Home Of Phobia

Home Of Phobia. I mean, c'mon. That was really the title of a film? A romantic comedy? It might have been clever had it been, say, a horror film, with gay elements, or something, or even a family drama, but a romantic comedy? Clearly, someone must have agreed and decided to rename this to the nearly as bad, Freshman Orientation.

Coming out films are generally pretty popular in the gay genre films. Often populated by handsome, yet, conflicted teens, there's something that either appeals to folks as mementos of their youth, or, more than likely, discovering that someone, far better looking that you, has to deal with these issues. Coming out films are, almost always, dramas. The impact is discovery, and being judged by those who see you differently.

On the other hand, romantic comedies. This is a genre that manages to survive, despite resorting to cliches, and a story arc that is completely predictable. Presumably, so many of them are made because people still fall for its structure. Perhaps they are unaware that they are seeing the same plotline once again. Here's a romantic comedy plot. Boy meets girl. Boy falls for girl and vice versa. Boy and girl have a fight, and appear to break it off. Boy and girl reconcile, and all is well.

The devil is in the details. Sometimes, it's two boys, or two girls. I suppose there are a few where it's centered on the girl, though romantic comedies usually prefer following the guy. There's even the occasional movie that bucks all trends, like My Best Friend's Wedding, which is Julia Roberts trying to break up Dermot Mulroney and Cameron Diaz, until she discovers they're perfect for each other. It's really more screwball comedy than anything else.

Now, if I had to guess, I'd say Freshman Orientation was directed and written by someone gay, and yet the plotline, is rather peculiar. I can see how that can be both clever and offensive. Sam Huntington plays Clay Adams, who, I suppose is meant to be unlikeable at the beginning of the movie, though only in a sitcom sort of way, and learns something about himself.

OK, basic plot overview. Clay falls for a blond girl who's part of a sorority only because her mom got her in. Blond girl dislikes ex-cheerleader mom, but sees this as opportunity to get away from home, and the life she's supposed to lead. She gets a free ride at the sorority (why?). As part of initiation, each girl must find a stereotype (fat guy, Muslim), convince them to fall for her, invite them to a party, and dump them. The blond girl in question has to find a gay guy to fall for. Her "best friend" (not really) in the sorority is Jewish, and has to find a Muslim, but generally coaxes her to find a gay guy.

Enter Clay, who, trying to meet women, thinks joining a fraternity will help him score, and convince a guy who looks like young Clark Kent to join him. As part of hazing, they are thrown, while asleep and drunk, into the middle of some public area on campus, and everyone thinks they are gay. You have to admire the screenwriter for working this hard to have the plot make some plausible sense, yet, not.

Blond girl thinks Clay is gay, and Clay decides quite quickly that he is. Enter John Goodman, playing gay bar owner, to teach him otherwise. The film has a bevy of minor characters that populate it. Drunk horny lady. President of LGBT who is hot for Clay. Black, lesbian activist. Sassy, black professor. Blond frat guy who also wants blond. Head of sorority who seems to hate men, and has organized the dumpfest.

The film seems aware that what Clay is doing is repugnant (act gay to pick up women), and yet it works, so what's its real message? There was a film a few years ago about this guy who decides to be black to get admissions, and somehow learns about being black. Goodness, that idea was bad, and was the devil to execute (dark skin pigmentation does not make one black--there's facial structure as well, which is why Indians, as dark as African Americans, don't look like African Americans).

To be that heavy-handed a message movie would be hard to deal with, and Clay never really makes that kind of a transformation, because he's such a sitcom character to begin with. Huntington is all eyebrows and expressions.

If the film is enjoyable, it's in its tiny details. The audience I saw it with loved references to gay history sprinkled throughout, despite the story not really being gay friendly. It's a tricky tightrope of a story, which seems to suggest that being gay is a pretty good idea, but brings it as more of a choice, or at least, relatively fluid. One difficult thread has to do with Clay's roommate discovering he's gay and more than that, has fallen for Clay. But since Clay needs to fall for the blond, roommate has to find someone else to fall for, and since it isn't his story, that guy is someone even more closeted than himself.

The film is both ambitious and not, trying to juggle a bunch of people, most of whom are stereotypes. It barely addresses the much deeper topics that it hints at, such as the gay roommate that's in love, the possibility of gays being involved in unwelcome advances to straight guys, men-hating women. I think the audience enjoyed it, but I found it totally silly, and bordering on offensive. I have to say the writer, despite all sorts of contortions, makes it plausible for the two to get back together, given that the girl really has nothing to go back too, and as it turns out, neither does Clay.

Well, I may catch up to three films today. The first is a New Zealand coming-out story. The second is a lesbian comedy. The third is a family drama about a woman who wants to meet the son she gave up for adoption (who's gay). The trailer makes the title of the film way too precious. The title is Loggerheads, and is about the gay son's fascination with loggerhead turtles where the mother returns back to the same spot as where she gave birth. I mean, that's a huge amount of underlining. Of course, it has double meaning, as people come to "loggerheads", which means they fight, so there's expected to be a yelling match when they meet. Still, there are pretty good actors in this film, mostly, Bonnie Hunt, and the gay couple isn't hysterically good looking (like, Brokeback Mountain).

There's a fourth, that is a series of shorts, but I may have to miss that. We'll see. Four sets of movies would be quite daunting to watch. I've managed 2 before, possibly three with a break, but never four in sequence.