To start: I am gay, and totally open about it. But I can't watch most of the "Gay" movies out there. They are just to unrealistic. I love love-stories, and I've seen a couple where the characters just happen to be gay. Those ones are sweet and beautiful. But when they are expressly labeled as "Gay" (Like on Netflix) it seems 95% of the time they are extremely campy, borderline pornographic, and paint a REALLY bad picture of the LGBTQ community. My boyfriend was watching one just tonight on Netflix. It had been recommended to him as a cute love story. It ended up being ultra softcore with almost no real story. It wasn't a film, and it certainly wasn't something I would want others to see as a representation of what it's like to be gay... (And this is applying to movies straight up marked as gay) Don't get me wrong, I've seen some really interesting movies out there that are gay and also really good movies (Weekend, Newcastle, North Star Texas) (Also Sense 8, Cloud Atlas, V for Vendetta, arguably) So you know they are out there, they are just really really hard to find.... On the flip side, for arguments sake, I've found that most movies marked "Lesbian" tend to be beautiful moving works of art. Exploring the curiosity and depth of the human spirit. I don't tend to watch those ones much. But every time I have given them a chance I've been really impressed by how well written and interesting they are. Again, I am absolutely for a good gay story. Something with actual substance and character. It just seems like every time I try to find something of that caliber I'm incredibly disappointed.
I don't have Netflix, so I can't really comment on the movies you've seen, but Priscilla, Queen of the Desert is a great Australian movie about two drag queens and a trans woman travelling around the outback. It's not that cringe-y, (well, it has its moments), but considering it came out in 1994, it really is an achievement.
I don't have Netflix and I don't know how they label their movies, bu I think there are plenty of good gay themed movies out there. Hmm, maybe there is even a difference between a 'gay movie' and a 'gay themed movie'. Seeing that you're from Utah, one of my favorite GTMs comes to mind right away ... "Latter Days"
I was encountering this same problem last night too, actually! I was getting a laugh out of the fact that after watching "Tucker and Dale vs. Evil" I was browsing for another movie, and the LGBT movie section came up of Netflix. I got the laugh because "Tucker and Dale", being a comedic horror movie that was actually pretty great in my opinion, I liked much better as far as "gay" goes; there was hinting and undertones of the two main guys having a sort of "friends-with-benefits" thing going on, and I felt like there were also a few subtle tilts to "Brokeback Mountain" slipped in there too. All in all, I wholeheartedly agree with you, and I hope one day I can even try and participate in making a more representative movie for all sexuality and gender types!
You know, I actually did see that one a few years ago. And parts of it were quite accurate. the LDS (Mormon) church really does have brainwashing places like that.... It's not as bad as it used to be, but when I came out as a teenager my parents forced me to go to a therapist working for Evergreen International (It's a place that thinks they can cure being gay) My therapist was popular for his "Conversion therapy", which relied on prayer, long talks with many different people, and some other weirder moments. Like pills they wanted me to take to "change my mind", or having me bring in my best friend and kiss her in front of my parents. It was not okay. Oh, and for the record, the government is now working on a ban for Conversion therapy on minors stating its more akin to "psychological torture" (Leelah's Law) Anyways, Evergreen is now Northstar, and they are doing their best to cover their tracks. Except it was BYU that did the most harm. There have long been proof that they performed electroshock therapy there up to the early 2000's, though it's kept super secret Sorry, I realize I got off topic really bad. But this is something I'm super passionate about. I left the LDS a while ago and it was the greatest relief of all. I feel bad for those poor kids still being forced to stay....The church changed some of their rulings a few months back and they are really brutal to gay individuals in the community.... TLR - Don't live by BYU, and don't become Mormon and you'll be fine....
Latter Days is a great film. Going Down in La-La Land is another good one. And there are quite a few others as well. But there are an awful lot that are really thin on plot and heavy on the near-hardcore sex scenes. I think it's a byproduct of demand; arousal patterns in women are generally different than men, and the films are likely made to appeal to that. Secondarily... most indy films are made on a budget of nearly nothing so quality often suffers.
I have an extensive gay film collection from all around the world (that I have to watch alone because my boyfriend refuses to read subtitles). There are the good, the bad and the ugly but then there are the absolute amazing films I watch over and over again. To be honest my measure of amazing is can it make me cry. That comes down to how much you can connect with the theme and characters but there are some tear jerker's that I can always rely on when I need a good cry, happy or sad. I don't think it's any different to the rest of the film industry really although nearly all gay films have a low budget. I agree though that some of the films do throw in a lot of unnecessary sexual scenes or nudity, just to keep you interested. Also main stream gay films aimed at straight audiences are nearly always terrible, especially when the straight guy playing a gay lead gets a ton of praise for doing it so well. After all, a lot more gay actors play straight characters and nobody makes a fuss over their brilliant portrait of the 'other side'.
OK, now I must know! What are these lesbian works of art movies? I have similar complaints as you do about the "lesbian movies" I have seen so far.
Gay movies tend to be really crappy on Netflix. Like the first 20 minutes of 'Gay Best Friend' was terrible. They usually depict stereotypes and over erotic characters. From personal experience, look at reviews of the movie if it catches your eye, or try some other video streaming service.
Latter Days was a movie I watched before I came out. I did like it, I almost even slipped up and recommended mom and my wife to watch it when we we watched CSI:Miami with the actor from the movie. (But I tried to say I wasn't gay, it makes no sense now) V for Vendetta is one of my fav movies ever, thought it was odd to see it labeled gay movie. But I guess it does fit doesn't it...
V for Vendetta is a gay movie?! I mean sure there was the gay TV personality who kept Qu'ran at home and the two girls who were put on the camp for being lesbians but weren't those just kind of side plots? The main point being about how fear and opportunism can turn a nation into authoritarianism which turns to totalitarianism.
'Out in the Dark' is an Israeli movie about a gay couple. There are more underlying social issues presented in the movie such as the Israeli-Palestinian divide and the politics that follow with it. It's not cute and rather tragic, and I loved every moment of it. If you're in a relationship, it'll make you appreciate how privileged you are as of now, and if you're not, you'll wish you'd have something like what the leads had.
One great film on Netflix that is actually leaving soon is Geography club. It's more of a coming of age gay story rather than sex sex sex
Best gay film so far, The Normal Heart. with all the R18 stuff in it. Cry every time. True, very few gay movies with a real plot and character development.
