Gay comedy films have improved drastically

Gay men have always been a part of comedy, even if they got their fill – squeamish sissies, snide queens and short-tempered creatives. Portraying male homosexuality on screen as appealing or relatable has been a small part of film’s long history, but it’s only in the last three decades that gay creatives have opened the doors to these ideas. With the release of two gay romantic comedy films last year (brothers and fire island), the industry may have finally come out of the closet.

That moment really begins in the 1990s, when mainstream comedy not only included gay men, but considered them. Called the “golden era” from queer cinemathe flood of gay stories wasn’t just limited to arthouse or indie circlesas larger-budget studio projects were given the green light for wide release to capitalize on what the studios saw as a potential market.

In a new after AIDS-Crisis America, these mainstream comedies not only make gay men happily exist on screen, they humanize them for a straight audience. The most prominent example is The Birdcagethe adjusted La Cage aux Folles for American audiences. The 1996 film stars Robin Williams and Nathan Lane (who was then closed) as two gay club owners who try to convince their son’s new in-laws that they are in fact a heterosexual conservative family. It was revolutionary at the time that two gay men were not only partners, but also caring parents. GLAAD even credited the film for “going beyond stereotypes to see the depth and humanity of the characters.”

At about the same time, viewers watched To Wong Foo, thanks for everything! Julie Neumaras well as Just out. Wong Foo Another drag film came out soon after (Australian road trip comedy The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert) and made a cute if not formulaic tale of drag queens who have to stop in a small hillbilly village and have to improve the place over a weekend. Similar, Just out took the intimacy of small-town life to new heights when a mild-mannered teacher was “mistakenly” outed at the Oscars days before his wedding, only to discover he actually is gay. Interestingly, both films were inspired by real cultural ephemera: an Anti-gay propaganda filmas well as Tom Hanks’ awkward Oscar speech Per Philadelphia (1993).

All three of these films were highly acclaimed at the time, although they were quite subversive and used comedy to expose different lifestyles to straight America. The familiar nature of the plots and characters made it easier for audiences to see that gay men share the same relatable weaknesses as everyone else. The trade-off for including homosexuality was that otherwise they had to play it pretty safe. During Just out had a rare kiss between two men, these films didn’t show much sexual or physical intimacy with male characters. Homophobia is similarly toned down and played for uncomfortable laughs as well.

Image: Paramount Pictures

Media and culture have evolved since the ’90s, but gay men haven’t seemed to gain much momentum. Comedy films in the 2000s and 2010s largely turned them into fancy buddies, and relegated more nuanced fare to smaller budgets and was categorized as an “LGBT” genre. That’s what made 2022 such a stellar year; brothers and fire island are not just funny rom-coms, they make gay men a normal part of these genres without being seen as a niche.

brothers is an Apatow-like take on the pitfalls of dating in New York City as a 40-year-old gay man (Billy Eichner) with attachment issues. Although this is another Austen adaptation, fire island Used pride and prejudice‘s politics and drama as the starting point for its funny and thoughtful working-class gays of color characters (including Joel Kim Booster) by turning it on, you guessed it, the popular gay summer vacation destination.

There’s a sense of a weight being lifted off the shoulders of these two films; What needed to be toned down and hidden to make the studios palatable to queer ancestors can now be shown in full. That doesn’t mean they can’t be for everyone, but it does create an opportunity for the story to be more serious despite being marketed to a mainstream audience.

Times have changed – the 12 second kiss in Just out To be considered remarkable back then would be antiquated for romantic comedy today. Even between gay men, it would be strange if films shied away from the special mechanisms of intimacy – physical or otherwise. Male bodies and physical interactions of both a sweet and sensual nature are on full display here. But by not having to play with heteronormative conventions, gay men can seriously express what love and sex looks like to them, under the jokes. There are undercurrents of joy, but also fear over things like commitment and masculinity.

This also allows the comedy to be clothed in specific cultural frictions while also referencing traceable interpersonal struggles. There are plenty of jokes about hookup apps, gym culture, and affluent white gays, and the suspense, which tackles systemic issues like racism, is used for laughs. It speaks to the quality of comedy that it can translate the specific into something more general; Even if you’ve never specifically looked for a boyfriend in a dark backroom orgy, we’ve all been in this situation.

Photo Credit: Nicole Rivelli/Universal Pictures

Both film periods overlap due to the shortcomings of comedic writing; What starts out sharp can become mean, and being looked down on by society doesn’t prevent you of doing the same thing to someone else. There’s jokes in there Wong Foo and The Birdcage who play around with homophobic and racist language to make a mark only to use racial and ethnic stereotypes in their humor who don’t. brothers dabbles in the same sleazy contempt for millennial and zoomer politics in much of the visibly progressive media these days, though he’s keenly aware of how many gay men have dealt with similar mockery. This is the cyclical and imperfect nature of progress; few things age well.

Aside from what the films are doing in terms of inclusion on the site, it’s worth noting that both productions are across the board with queer people. Both have scripts written (or co-written) by their gay stars, have casts dominated by queer actors, and in the case of fire islandDirected by Andrew Ahn, whose previous films, such as spa night, explore homosexuality. This is no small change in Hollywood, which historically has led gay men to write for mainstream straight audiences while also keeping many gay men in the closet Fear of losing her career.

While 2023 might not bring as many laughs in theaters as last year, there are a few 2022 movies that are just right for you if you’re looking to keep your streaming queue full my fake friend or Spoiler alert. It seems like adult gay male romantic comedies are still few and far between compared to the already excellent coming-of-age and dramatic genres. As more projects get the green light, there are additional opportunities for the genre niche to gain traction with audiences.

Representation has always had stumbling blocks, and historically much of the inclusion of male homosexuality has been a choice between negativity or invisibility. This is why even sanitized trials were so useful. If an industry has historically caused gay novels to end in longing or death, there’s relief in the indulgent escapism of happy endings. When an industry has sidelined you as a cheeky cliché, being the center of attention is powerful. It may have taken us too long to get the joke, but gay men have always found ways to make audiences laugh with them rather than at them.