Never Be Bored
26 September 2020
Baby if you love me, won't you please just give me a smile?
Straight Up, 2019 James Sweeney film. The Miseducation of Cameron Post, 2018 Desiree Akhavan film; The Half of It, 2020 Alice Wu film; The Gay and Wondrous Life of Caleb Gallo video series.
James Sweeney once sent a friend a statistical monologue he had written about why he was still single. James went on to write, direct, and star in Straight Up, where his character Todd talks about how you could calculate a binomial distribution and integrate the probability mass to calculate the chance of randomly meeting a person who fits all your requirements for someone to fall in love with. This movie, currently streaming on Netflix, is easily one of the best movies I've seen this year, and not just because of how much I loved that scene.
Straight Up is all about relationships—what they mean to us, how we look for them, how we value them. At the beginning of the movie, Todd tells his friends that he might not be gay, and that he wants to start dating women to improve his love life. He soon meets Rory, an aspiring actress who is smart and funny and likes the same tv shows he does.
It's beautifully shot, excellently written LA love story, but without the typical "falling in love." When asked in an interview about its message, James simply says that "regardless of where you're at in your life, you are deserving of love at every stage of your life."
For another movie about people seeking friendship and acceptance of themselves and their sexuality, try The Miseducation of Cameron Post. In 1993, Cameron is sent to a Christian conversion camp after she was caught kissing another girl. Although this 2018 movie is set nearly thirty years ago now, it's a powerful reminder of the harm conversion "therapy" causes—and it's still not illegal in over half of US states.
For a cute coming-of-age film, check out The Half of It on Netflix. In small town Squahamish, Ellie and Paul become unlikely friends even though they both have a crush on the same girl. The relationship between the two grows as they learn about and support the other person—like Straight Up, this movie celebrates more types of relationships than just romantic, physical ones.
For more queer friends hanging around LA with truly impeccable dialogue, watch The Gay and Wondrous Life of Caleb Gallo—you can stream all five episodes on YouTube. It's absolutely hilarious, a wonderful portrait of this group of friends as they juggle relationships and careers. I watched the series after seeing someone post this clip, which includes one of the most iconic lines of the show.