes, one a tale of love and acceptance (at least, from immediate family), and the other of denial and rejection. The two finally find one another, and the film is full of friends proudly testifying to the depth of their love. But the second half must come. Tom dies in four-story fall off a roof, and then his family comes to do in death what they could not do in life -- take him away from Shane.

This truly tragic story will move you, in turns wringing you of tears and fueling your righteous rage. But the story is all the more powerful upon reflection after the credits (showing all 6000+ Kickstarter backers) roll. That's when the truth really sinks in: this story, sad as it is, is representative. Stories like this are happening somewhere in the country, somewhere in the world, every day. Sometimes, perhaps the loss is not as great, the end less final than death. Sometimes, the end is death, and not accidental, but a crime perpetrated by hateful people who do far worse than the parents depicted in this film. (Sadly, the story of Matthew Shepard is also representative.)

As the campaign says, "It Gets Better." It has been getting better. But a story like this one dramatically illustrates why "now" would be far preferable to "eventually." It's a powerful story that does indeed deserve to be seen. And I give the documentary of it, Bridegroom, an unqualified A.