Movies to Live By
With the movie industry slowly dying, ââ?¬Å"Movies That Made Me Gayââ?¬Â? by Larry Duplechan is a playful, hilarious, and authentic book from a true film lover that gets us scrambling to watch one of the many movies he recommends. The author is a former preacher, and he is a true believer in the films he lists here. Throughout this work, he dishes, rants, preaches, gossips, and veers off on tangents to tell us who should have been cast, who was miscast, who was robbed of an award, how watching one performance of a particular actor gives him shingles, which kissing scenes are the hottest, and which musical numbers can make you ââ?¬Ë?uglyââ?¬â?¢ cry.
The idiosyncratic canon of films organized by seasons (Black History Month, Pride Month, 4th of July, Halloween, Christmas) are his yearly watching ritual and refreshingly, he never shies away from controversy (he likes ââ?¬Å"Gone with the Wind,ââ?¬Â? but didnââ?¬â?¢t enjoy ââ?¬Å"Moonlightââ?¬Â?). Although the author declares himself ââ?¬Ë?not deepââ?¬â?¢ and wanting mostly fun, at times his honesty about what films do for our lives and identities is poignant.
The first chapter, which shares the title of the book, tells us how early Hollywood movies from the 30s and 40s helped him find his voice as a skinny, gay, black, young man who didnââ?¬â?¢t fit in with his classmates. Borrowing the dialogue of sassy women heroines from these classics (ââ?¬Ë?Hiya Toots,ââ?¬â?¢ ââ?¬Ë?I predict a hatchet murder before the night is overââ?¬â?¢ and ââ?¬Ë?I daresayââ?¬â?¢) gave him a way to find his wit and power and celebrate his difference. They helped him realize and celebrate that he was gay but mostly brought him unadulterated joy.
This is a worthy resource for films (he covers classics and blockbusters as well as less successful indie films). It�s also a memoir of growing up gay and black told in anecdotes, and a serious geeking out on movie lore. At almost 400 pages, it works best as a resource you dip into than a book you read straight through, but when you do open a page, you�ll be sure to laugh, be wowed by a movie factoid, and always feel the author�s very appealing, one-of-a-kind voice vibrating in your ear.
