Queer movie report: The Gay Deceivers
Apr. 9th, 2021 11:22 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sasha_featherThe Gay Deceivers - 1969 - YouTube.
The premise of this is, 2 young men are trying to avoid being drafted and having to go to Vietnam. So they pretend to be a couple. They move in together into a one-bedroom apartment in a gay neighborhood; they are frequently visited by a particular neighbor who is trying to welcome them into the community. The film starts out as a funny farce, but gets too long, and too serious, by the end. The fanfic or romance way to end this would be to turn the fake relationship into a real one, but the film does not go there. Instead the two part ways after successfully avoiding the draft, but having experienced negative consequences from lying: one man gets fired, the other loses his (female) fiancee. I didn't love this, and I didn't hate it; it was kind of interesting, but felt like a missed opportunity. It's also extremely white, so despite showing a gay bar and a themed party, it felt unrealistic in that way. It has a somewhat "Exploitation" feel to it; lots of people wearing swim suits and skimpy clothes. Lots of references to sex with women (one of the men is a slutty himbo type).
The premise of this is, 2 young men are trying to avoid being drafted and having to go to Vietnam. So they pretend to be a couple. They move in together into a one-bedroom apartment in a gay neighborhood; they are frequently visited by a particular neighbor who is trying to welcome them into the community. The film starts out as a funny farce, but gets too long, and too serious, by the end. The fanfic or romance way to end this would be to turn the fake relationship into a real one, but the film does not go there. Instead the two part ways after successfully avoiding the draft, but having experienced negative consequences from lying: one man gets fired, the other loses his (female) fiancee. I didn't love this, and I didn't hate it; it was kind of interesting, but felt like a missed opportunity. It's also extremely white, so despite showing a gay bar and a themed party, it felt unrealistic in that way. It has a somewhat "Exploitation" feel to it; lots of people wearing swim suits and skimpy clothes. Lots of references to sex with women (one of the men is a slutty himbo type).
