Why Can’t Millennials Get A Decent Gay Comedy?

The fact that there is a full page of LGBT movies available to stream on Netflix is a win in itself. This is great. But the next step is making those movies actually good. I’m mostly speaking to the comedies now. The dramas have figured out a very effective way to tell LGBT stories. But the comedies, well, they’ve got a bit of work to do.

For some, referring to movies as “gay” comedies might feel unnecessary or even offensive. Yes, a comedy is a comedy is a comedy, no matter what the characters identify as. But since the genre of LGBT films is so new and arguably in it’s infancy as far as a mainstream categorization goes, I believe there is something important about supporting these films and the fact that they are getting made and that these stories are being told, no matter how much they still have to accomplish.

The main problem with many of the comedies today, is that they are still pointing out gay characters as “others”. They choose to shine a bright light directly on them, making it seem as though they are special or different in some way. And they probably are! But it’s not because of their sexuality. It’s immediately boring if the only interesting thing about a character is their sexuality. Snooze.

Me Him Her has an interesting premise: the star of a hugely popular TV show realizes he’s gay and while trying to figure out how he wants to come out, he’s outted by paparazzi after leaving a gay bar. Using a celebrity is a sexy way to tell the story, but it quickly gets lazy from there. They tried to tell the story of what it’s like for someone to get outted unwillingly, in a way not of their choosing, but they didn’t try hard enough.

And then the avalanche of stereotypes begins to fall. Perhaps these are used as a simple way to make the film accessible or understandable for people not regularly interacting with gay people. But this film had the chance to go against stereotypes, and instead they thought, “Nah.” There are parades and extreme caricatures, but the most offensive plot comes from Gabbi (Emily Meade), a homosexual woman who, after a breakup with her crazy, cheating girlfriend (Angela Sarafyan), falls for the doofy Cory (Dustin Milligan), the dude who came out to LA to help his friend Brendan (Luke Bracey) come out of the closet, but instead spent the trip chasing after the girl.

At the core, there is a story of friendship in this film that could’ve been explored in a deeper way. What does it mean when one of your closest friends is coming out, very publicly, and entertaining their first real relationship? What would it have been like if Cory actually was there to support Brendan? What would that process look like?

Gabbi, ultimately serves a more important purpose than just falling for the straight guy. She has a heart to heart, homosexual to homosexual, with Brendan in the desert, where he admits what really scares him about coming out. How will his career, his fans, his friends, his family, and most importantly, himself now change? He tells her, “I’m afraid I’m not gonna be me anymore,” to which Gabbi replies, “Haven’t said that one out loud yet?” This might not be a universal experience for all LGBT people, but as a straight woman, I found that line of dialogue to be uniquely eye-opening. It was entirely the most important, revealing, and touching moment of the whole film. And it was brushed aside for a crazy ass sword fight just moments later.

The reason why Me Him Her is so disappointing is that it didn’t have to be. The premise, the jokes, and a lot of the way this film is edited is highly entertaining, and could pack a lot of heart. It feels like there’s a unique story at the core, with a lot of offensive, typical tropes wrapped around it. However, it’s not quite as bad as Naomi and Ely’s No Kiss List.

Sigh. This film did one thing right, and that is the scene where Naomi (Victoria Justice) and Gabriel (Matthew Daddario) share their earbuds while listening to music on the subway. You may remember Jim and Pam also did this move on The Office? It’s maybe one of the most romantic displays of affection possible, so intimate and sexy, and solely saves this film from being a total bust.

The film centers around Naomi, a straight woman, and Ely (Pierson Fode), a gay male, inseparable lifelong best friends who grew up in the same NYC apartment building, who create a list of men that neither can make out with because they don’t want to fight over men. Except Naomi’s boyfriend Bruce (Ryan Ward) who she feels very “meh” about, begins dating Ely, and she’s sadder that Ely is taken than Bruce. Yes, this is a movie about a straight woman in love with her best male friend who happens to be gay, and no matter how much she tries to deny it, she finally accepts it to be true, and moves on with hunky doorman Gabriel (even after he made their list!).

Being in love with someone who is unable to love you back is inherently heartbreaking, but there’s humor to be found in it. This movie is very much unable to find it. There’s a gaggle of straight men vying for Naomi’s attention, but she brushes them off the whole time because Ely remains the apple of her eye. The two swap clothes with ease and spend the majority of the movie cuddling more than Taylor Swift during the first month of dating a new man. Until they have a blow up fight and “break up” like a heterosexual couple would. Why though? Couldn’t it look a different way?

These two movies try to tell us that sexuality is fluid and love is love and we can’t help who we fall for. But they do it all through the male gaze. You know, just in case that wasn’t obvious enough by the fact that Naomi is always flaunting a bare midriff and pouty red lip. Millennials deserve better than these films. We’re a generation that is living these stories every day, and managing to find both the uniqueness and the humor in these situations, so why can’t these films reflect that in any way, especially without being lazy and offensive within their stories?

The movie that comes closest to getting it right is G.B.F., or “gay best friend”. Of the three, this movie is easily the funniest, but also figured out a way to be the most heartfelt. Two gay teens go through the coming out process, one with hesitance and the other with less of a choice, but the movie is more about friendship and inclusion and both accepting and discovering yourself, regardless of what the people around you are expecting from or projecting on to you.

G.B.F. takes the typical high-school clique story, and while they still treat gay kids as “others”, they are able to poke fun at many of the devices typically associated with telling gay stories. What this film accomplishes the most, is telling a story about what it’s like to be a gay kid that anyone can understand, that also gives straight viewers a perspective they may not have previously considered. Oh, and they do this while adding comedy and general wackiness into the equation. It is possible!

Again, it’s great that audiences, gay, straight or otherwise, are getting films that tell these stories, even to varying degrees. Soon, we can hope that these stories are being told not exclusively through the male gaze, but through the actual perspectives and scenarios through which they’re happening. So keep telling them, but please, when it comes to the comedy, we need to believe that it gets better.

[Watch G.B.F. on Netflix]