I stumbled upon a Huffington Post article that discussed a new movie that was recently shown at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York. There are two reasons why I already love this film and I haven’t even seen it yet. 1. It is an entire movie about the GBF. 2. It features Megan Mullally, who played the drunk socialite in the sitcom Will & Grace, arguably my favorite T.V. show as well as favorite character.
Now back to G.B.F (the movie). The article describes it as a mix between Clueless and Mean Girls, and after watching the trailer, I would have to agree with this. It has attractive, popular girls at the center stage of the school. The two gay men come into scene as closeted young men trying to figure out the best way to come out – since there were no disclosed gay men at their school, and it was discovered that the GBF was desired. The more extroverted character, Brent, plans to make a huge coming-out production in hopes of being this desirable GBF while the more introverted one, Tanner, does not originally want to out himself. However, the shy character inadvertently becomes the one to disclose his homosexuality, and more importantly, become the idealized GBF to his schoolmates.
Throughout the trailer, pieces of what I have discussed in previous posts are apparent. Below I have enumerated a few of the trailer quotes supplemented with brief explanations of their implications.
1. “The hottest new trend sweeping schools worldwide is the G.B.F.”
- This hints at the fact that having a GBF is trendy and cool. That it is a fad and will eventually wear off. Therefore, if the trend ends, which it eventually will, the relationships with GBFs will also end because they were originally superficially founded.
2. “My future G.B.F. is just waiting to come out of the closet and tell me how fierce I am.”
- As if GBFs were born to serve straight females. I am certain that Tanner coming out was for his own benefit, not for the servitude of others’ needs.
3. “Our very own homosexual.”
- The collective “our” is interesting to look at. Its usage indicates that gay men, in this case, are owned or collectively revered. It is not an intimate (one-on-one) relationship but instead a mere social relationship that expands over a network of individuals.
4. “You don’t even sound like the ones on Bravo… We can totally gay you over.”
- This basically says that being sexually gay is separate from being culturally gay. To be a true GBF you need to have certain qualities (e.g., sassy, fashion-oriented, etc.), ones that are innate in gay men on Bravo. This leaves a narrow window for gay men to exist.
5. “It seems that many of you girls are treating Tanner as more of a prize to be won than an actual person.”
- The voice of reason right here. Enough said.
6. “Maybe everyone secretly wants a GBF.”
- This goes along with the first quote listed above in that having a GBF is desirable like an in-style fashion accessory.
7. “Oh come on. You call this an ensemble. Get it together guuuuuuuurrrrlll.”
- If you recall from a previous post, the use of “gurl” as a means of communicating with GBFs is not always well received, which was the case with Tanner. Even if, as Megan Mullally clarifies, it is spelled “gurl” (informal “hey”) and not “girl” (gender), it is still offensive.
Despite all the critiques I have made from an analytical viewpoint, I know that I will enjoy this film. It is essentially pointing out all the fallacies in the perceptions of the GBF with a culminating moral message about the ill treatment of gay men as prizes or tokens. All in all, I hope you were as amused with this clip as I was, and I look forward to my forthcoming viewing of this film.
The Gay Best Friend 