I absolutely love going to gay film festivals (and yes, I use ‘festival’ in the plural because we now have two such festivals in SA – the Pride Film Festival, and the Out in Africa Film Festival). I love going to them because they make me feel like I’m part of the Big Gay World That Does Intelligent And Thought-Provoking Things (BGWTDIAT-PT). But besides that, I like going to them because the movies are generally pretty good, and these days I absolutely refuse to go to dumb movies that have no meaning in the greater scheme of things. So movies like Date Movie – really dumb. Movies like Volver – clever, because they really are pieces of art. Movies like She’s the Man – make you drool because of Channing Tatum. Movies like As it is in Heaven – Excellent because tey make you weep. And movies like Mrs Henderson Presents – Fab because they are, well, fab. 
This evening I went with my lovely friends, Robert and CJ to see the movie A Four Letter Word. The movie really revolved around this one rather camp character who was a self-professed slut because every night he would sleep with someone different. But the movie also looked at many other characters, and essentially portrayed their stereotypical personas in relation to the main character (played by Jesse Archer). For me the movie looked at all the stereotypes that exist within the gay community, from the no-strings attached ’slut’ to the YAY-civil-rights… erm… monogomist? And I think it’s all story was how we shouldn’t box ourselves into these stereotypes because we, at the end of the day, our own individual selves. Rather we need to let ourselves shine through and not attach a label to ourselves. And the film directors did through unboxing each character and deconstructing every stereotype they held dear.
It got me thinking into how I am personally as a gay man. Am I a stereotype? And if so, what stereotype do I pander towards? I think if I were to pander towards one, it would be more the YAY-civil-rights monogomist one, who does not believe, or perhaps is to scared to engage in the anonymous sexual stereotype. But I also think I fit into the ‘Worried-Control-Freak’ stereotype who goes into relationships and then freaks out because, as one point was made in the movie, it involves giving up a lot of your ‘ownness’ (for want of a better word) in a favour of an approach that just goes with the flow. Infact I could identify with the particular character in the movie who typified this, and I found myself wishing that I could not because I didn’t actually like the character that much! Definitely something to work on…
Anyway, this below is Jesse Archer, the main character. He is on the far right (dunno who the other ppl are, but I am sure they are lovely friendly people). He was a guest at the festival, and spoke to us for just a little.
I must say – BIG UPs to the organisers of the Out in Africa Film Festival. One can really see how they put their hearts into it, and the result is a well-organised film festival that features some great films – better than the Pride Film Festival in my opinion.
I’m looking forward to seeing A Jihad for Love (a movie about homosexuality in Islam), as well as Anyone and Everyone (South African documentaries relating to homosexuality).
Ok. That is all. Love, me. x
p.s. The feminist diatribe came in handy yesterday during the exam.
