Movie
http://www.fileserve.com/file/SwVQW2D
Being a straight male I had to be forced (gotta support yr friends, right?) to watch this film and expected maximum discomfort.
What I found was a completely unexpected maturity and accompanying straightforwardness from these well-written, 3-Dimensional characters.
I mean, come on... A gay film called POOL TIME? I could almost hear the cheesy WIKKA-BOW-BOW porn music playing. I was assured by friends there wasn't any "hot male-on-male action" but wasn't convinced...I sensed an ambush…
That never was. This film also isn't about AIDS the other elephant kept out of the room (or backyard, as it were). I'm told the absence of both is rare in gay film, so I can see why this film is being regarded as a refreshing change in the genre, filling a niche in its particular market.
Especially touching was when a young nephew is brought by the backyard. He's straight, yet not only is the romantic advice offered him (initiated by the boy, not the men) not seductive or persuasive to "switch" to their lifestyle, it's wholly accepting and respectful of the boy's stated preference, gently delivered, and never approaches inappropriateness, embarrassment, or even speculation on the foreign (female) viewpoint involved. In other words, the kid is straight, it's fine by them, and because they care they tailor their advice to HIS (straight, youthful) needs and perspective, not THEIRS. (It's near impossible to imagine 4 straight men handling the same situation with a gay teen with ANY of this maturity and accommodation. (Epithets, avoidance, denial and/or shaming are much more likely qualities to be involved.) More and more films are refreshingly open to including characters WHO HAPPEN TO BE gay (fully-dimensional flesh-and-blood characters, not the token Gay Character stereotype as target of derision) in their stories. It's great progress towards finally leveling the ground between lifestyles in their depictions.
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