Dorian Blues

I just saw this film at a gay lesbian film festival with some friends and we all enjoyed it. We liked the jokes and we could all relate to the pain of coming out. We were all hoping that we might see more revealing shots of the straight brother who is just adorable, but que sera sera. One of my favorite scenes was at the end when the star of the film is compared to his father. At first I could not see it, but then I saw the connection between the warped anger in each character. The angry father did a great job in making everyone fear him and truly believe that he was inflexible. The film took place in the early 90's. If I had one wish it would be for an epilogue.

What I found particularly intriguing about this very enjoyable film was the honesty of the dialog. The characters spoke and acted the way real people would, or at least the way real people would if they were expressing what they were thinking. The characters were also not stereotypes. Even the father, who was the villain of the movie, was understandable as a person, however much one might disagree with his views. The older brother could have been made a less likable character if the film-makers had followed formulaic conventions, but they didn't. The result was more realistic if less dramatic. The situation of the main character, Dorian, was very true to the experience of many young people. The film was funny, genuine, real. I loved it.

"Dorian Blues" is indeed worth seeing. The acting is considerable. "The story" has been told many times, but this movie has an air of freshness to it, perhaps mostly because of the overall quality of the film.

Without losing it's low-voltage current of kindly nature and good humor, this movie came close to showing some deeper levels of inner-struggles of those around a person coming out. Yet the self-absorption of the gay character was allowed to overshadow the likely introspection of the overly macho dad, the gay-friendly quarterback and the not-so-clueless mother.

By necessity so many of today's (and yesterday's) independent art films are shot on low budgets and rather poorly produced, but this film appears to have had a big budget and top-quality production. The low-rent "statement films" are getting more difficult to endure (especially @ $9.50 a ticket), yet I understand the need for them.

Thanks and Kudos to the producers of "Dorian Blues!"

When the film was introduced as another coming out story, I was less than enthused, since although coming out is an important and (unfortunately) enduring subject to cover, it's been done often (both well and less-than-wonderfully) before. I was amazed, though, at how well this film dealt with the topic, but more importantly, what a thoroughly enjoyable film it was - the acting, story line, situations, characters and most of the all the humor - often conveyed thru the dialogue and really funny film techniques - was all first rate. Add to all this the fact that this was the straight director's first feature length film, and it is truly an amazing achievement. One of the most enjoyable screenings at this years Frameline SF Lesbian and Gay Film Festival.

The film captures some of the experiences that can be part of people's coming out: arrival at the point where you just don't care what other people think of you anymore; falling for the first mature gay person you meet who treats you as a human being (his therapist); temporarily going back into the closet, only to change your mind; the internalized homophobia of going out of your way to appear straight; sleeping with someone you're not terribly attracted to just because they're the only person you know of who's available and gay; the interactive relationship between the honesty that impels you to come out as gay and the honesty in other compartments of your life; family members not wanting to listen to you or to take your sexual orientation seriously (his dad); family members wanting you to hide and deny your sexual orientation (his brother); family members initially freaking out but gradually changing their attitude (his brother); family members wanting to have a relationship with you but trying to avoid the gay part of your life (his brother); the fact that coming out is a long process that keeps coming back to you, not a confession that lasts as long as it takes you to tell people you're gay.

The 3-dimensional characters were Dorian, his brother, his first boyfriend, his dad (though exaggerated in the service of satire), and his oblivious and out-of-the-loop mom (who shatters this characterization at the end, revealing her wisdom). Dorian is not sexually objectified or portrayed as innocent. Rather, his character is developed as that of a smart-assed but courageous, realistically awkward adolescent boy.

Another theme was the overlap between being different and being gay. Looking at the film summary and user comments (most of which I agree with), some people seem to have misinterpreted, in my opinion, what this film says about being gay. It is one boy's coming out story, not every gay man's coming out story. Not all gay people were always different. Likewise, not all high school students who deviate from normality are gay. Another phenomenon in the user comments was the idea that just because this was a good film, the actors and director are going to rise to fame. News flash: there are many, many talented and hard-working actors and directors who never get a big break.

Straight people (99% of whom I've observed to be ignorant of the myriad issues LGBT people go through in coming out and the fact that these issues are caused by our heterosexist, homophobic culture) should see this movie.

Dorian Blues doesn't stray from Hollywood's typical portrayal of a gay coming out story of a white, middle class boy who likes dancing and isn't good at sports (not to mention that one of its two black characters is absurdly dehumanized for a cheap plot advancement), nor does it overcome Hollywood's aversion to three-dimensional female roles, but it doesn't pretend to be anything it isn't.

Furthermore, its portrayal of the preciousness of sibling relationships despite gaps in understanding motivated me to write a letter to my brother.

More than anything, its message is of the harmfulness of our rules for how men should be. We often think of women as being the ones who are short-shifted by gender roles, but this film shows how they hurt all of us.

The Spanish-subtitled version is called "El Secreto de Dorian."