Monday, October 18, 2010

BearCity

Urbandictionary.com defines a bear as "a term used by gay men to describe a husky, large man with a lot of body hair." BearCity, the opening night feature of the 15th Annual Seattle Lesbian & Gay Film Festival, explores this group within the gay community with so much laughter you cannot help but want to go out and hug the first bear you see.

The film follows three distinctive stories of the close knit group of friends: Brent and Fred deciding if they want to "open" their relationship, Michael and Carlos deciding if their relationship can survive Michael's decision to get a lap-band to aid his job prospects, and Tyler (a young twink) and Roger (a daddy bear) finding the courage to admit their love for one another and as a result turn their back on culturally defined stereotypes.

The Filmfreak Mafia moment in the film is when Tyler is admits to his former roommate and slightly effeminate twink friend Simon, played superbly by Alex Di Dio, that he likes bears. The moment is best described by Tyler earlier in the film as "having to come out twice." Indeed, a twink admitting he is into bears, or a bear to admit being attracted to a twink, is cause for shunning in the gay community. But by the end of the movie when Roger defends Tyler, now his boyfriend, against a sarcastic verbal assault from one of his friends, the audience sees that love is truly blind.

At the end of the day BearCity gives its audience nonstop barrage of quotable one-liners, amazing performances by newcomer Joe Conti as Tyler and for fans of the Big Gay Sketch Show, Stephen Guarino, and an understanding that bears need love too.