Takei THAT!

George Takei (aka Sulu from Star Trek) came out as gay in 2005, but he unofficially came out - to me anyway - when I saw The Search for Spock (1984). I had been wondering even during the series, but in this movie there is one shot where he swishes across the screen so gaily, while throwing a cape over his shoulders, that all doubt was obliterated from my mind. Since 2005 he has been active fighting for gay causes (as well as appearing in Heroes) and I wanted to share an already somewhat older but very funny clip of him. When NBA sportsman Tim Hardaway made a homophobic comment, Takei responded hilariously and fittingly. Since arguments don't have an impact, maybe sly humour can help homophobes realise how irrational they are. Or maybe not.

Can You Bear It?

The expression 'camper than a row of tents' comes to mind when watching the video of the Dutch Bearband Bearforce 1. I have had the pleasure of talking a couple of times with the yellow-shirted band member (just talk, unfortunately) and can say that he is actually a sweet guy. And he and his body are well-known in Amsterdam, especially now that he is on the poster for Furball (a hairy men dance party) this month. I like the idea of this anti-boy band and even the silly dance moves are entertaining. It's just unfortunate that the music itself, a sort of collision of classic gay pophits re-sung, doesn't really do anything for me. I doubted it would go anywhere but apparently Perez Hilton picked up on it and the link from that renouned gossip site got the video 200.000 views in one day, so who knows... they might find their way to furry fame.

Movie Review: But I'm a Cheerleader

This movie sets up a situation with amazing potential for silliness, ramps up and then backs away as if startled by the monster it has created. The story goes thusly: an unsuspecting cheerleader is sent off to a rehab camp after an intervention in which she is told by parents and friends that she is a lesbian. That comes as a bit of a shock to her, as she thought all girls were mesmerised by bouncing breasts.
The boys and gals in the camp are sleeping in reassuringly color coded bedrooms (blue for boys, pink for ladies) and are trained to act in accordance with their gender. It should come as no surprise that the treatment is not only un-effective, but that romances start to develop, most notably between the cheerleader and a surly girl from rich parents who are threatening to disown her. Much theoretical tension ensues from the question whether or not the girls will end up together. No really, take a guess!
There are some nicely bizarre elements to the movie, most notably the colourful set design and outfits. The head of the house makes for a good, despicable villainess, who turns a blind eye to the fact that her own boy is a big flamer. And speaking of those: RuPaul - out of drag, as the trainer for the boys - makes a remarkably manly guy. The kids at the camp are amusing stereotypes that - apart from the romantic leads - struggle to be more than one-dimensional. For a movie with so many underdeveloped characters that could have used more scenes, it oddly struggles to fill its running time. It is also strange that the villains of the piece are not really dealt with at the end. There are a couple of scenes you expect are coming up by way of pay-off, but the movie can't be bothered, only interested by then in getting the main couple together. A bit more depth and sharper dialogue could have made this a movie worth re-watching. As it stands, once will be enough.

Movie Review: Head On

Over the last decade, there have been less depressing gay movies. Well, there are plenty that depress because they are bad, but not many that have the guts to be negative about the gay experience. In the olden days, as exposed in the great documentary The Celluloid Closet, gay people in movies were pathetic, ridiculous and asexual or evil. Since then they generally have been accepting of themselves, though often victimised by their surroundings. If they were in mainstream movies though, they often still got killed.
Ari is something else in Head On. He is a Greek guy in Australia who struggles with his heritage, in combination with his sexuality. He hates his orthodox father, partly because he is at an age when a lot of men do and also because he knows his father would disown him if he ever found out his son was gay. He is caught in a typically Greek close-knit family that is anything but homo-friendly and knows he will lose everything if he comes out. He has one flamboyantly gay nephew that is spat upon by the rest of the family - including his own father - that is his link with his gay side.
Now if you are expecting a cheerful morality tale with a happy ending you will be disappointed. Ari does not handle his internal conflict well: he goes on a self-destructive bender. He is rude to people who reach out to help him, does too many drugs and has unsafe sex with strangers. We follow him a whole night and by the end of it, there is a certain feeling of resolution, though there isn't the sense that he is beyond hope. It's a moody, dark and depressing ride, but it feels raw and real, which is a nice change from the upbeat fluff that a lot of gay-themed movies offer.
On a shallow note: Alex Dimitriades looks as hot in shadows and neon as he does in daylight and carries the movie easily, making us root for Ari even as he is being an asshole. That he appears full frontal is simply a bonus.

Movie Review: The Mostly Unfabulous Social Life of Nathan Green

Note to all involved: guys + dresses + big colourful hats does not necessarily equal funny. There has to be flair and funny dialogue involved. The two 'drag queens' in question are Ethan Green's adoptive fathers, for all practical purposes. Ethan - our everyman, fallible hero - is desperately looking for love and then runs away screaming when he is at risk of finding it. He is still friends with an ex he dumped or was dumped by (the movie is not completely clear on this). Ethan still has feelings for him, which start to stir as his ex becomes involved with an obnoxious right-winger. In the meantime Ethan gets involved with a beefcake sportsman and a teenage skank. Will he find love? Well, take a wild guess.
This movie is a frustrating mix of good and bad. Ethan 's couple of gay 'uncles' stick out like sore thumbs. They are two middle-aged masculine looking men in girly, ill-fitting clothes, which the writer seem to think is funny in and of itself. Another bad call was casting Dean Shelton as a kid that everyone in the movie seems to think is really hot. Not that he is bad-looking but he really does not live up to the billing of hottest-guy-in-the-movie. He doesn't even make the top three. (The same thing bugged me all throughout both Queer As Folk versions with the Brian Kinney character.)
The 'selling real estate' angle that supports most of the plot is not exactly the height of suspense the writers intended it to be. In general, the somewhat surreal and slapsticky brand of comedy used here, distances the viewer from the movie, even though some of the jokes work. It seems to expect us to empathise with Ethan, but comedically pulls the rug out from under us too often for that to really happen. What also bugged me - pun sadly intended - was a sex scene shot for laughs, where it seemed barebacking must be going on, though the 'snap' of a condom off-screen would only have added to the humour. Easiest entry in the history of anal sex by the way (even beating the one in Brokeback Mountain).
Meredith Baxter (the mom from Family Ties) is funny as one of those 'too cool to be real' moms only seen in gay movies. She organises gay and lesbian 'weddings' and is of course drafted to organise the one for Ethan's ex. She does the best with what she is given, but it seems more could have been made of her. And then there is Ethan himself: actor Daniel Letterle. Cute as a button and he is perfectly naturally gay. By which I mean, he does not overdo it for comedic effect or play it straight to disprove a stereotype. He seems at ease as Ethan and it is surprising that, according to the IMDB, he has apparently dropped off the face of the earth since he made this movie. He is very easy on the eyes and has charm to spare. I would love to see him as a regular gay character on a mainstream series. Diego Serrano as the jock also makes an impact, and looks very, very good without a shirt. In general there is a sense of everyone having a fun time and the goodwill that creates, makes up for some of the jokes falling embarrassingly flat.
This movie is symptomatic of most gay comedies: uneven, some hints of amateurism but well-intentioned and entertaining enough for an evening's cuddle on the couch with your lover. But don't expect it to be the last thing you talk about on your deathbed.

Book & Podcast Review: Savage Love

Over the last week I have been marathon-listening to the Savage Love podcast. Dan Savage is a sex and relationship advice columnist for the Seattle weekly newspaper The Stranger. I had previously come across Mr. Savage in the form of his books, through my work at the bookstore. In Skipping towards Gomorrah, he indulges himself in the Seven capital Sins on a quest for happiness. There is The Kid, about the adoption process he and his boyfriend went through to add a little bundle of joy to their existence. And The Commitment: Love, Sex, Marriage, and My Family is a memoir incorporating thoughts about gay marriage. The first two linger on my bookshelf, unread so far because I just haven't gotten around to them. (Try working at a bookstore for a couple of years and see if you don't start building up a serious backlog of reading material.)
A book also came out collecting entries from his advice column, titled - predictably - Savage Love. This one I have gone through cover to cover by now, and it is a fast and funny read. It's great for reading on the fly since the piecemeal structure means you can easily dip into it for a page or two in-between whatever you are doing. (STD's don't combine well with cooking though.) Through Mr. Savage's book and this podcast, I now know more about vaginas and the female orgasm than I ever needed to.
Mr. Savage has a bit of a pottymouth on him, which works just fine for his line of work. It signals to his audience that no question will be too rude to be taken seriously, anything goes. In some cases, the questions make you shake your head at the lack of knowledge that USA youngsters have about sex. There is real damage being done here by consciously keeping people uninformed, often under the guise of religion, but really because previous generations had it drilled into them that sex is BAD and feel they have to make others suffer for that as well.
Dan's mantra is pretty much that sex and sexual experimentation are GOOD, unless it harms you or others. It's about getting maximum pleasure out of it all, while keeping your head on straight. For instance, a gay guy who wants to visit an orgy is strongly advised not to: it carries too much risk of disease. Questions about things like *gag reflex* eating shit are handled with equal practicality (so that would be a 'not a good idea', though - rejoice - pee is safe).
Thankfully, he is also not playing along with the assumption of some gays, that gays are intrinsically good and straight people are pretty much evil. There are assholes on both sides of the fence, and Savage even counts himself as one of those assholes. On one of the podcasts he rightfully, verbally bitch-slaps an effeminate gay boy who thinks that all women are disgusting and wants nothing to do with them. He even goes a bit pussy on him (to use his terminology) by not pointing out that the boy's hatred of women probably ties in to the fact that he is a bit of a flamer, struggling with his feminine side.
The questions never get boring, helped by the voyeuristic aspect to them. Often the answers are close to what your own response would be at first thought, but with a twist and more facts behind them. Though the word SEX is on the cover of just about every magazine every month, they are pussies about the graphic and technical aspects of it. Savage deals with these with refreshing bluntness and humour. I encourage everyone to read his column and to listen to the podcast. But beware: this asshole is not for pussies.

Pornglasses

Walking around in the center of Amsterdam during our Queen's Day celebrations, I couldn't help but notice an odd revival: the return of the Seventies-Gay-Porn-Tom-of-Finland-Cop-Sunglasses. Normally I am not a dedicated follower of fashion, but in this case of dubious nostalgia, how could I resist? Please notice how butch I look, on account of all the not-shaving. Frown sold seperately.
And speaking of seventies cops; how's THIS for nostalgia?

Everybody say 'awww'.