Movies-any make you proud you are gay?

[Guest Mikel]

Just watched "200 American" and "10 Attitudes". It got me wondering about gay life/culture as depicted in the movies...both those movies made explicity for a gay audience like the ones mentioned above and those box office hits that touch upon the topic. In your opinion, which movies depict gay life/culture in a manner that makes you proud or in a manner that you think is at least accurately reflective???? Which ones and why?

[FourAces]

Interesting topic. At the moment I cannot think of any that make me proud to be gay but I'm certain at my old age I've forgotten several I've seen.

 

One of my favorite films that deals with homoerotic themes is a coming of age film from Denmrk titled, You Are Not Alone. The movie portrays both gay and straight exploration.

 

I really enjoyed Party Monsters and reflected on the comment it made about the gay culture during that era but I probably was more fixated on Mac than I was the film.

 

I look forward to reading what others share int his thread,

 

RT

[Kevin Slater]

What a great question! Seems like there should be dozens, but only a few jump to mind.

 

Gods and Monsters is one such film. Ian McKellen gives a wonderful performance of a gay gentleman of a certain age, and Brendan Fraser as his presumably straight object of lust. The film is tasteful and engaging.

 

Torch Song Trilogy may be a bit dated, but it definitely made me proud to be gay when I first saw it. And it helped me come to the (now trite) realization that family is what we define it to be, not how others define it for us.

 

The Times of Harvey Milk is a wrenching, empowering and informative documentary that I cannot recommend highly enough, and definitely fits the bill.

 

I remember really liking Parting Glances (with a young Steve Buscemi) for being witty and affirming.

 

On a lighter note, Flawless, the Opposite of Sex, and Edge of Seventeen are some more fun films that say it’s ok to be gay.

[OneFinger]

There have been several movies that really had an impact on my life. I totally agree with "The Life and Times of Harvey Milk". That should be required watching for all gay men.

 

A book, that later became a made-for-TV movie, was "Consenting Adult". The book and the movie flip-flopped back and forth between the kid handling his gay feelings and his parents coming to grips with it. The book and movie were major turning points in my relationship with my own parents. I could identify with the kid and my parents identified with his parents.

 

Another made-for-TV movie was "Doing Time on Maple Drive". This is one of the first movies where Jim Carrey played a serious role (he was the alcoholic brother of a gay jock).

 

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B0002B15WO.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg

 

I've already previously posted my feelings about the movie "Latter Days". It's a movie that probably wouldn't appeal to all but meant a lot to me.

[Rick Munroe]

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/0784010501.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg

[+ Lucky]

"Two Asses Up" from Rick

Thumbs Up from the other guys!

[Guest Mikel]

Gods and Monsters was an intriguing film...I enjoyed it and confes I thought it was bit erotic. The more serious issue...did you reflect well on gay life?

[Kevin Slater]

I saw Gods and Monsters when it first came out and not since, so my recollection may be suspect, but yes, I think it did reflect well on gay life. The message definitely wasn’t that life is a bed of roses, but perhaps that there’s a way to age gracefully as well as to find dignity in other people, whatever their circumstances. I do remember it being more poignant than vapidly affirming, but that worked well for me.

[Paul Revere]

My favorite gay-themed movie of all time is Beautiful Thing. It makes me cry every time I see it, and I am cranky cynical old fart.

[FrancoDiSantisxxx]

Relative Pride

 

While flawed in certain ways, The Living End was a movie that had a large impact on me and my friends when it came out. I also liked the earlier Greg Araki films. Zero Patience is certainly different and interesting but The Making of Monsters would be one that would make me feel proud.

 

The Sum of Us, with Russell Crowe, is something I recently saw again on IFC and it reminded me of a very sweet, gentle, "empowering" depiction of a healthy father son relationship that was "sexually discordant" as a psychotherapist might put it.

 

http://www.gaydar.co.uk/francodisantis

[fedssocr1]

RE: Relative Pride

 

well, 200 American is one of the worst films I've ever seen.

 

I guess Beautiful Thing still rates very highly. It's a total fairy tale, but a good one.

 

I liked Doing Time On Maple Drive which made a big impression on my when I was in college or maybe right after. Great performances and very "real".

 

I also loved the short called "Crush" that did the festival circuit a few years ago and ended up on one of those shorts compilations that TLA sells.

[Trixie]

I must agree with Kevin, I loved Gods & Monsters. Dame McKellen's character is quite sympathetic and charming and just a touch anti-heroic. A real, likeable man, gay or otherwise.

Many gay oriented films are quite forgetable... in fact I can't remember the names of any of them at the moment.

But I do rather fondly recall a movie about a gay man who returns to his home town in rural (as opposed to urban???) Montana, I think to take care of some ailing family member. Whilst there, he reconciles the crush he had on an old high school chum and in the end begins a love affair with shy native american man. Can anyone help me out with the name of this film?

It was good. Very good.

 

There are a few lesbian movies that I find very strong and touching, but, well.... this is the wrong crowd, I fear.

 

Trix

[FourAces]

RE: Relative Pride

 

Get Real is another film that comes to mind. This too is a coming og age story about a young sexually questioning British lad.

 

I too enjoyed Gods and Monsters. It was a sad movie but all the same celebrated life.

 

Doing Time on Maple Drive was the perfect movie at the right time but I saw it again recently and it doesn't have the impact it held originally.

 

Lastly, I happened to see a film on Sundance last night called AKA it was really good. The main characters were gay but the story line really had more to do with a aimless lad than his sexual identification. Has anyone else seen this film? What did you think?

 

RT

[noviceny]

RE: Relative Pride

 

Wow...I havent seen any of these movies..got to print this out and rent some

[jackhammer91406]

Ms. Trixie,

The movie you remember is called Big Eden. I also enjoyed this film and have watched it a number of times. The guy he had the crush on is quite handsome. What I liked about the movie is that it takes a very real approach to what it is like to come out painfully late and how others in our life react.

[Trixie]

RE: Big Eden

 

Exactly! Thank you so much! During this brief pause, I also thought about Lillies, a Canadian film. It's a beautiful, theatrical piece of cinematography. It might be a bit over-the-top for Middle America, but I thought it was a truly artful film, well-acted, moving, and sexy!

 

Trix

[noviceny]

RE: Big Eden

 

Also, there was a movie set in England about two school mates who were gay and were out to rach other but no one else. I was sort of comical, but showed there personal struggle. At the end, I believe one betrayed the other.

 

It was kind of a triumphant ending and they also had a number of scenes where they insinuated/showed that the public restrooms were used for secret encounters.

 

Cant remember the name

[Kevin Slater]

RE: Big Eden

 

I think the film you mean is Get Real, which FourAces mentions above. It’s definitely a wonderful movie with a positive message, and a damn cute cast.

 

FourAces also mentions AKA which I brought up in some previous thread. That’s a great movie, very sexy, but I don’t think it has a strongly positive take on gay life. Not strongly negative, either, but perhaps not an answer to the original post here.

[dfw2sfo]

Agree with many of the above.

 

Most of Longtime Companion makes me feel proud to be gay even with the devastating subject matter. How they all support each other and are there for each other exemplify a definite dynamic in gay culture. It's also a snapshot of a time in history that gives perspective to those who weren't born or weren't exposed to other gay people until after that time (like me as a teenager in the early to mid 80s). It gives a little hint of what the generation before me went through with not knowing what was going on.

[trilingual]

"Sunday Bloody Sunday" by John Schlesinger was one of the first films to deal honestly with a gay character. It appeared during the 70s, and is now available on DVD. It's about a love triangle involving a middle-aged male doctor and a middle-aged woman who are both being seen by a handsome bi-sexual young man. Peter Finch, Glenda Jackson and Murray Head (?). It was very tastefully done, but showed an on-screen male kiss that may have been the first ever seen in mainstream American movie houses. The gay characters aren't stereotypical, everyone involved is a decent human being, and I think it reassured many guys coming out at that time that being gay didn't mean you had to turn yourself into a flaming drag queen to be part of the "club."

[Rod Hagen]

RE: Relative Pride

 

Hi Franco,

 

How do I get a copy of The Making of Monsters? He's a good director, and I'd like to see it.

 

RH

[+ Charlie]

The final scene of "Longtime Companion" left me sobbing like a child.

[Guest Mikel]

Sometimes I feel that movies depict gay life in one of the following themes (1) Victims...as in AIDS themes, hate crime themes etc. (2) Sordid, anomonous sex...as opposed to the ability to make a monogamous commitment (3) Comedy...as portrayed by Queens or Drag Queens.

 

I guess I would like to see something substantial that was other than one of those three themes.

 

By the way, I just saw "Adored...Diary of a Porn Star". Not an erotic flick at all. Mostly in Italian with English subtitles. Dealt a lot with family relationships, particulary between a straight man and his gay porn star brother. Other issues were touched upon, but I did enjoy the evolving relationship between brothers...although I'm not saying it's entirely reality based.

 

That's my whole question...what movies out there are reality based, absent of the three themes I mentioned, and make you proud. Aren't we more than victims, perverts, and comics in the world of movies...especially when so many gays are in that whole business...directing and producing????

[Guest zipperzone]

Surprised that there has not been a mention of "The Birdcage"

 

I loved it's fuck you attitude and wish I could be that out.

[FrancoDiSantisxxx]

The Making of Monsters

 

Hey Rod, this is an older (1991) John Greyson film, about gay bashing. It is a short film, 35 minutes, so not sure if you can find it on tape unless in a compilation. I saw it as part of the Frameline film festival in San Francisco and again, another time, as part of a compilation that played at the Castro. I suspect if Outfest ever does a John Greyson retrospective or celebration, they may play it at the Egytian or DGA.

 

This is from a Canadian journal: The Making of "Monsters" (1991), often cited as the favourite of Greyson's short works, is a highly controversial satire addressing the 1985 murder of a gay man by teens, who were sentenced to less than three years in prison. This was a Canadian Film Centre, 35-minute fictional documentary of a movie-within-a-movie directed by Bertolt Brecht, portrayed as a catfish ensconced in a bowl. A copyright brouhaha sprung up around Greyson's rewritten lyrics of Kurt Weill songs (although the 50-year limit comes up this year making those lyrics public). "Monsters" won Best Canadian Short at the Toronto Film Festival and at the Berlin Film Festival.

 

Unfortunately, the IMDB listing appears to suggest that it is not available on VHS or DVD.

 

Trixie, Lilies is a John Greyson film, by the way. It is available for purchase or rental.

 

For those interested in John Greyson, here is a good listing of his films:

 

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0340742/