Lauded in space.Renee Sotile was a teenager when, on the television in her parents' house, she watched the space shuttle space shuttle, reusable U.S. space vehicle. Developed by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), it consists of a winged orbiter, two solid-rocket boosters, and an external tank. Challenger explode in the skies over Florida. She was devastated dev·as·tate tr.v. dev·as·tat·ed, dev·as·tat·ing, dev·as·tates 1. To lay waste; destroy. 2. To overwhelm; confound; stun: was devastated by the rude remark. , not least by the death of Christa McAuliffe, the bright-eyed woman from New Hampshire New Hampshire, one of the New England states of the NE United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts (S), Vermont, with the Connecticut R. forming the boundary (W), the Canadian province of Quebec (NW), and Maine and a short strip of the Atlantic Ocean (E). who was to be the first teacher in space, As the years went on, Sotile thought of McAuliffe often. Even as she read accounts of McAuliffe's life, Sotile says, "I always felt that something was missing. I still didn't really get a vibe for the woman she was." Sotile and her girlfriend, Mary Jo Godges, have set the record straight with their moving new portrait. Christa McAuliffe: Reach for the Stars. This 75-minute documentary was released on DVD DVD: see digital versatile disc. DVD in full digital video disc or digital versatile disc Type of optical disc. The DVD represents the second generation of compact-disc (CD) technology. on January 28, the 20th anniversary of the Challenger disaster, and features interviews with McAuliffe's family, friends, and colleagues as well as NASA NASA: see National Aeronautics and Space Administration. NASA in full National Aeronautics and Space Administration Independent U.S. personnel. Susan Sarandon narrates the film, and Carly Simon composed a song, You're Where I Go," for its soundtrack. Ten years ago Sotile was working at CNN CNN or Cable News Network Subsidiary company of Turner Broadcasting Systems. It was created by Ted Turner in 1980 to present 24-hour live news broadcasts, using satellites to transmit reports from news bureaus around the world. and Godges at a local radio station when they began making short films together, most of them gay-themed and funny as hell. Reach for the Stars is, in some ways, a departure from the whimsy whim·sy also whim·sey n. pl. whim·sies also whim·seys 1. An odd or fanciful idea; a whim. 2. A quaint or fanciful quality: stories full of whimsy. and politics of their shorts. But the film does offer some humor, and a gay character: McAuliffe's former student Tony Potter. "She wouldn't stand for intolerance in the classroom," Potter says of McAuliffe in the film. "I distinctly remember when she mentioned the word 'gay,' and ... that she knew gay people.... It was like a rock had been lifted off my chest. At least one person in the world would accept me." Potters remembrances are admittedly a small component of this thorough portrait. But the filmmakers say McAuliffe's consistent message--"Stand up for what you believe in and for who you are," in Godges's words--ring especially true for gays and lesbians. "Gay people need to know about Christa McAuliffe," says Sotile, "because she was a hero and she stood up for us before a lot of people did, in her own community in her own way." |
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