G.B.F. needs to be seen by those who have ever uttered "I want a Gay Best Friend." It needs to be seen by those who have been referred to as the "Gay Best Friend," and it needs to be seen by those who roll their eyes when they hear those three infamous words strung together. George Northy and Darren Stein really did a great service for all of these groups of people as well as the LGBTQIA Community with this movie! As a smart, funny, and timely piece on how the "Gay Best Friend" accessory that many young girls aspire to attain is problematic, "G.B.F." keeps everyone laughing and engaged while provoking thoughts and conversations usually only heard in Gay- Straight Alliances.
I was fortunate enough to catch a screening of the film at FilmOut San Diego's LGBT FIlm Festival Premiere and I am so thankful I did! Northy's writing in the film is both heartfelt and humorous, the cast in it's entirety delivers stellar performances, and Stein tells the story with clear direction and purpose. Not a moment is wasted in this film and you'll never be bored!
The best part of the film though is it's various messages that hone in on many issues not yet touched upon in any previous high school film due to G.B.F.'s gay male protagonist. The politics of coming out versus being outed, the staggering difference between the response (at least in a well-meaning high school such as the one featured in G.B.F.) of a gay male being outed versus a lesbian female, the value of diversity against a stereotypical and homogenized depiction of high school royalty, and of course, the delicate line between being a straight ally to the LGBT Community and being a tokenizing and trivializing straight "friend" to another due to their gay orientation. As someone who is usually skeptical of LGBT-related films and who usually critiques and leaves movies with a sense of disappointment, I left this movie with a sense of satisfaction and joy. This film was everything I wanted it to be and whenever it comes out in the future, I will aspire to own it in my own movie collection. Furthermore, I have a strong feeling that this movie will not just be big within the hearts of LGBT Film Festivals and Lovers of Quality Gay Films such as myself, but will soon be associated with the Great-So-Called-Straight High School Films such as Clueless, Heathers, Easy A, and of course Mean Girls, which is referenced numerous time within G.B.F..
This movie is for everyone and is an answer to the cries of people like me (that is the eye- rolling bunch mentioned earlier). If you can see this movie, if you do have access to see this movie now--GO! It is well worth your time, your money, your laughter, and your tears!
I was fortunate enough to catch a screening of the film at FilmOut San Diego's LGBT FIlm Festival Premiere and I am so thankful I did! Northy's writing in the film is both heartfelt and humorous, the cast in it's entirety delivers stellar performances, and Stein tells the story with clear direction and purpose. Not a moment is wasted in this film and you'll never be bored!
The best part of the film though is it's various messages that hone in on many issues not yet touched upon in any previous high school film due to G.B.F.'s gay male protagonist. The politics of coming out versus being outed, the staggering difference between the response (at least in a well-meaning high school such as the one featured in G.B.F.) of a gay male being outed versus a lesbian female, the value of diversity against a stereotypical and homogenized depiction of high school royalty, and of course, the delicate line between being a straight ally to the LGBT Community and being a tokenizing and trivializing straight "friend" to another due to their gay orientation. As someone who is usually skeptical of LGBT-related films and who usually critiques and leaves movies with a sense of disappointment, I left this movie with a sense of satisfaction and joy. This film was everything I wanted it to be and whenever it comes out in the future, I will aspire to own it in my own movie collection. Furthermore, I have a strong feeling that this movie will not just be big within the hearts of LGBT Film Festivals and Lovers of Quality Gay Films such as myself, but will soon be associated with the Great-So-Called-Straight High School Films such as Clueless, Heathers, Easy A, and of course Mean Girls, which is referenced numerous time within G.B.F..
This movie is for everyone and is an answer to the cries of people like me (that is the eye- rolling bunch mentioned earlier). If you can see this movie, if you do have access to see this movie now--GO! It is well worth your time, your money, your laughter, and your tears!