by Kay Curry
Northwest Asia Weekly
“I forgot this came out today. It made me so happy,” the conductor said when I went in to watch “Brothers,” marketed as “Boy Meets Brother Love Story,” which was released on Sept. 30 Screened in major theaters around the world. The “main” part is important. As I sit in the theater watching other moviegoers find their seats, I wonder if the two words “coming out” are still scary for a gay person by showing up to see a gay movie. Because this is mainstream. This is AMC and Regal. This is not an art house. That’s what you’re doing, isn’t it? When you buy tickets for this movie, declare that you are LGBTQ+ or support LGBTQ+? I mean, just two days before I wrote this, a man admitted to stalking gay men on Grindr in order to murder and dismember them.
Yes. sit down. I’m not trying to get frustrated here, but to stress how important a movie like “Brothers” is. If art reflects and influences life – and it does – then it recommends, predicts and demonstrates values we might emulate – such as acceptance and tolerance for the LGBTQ+ community. Even, as you hear in the trailer, “Gays are more fun when straight people don’t like gays,” but it’s still not something you’ll often see in Hollywood movies. Not “Autumn Legend” romantic sex. Do not lie in bed and speak naturally afterwards. Never played fights before. No. None of these were released into the mainstream as gay versions – until now.
I said before that Fire Island was the “first big studio” movie with an all-LGBTQ cast, not the “brother” they claimed in earlier ads. But maybe “Brothers” was the first major mainstream LGBTQ+ movie, more because of who was involved and who it might draw to theaters. Sadly, yes, because it could be a racial issue, at least in part. The main cast members of “Fire Island” — Yang Baowen and Joel Kim Buster — are Asian. The main cast of “Brothers” — Billy Eichner and Luke McFarlane — are all white. “Fire Island” director Andrew Ann is Asian. “Brothers” director Nicholas Stoller is white. Stoller is known for brother films like Forget Sarah Marshall and Take Him to Greece.
The point is that “Brothers” has an audience here that “Fire Island” doesn’t, which could give it more box-office power and ultimately maintain the power to be in the gay mainstream.
And – I’m not criticizing Fire Island at all, I love it – I think the idea of Brothers is to show us more of a “normal” gay life. In “Fire Island”, they are on vacation. There are no limits, be everything you can’t go home with.
In “Brothers”, they are home and live their daily lives. There’s a ton of comments about modern dating that might apply to heterosexuals — “hooking up” culture is ubiquitous — but in “Brothers,” it applies to LGBTQ+ people. One of my favorite parts is Bobby’s (Eichner’s) description of single life as having a ton of buddies on the one hand you’ll never have sex with, and a shallow Grindr hookup on the other, which still ends with Somehow gives you the “warm fluff” the next day, and from these two poles you piece together a life. Yes. This is exactly what modern dating looks like.
Bobby is looking for love, but doesn’t know it. He and many gay men have become so defensive and put up so many walls that romance is hard to come by. There are a lot of jokes about “Are we dating?” And agreed to stay together for “three months” and then “re-evaluate”. Everyone is afraid of commitment and vulnerability – despite the stable gay couples around them. Neither Bobby nor his lover Aaron (McFarlane) feel safe. Bobby because Aaron is a “brother” — he’s a buff, and everyone who has sex with him is a buff — and Aaron because Bobby is smart and outspoken. Nor do they think they deserve true love.
This movie is really smart. Funny again. In gay culture, there’s a lot of jokes in the movies that the “Brothers” team has been involved in before. Bobby is the director of an LGBTQ+ museum in New York. FYI, the timeline of the actual American LGBTQ+ Museum in New York is about the same as the timeline in the movie, or slightly behind. Did I say that movies can affect us? In real life, the museum is not open yet. In “Brothers,” the museum does open up. Beforehand, they were discussing what the exhibit might be. Bobby is very loud and controversial. For example, he wanted to declare Abraham Lincoln gay based on a series of letters.
Museum staff consists of representatives of each letter in LGBT and Q. There’s a lot of making fun of each other’s stereotypes and fighting for equal representation. (“They can’t stop trending!” Bobby complained at the club.) While there’s a sense of humor there, the interaction reveals the struggles of being seen and heard. The group was frustrated with how Wanda, played by the famous Atlanta drag queen Miss Lawrence, spit out a pacifist voice, ie. “I hear your voice and I stand by you,” until Wanda admits, in fact, that she has so much anger in her that she would “kill each of you” if she vented it. It’s hilarious, very pertinent, and very sad.
What often comes up is how things can get better. There are older generations like BnB owners Bobby and Aaron visiting at “P-Town” (Provincetown, a popular LGBTQ+ resort next to Fire Island), mentioning how many of his friends have died (due to the AIDS epidemic, none doubt). Bobby admits he’s jealous today’s gays would grow up on Glee, but there’s still plenty of condemnation, gays who hide their true selves, are asked to “play down” if those gays don’t follow their dreams Seems “too happy”. There are also a lot of familiar romcom tropes translated into boy meets brother scene, which is a wonderful thing. Although the main couple is white, there is “okay” diversity in the cast. Bowen Yang has reemerged as a wealthy gay man, the museum is begging for funding, and despite his role being more of a cameo, he milks it at all costs. “You’re too old to go to the pool. Bye!”
If I don’t mention one thing, I’m wrong. We all know about the #loveislove movement, a well-intentioned effort to support gay marriage and gay culture among non-gay people. In “Brothers,” however, they insist on #loveisnotlove. Gay love is not straight love. That’s not the same. People are a kaleidoscope. “My story is not your story,” Bobby said. “Go and write your own damn story.”
brother. talk.
“Brothers” is playing at your local theater.
Kay can reach info@nwasianweekly.com.
