When We Rise

Plot

When We Rise chronicles the personal and political struggles, set-backs, and triumphs of a diverse group of LGBT individuals who helped pioneer a portion of the civil rights movement from its infancy in the 20th century to the successes of today. The 45-year saga tells the evolving history of the modern gay rights movement, starting just after the Stonewall riots in 1969.

Cast

Also appearing through archive footage are Harvey Milk, Lady Gaga, George H. W. Bush, Bill and Hillary Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama.

Filming

The series is eight hours long in seven parts with Gus Van Sant directing the first two-hour part with Dee Rees directing parts two and three, Thomas Schlamme parts four and five, and Black parts six and seven. The series is partially inspired by LGBT activist Cleve Jones's memoir When We Rise: My Life in the Movement. Van Sant and Black previously collaborated on Milk, which likewise featured Cleve Jones as a major character.

Casting

On March 15, 2016, Carrie Preston was cast as Sally Gearhart. Guy Pearce as Cleve Jones, Mary-Louise Parker as Roma Guy, Rachel Griffiths as Diane, Michael K. Williams as Ken Jones, Ivory Aquino as Cecilia Chung, Kevin McHale as Bobbi Campbell, Dylan Walsh as Dr. Marcus Conant, Rafael de la Fuente as Ricardo, Austin P. McKenzie as young Cleve Jones, Emily Skeggs as young Roma Guy, Jonathan Majors as young Ken Jones, Fiona Dourif as young Diane, Whoopi Goldberg as Pat Norman, Rosie O'Donnell as Del Martin, Denis O'Hare as Jim Foster, and David Hyde Pierce as Cleve's father, Dr. Jones, were cast on April 26, 2016, respectively.

On June 22, 2016, T. R. Knight were cast as Chad Griffin and Richard Schiff as Judge Vaughn Walker. Rob Reiner, Pauley Perrette, William Sadler, Phylicia Rashad, Alexandra Grey, Mary McCormack, Arliss Howard, and Henry Czerny were booked as guest stars. Charlie Carver was cast as Michael on November 21, 2016.

Broadcast

The TV miniseries premiered on ABC on February 27, 2017 at 9 p.m. EST. Originally scheduled to air nightly until March 2, the scheduling was later shifted to accommodate live coverage of the address to a joint session of Congress by President Donald Trump on February 28; the first episode remained scheduled to air on February 27, with the remaining three episodes airing from March 1 to March 3.

Music: Chris Bacon and Danny Elfman composed the music for the miniseries with various artists, and the soundtrack album is now released at Hollywood Records, Inc and iTunes.

Episodes

The first two parts of the series received an advance preview screening at the Palm Springs Film Festival in January 2017.

Critical response

Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes gives the series an approval rating of 81% based on 32 reviews, with an average rating of 6.4/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "When We Rise works as a well-meaning outreach project with a decent cast, even if the script's ambitious reach slightly exceeds its grasp." On Metacritic, the series has a score of 67 out of 100, based on 23 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

Daniel Fienberg of The Hollywood Reporter wrote in his review of the first part of the minseries: "In a film festival environment, in which stories of otherness and barrier-breaking are part of the expected tapestry, When We Rise might play as a bit quaint, muted and smoothed out for mainstream audiences, which it very clearly is. But even in 2017, when we like to think that boundaries have been pushed a fair amount and that the voices being heard are as diverse as ever, When We Rise feels like a rather astounding thing to find on network TV."

James Poniewozik of the The New York Times wrote in his review: "When We Rise, ABC’s sweeping four-night history of the gay rights movement, is a rebuttal. As a television drama, it often plays like a high-minded, dutiful educational video. But at its best moments, it’s also a timely statement that identity is not just an abstraction but a matter of family, livelihood, life and death."

Greg Braxton of the Los Angeles Times wrote in his review: "It could’ve been a scene from any of the recent protests that have arisen in the stormy first weeks of the Donald Trump presidency. But peering closer— at the ‘70s garb, the cameras recording the scene— reveals that this was a re-creation of another, similarly tumultuous, time. [...] The writer-director is still optimistic that When We Rise will appeal to a mainstream audience---including Trump supporters — because of its focus on family, emotion and perseverance."

Danette Chavez of The A.V. Club wrote in her review: "When We Rise isn’t laboring in another production’s shadow, though; instead, it tries very hard to bring all of those moments and history makers to light. This is obviously a huge undertaking, one that traces the converging paths of gay activists who thwarted Prop 6, were later devastated by the rise of AIDS, but then rallied back to win marriage equality in 2015. Those battles weren’t all fought by the exact same people, which pushes the scope of the miniseries even further. But a central trio of characters anchors the story, which runs through four decades (1971 to 2015, roughly)."

Historical accuracy

Although there were some non-factual elements, Cleve Jones (one of the principal gay activists depicted) stated that the small, factual changes Black and his team made to the 50-year history of specific characters and events portrayed don't dilute the overall truthfulness and realness of the miniseries. Black spent four years researching and writing the script, consulting as many of the real life figures as possible and many of the actors were able to meet with the individuals they portrayed. The episodes often contain archival footage of actual events.