"Ohio," the first section of William Jones' provocative, intelligent three-part Massillon, is constructed almost entirely from static, empty shots of the town of Massillon, accompanied by the filmmaker's recollections of his experiences there as a gay youth. At the close of this section, a car moves through the Ohio landscape as a radio minister bemoans the co-optation of the word "gay" by homosexuals. Indeed, the only local media discussion of the then-recent Supreme Court decision on sodomy is this religious broadcast. The car, and filmmaker, seem to be fleeing the town and its traditional values. But it is also at this point that the film moves from personal experience to a discussion of the ways experience is shaped by culture. In the second section, "The Law," the camera and car literally reverse directions, as Jones' voice-over narration looks back at the history of laws restricting homosexuality, and at the evolution of legal and scientific language used to describe homosexual activity. The powerful third section, "California," parallels community planning with social regulation. The desolate shots of planned communities suggest the bleakness of narrow, moral conformity inscribed in their construction. The absence of people throughout Jones' unconventional personal and political history points to the effacement of homosexuality by "official" views. --Kathy Geritz