Dear Rock is a posthumous fan letter to Rock Hudson that uses Hudson as a springboard for an exploration of AIDS and homophobia. Using the contrived form of the fan letter, Dear Rock employees digression as its structure, beginning with elements of Hudson's life that open onto larger contemporary issues about gay male identity. Dear Rock builds on the dichotomy facing gay men: it moves between the private and the public, the myth and the reality using Hudson's life as a metaphor for gay male issues. The often contradictory relationship between gay male desire is explored using images from men's swim meets and underwear advertisements. Tension is constructed between the homophobic and the homoerotic, the forbidden and the desired. Dear Rock is a reflection on a victim of Hollywood's enforced homophobia, but ultimately the film attempts to map the landscape of AIDS since Hudson's death in 1985 up through 1993 the year it was made.

Written, Directed and Edited by Jack Walsh
Narration: Eric Newton
Sound Engineer: Kate J. Goodnight
On-Line Editor: Lise Swenson

Selected Screenings and Awards:
Director's Choice Award, Atlanta Film and Video Festival
Jury Citation, Black Maria Film and Video Festival
Los Angeles Freewaves
Festival at the Lake (Oakland)
Icelandic Lesbian and Gay Film Festival
Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions (LACE)
Hawaii Lesbian and Gay Film Festival
Athens Film and Video Festival
National Educational Film and Video Festival
San Francisco Cinematheque
Melbourne Queer Film Festival
AIDS Film and Video Festival (Finland)
Lookout Queer Video Festival
San Francisco International Lesbian and Gay Film Festival
Santa Barbara Lesbian and Gay Film Festival
Baltimore Lesbian and Gay Film Festival
Chicago Lesbian and Gay Film Festival
Film Arts Festival
The Other Cinema
Bay Area Now 2, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts