Aaron Redis There's so much to be said for this mini-series.This mini-series is important. These topics are important. History is important. Equal rights are important. I had tears in my eyes throughout the whole show. This mini-series is absolutely stunning and powerful. Thank goodness we finally found a series that bypasses, destroys, and cancels the classic gay clichés aimed at simple relationships. Here, the largest one true pairing is between humans and justice.This show is so human, addressing several important issues that must be discussed in society, like the rights of women, gays, straights, blacks, whites, and civilians. What a spectacular show.This is so important for everyone to understand the battles that were fought to achieve the rights and freedom LGBTQ+ individuals have today, especially when it seems the hands of time are going in reverse as of right. Those who came before us fought to obtain these rights; now it's our turn to fight to keep those rights. It takes a dose of courage, awareness, hope, and despair to enter the fight as do the heroes of this story. It can start with little things, every day, under any circumstances, to lead up to these moments. But little things put together, multiplied by a crowd of people, can do a lot. The show tells us 40 years of the struggle of the LGBT movement in 4 episodes. As a result, the shortcuts made are sometimes felt, but the crossed destinies of this handful of activists, and their struggle for a more just world, more than make us forget some flaws. Many emotions and anger await you if you let yourself be tempted. You can expect shivers of emotion all over your body. A lot said with very few words with amazing music. It's a great chance to learn more about movements that changed the world.Now it's time for some truth talk that this series will also cover:No one gets to tell another person who they can love. Love is free but freedom to love seems to come with a price. Encourage your friends and family, gay or straight to watch this mini-series. It should be watched with eyes full of respect. Respect for all those people who died fighting for even a shred of equal rights. Rights that everyone should have, without discrimination of sex, race, or color. We are all human beings. That's the lesson here.It's appalling that this story still holds relevance today. And to say that still today, LGBTQ+ individuals still have to face this violence. The society regresses in a sense, as if all this had been for nothing. There are still those who banish gays, those who mock those of color, those who refuse immigration, those who run missiles against nations to get their own dominion, those who fight for religious ideals, those who are fanatical and those who are anarchists. I'm glad there's this mini-series, because we have to open our eyes and we have to embrace the fact that people are different. The important perspective this series will also confront is: For all homophobes, imagine if the world was reversed, and that the "normality" was to be gay, would you? Will you stumble your identity to fit into the "norm"? Imagine if "homophobia" (what a dreadful word) was replaced by "heterophobia", what would you do? It's cruel, is not it? There is no need to be gay to support the LGBTQ+ cause, just to be human.Outside of my rant, I find the series well-built with a solid plot and good actors. The actors' performances are wonderful. Embodying the lives of the real life people who paved the way to the freedoms we have through the suffering of so many who did not live to see the victories.I'd hate for people to miss this. I'll say it until I lose my voice: This show is VERY important. This is our history. We must remember it. Because all the people who have died just because of who they love. Because people still want to love in their own way without doing it in fear. Let it enter your heart and you will not regret it. Approach this series without prejudice, with the simple interest of informing you about important historical facts but in the form of mini-series. It will charm you. It's a beautiful representation of human diversity. It's sad how underrated this is. Thank you, ABC, for sharing this story with us. And thank you, Dustin Lance Blake. I adored it.I give "When We Rise" a 9.5/10.

Alex Heaton (azanti0029) No one who tries to tell the story of four decades of the struggle of LGBT issues in America is ever going to be able to please anyone but Lance Dustin Black has a damn good try with 'When We Rise' - While we have seen films on Harvey Milk and the HIV epidemic, nothing has ever been attempted on this scale before. It is a sweeping and sprawling story which works well not only as a historical signpost for those want to dig further but telling the more intimate story of the three protagonists, all of whom found themselves becoming unwilling activists in the struggle to fight gay prejudice and homophobia in America. Based partly on the writings of Cleve Jones, the story follows the journeys of Roma Guy, a young woman struggling to come to terms with her orientation, Ken Jones, an African-American ex-navy man and Cleve Jones himself, a young gay man who having come out to his father has flees to the new gay mecca in California. Each character is played by two different actors, a younger and old version (As are some of supporting characters) Though this is slightly disorientating considering the time span of the show it would have been ambitious to achieve this through make- up. All three gravitate towards San Francisco and we follow their lives through the initial struggles to fight prejudice in their own city through the AIDS era and the fight for gay marriage in the supreme court. One of the strengths of the show is the unique perspective each of these characters brings to the story. Roma sets up a women's center but has to find her own battles dealing with the divisions within and help Cleve unite them all together against both political and health issues. Much of this maybe old news to those who lived it but it made me want to read more about it. Older versions of the characters narrate us through parts of the history but thankfully this is kept to the minimum and I am glad this was told as a straight up drama. The episodes covering the AIDS era are the most heartbreaking to watch, reminding us again how so many lives were taken in such a short space of time. Though all the characters fight one battle after the next, it is the story of Ken Jones which feels the most tragic of all (If your reading this Ken, I so seriously want to give you a hug right now) Fighting both gay prejudice from within his community and the gay community. One thing the series dispels is that San Fran was not the easy gay mecca in the 1970s that we were led to believe. It was in the beginnings incredibly divided and then when it started to find its own identity it was devastated by the HIV epidemic. Although I enjoyed the entire show it worked best in the earlier segments, this was largely thanks to performances by the incredibly talented younger cast. Emily Skeggs played Roma Guy with a genuine sense of panic that she must have felt in her younger years while Jonathon Majors as a fragile Ken Jones portrays his sense of loss with great truth. But it is Austin P McKenzie as the younger Cleve Jones who really makes his mark. In the scene where the names of those fallen to AIDS are placed on San Francisco are placed on the walls of the city hall 'Remember their names...' he cries out with such sincere conviction you feel the weight of the emotion on Jones in that moment, with McKenzie taking you there with every word. I predict big things for this young man. The older cast all give solid performances with Guy Pearce getting older Cleve Jones mannerisms down to a tee and there is great support from a number of very capable newer actors in the cast in the form of Ivory Aquino, Justin Sams, Adam DiMarco, Nick Eversman, T.R Knight and Charles Socarides (Is he related to the character he plays?) Although I watched the show with the adverts removed the numbers of fades to black in each episode was incredibly distracted and often disrupted the emotional flow of scenes and moments in the show. It's a bit minor gripe, but these kinds of fades are really not needed for advertising these days and were distracting.That aside I found this a highly engaging, entertaining, emotionally charged and informative piece which I know I will show my children one day. It won't please everyone I am sure, but Black is to be commended for bringing such a show to television when America is more divided than it has ever been. If there was ever a time for a history lesson on the subject, it is certainly now. As Cleve Jones says at one point 'What is your generation going to do now?'

kmcginty71 The story is one that's important to tell, but the quality is NO WHERE near "And the Band Played On" or "Milk." The dialogue is trite and forced, and when the "bad guys" (homophobes) speak, they sound like villains straight out of Dragnet. The bad dialogue then prevents these talented actors from giving strong performances. I almost wondered if George Lucas had written the screenplay...DO watch it; it's important for kids and younger adults today to know this story. But I have to recommend "And the Band Played On" as the better film on the same topic.It was made for HBO with better acting and more believable dialogue, and actually tells you much more about the early days of the AIDS crisis.I'm very disappointed to see how "network" ABC made this thing; it feels low budget and heavily watered down.

SG Nam This is the story which has needed to be mentioned, beautifully played by Emily Skeggs, Austin P. McKenzie, Mary-Louise Parker and the others.Very smart and educational script from genius Dustin Lance Black.This must be nominated for Best miniseries, screenplay, actors and actresses.