The Gay We Were: ‘The Broken Hearts Club’ | Decir

Contents:

• THE BROKEN HEARTS CLUB: INSI THE MAKG OF THE 2000 GAY ROM
• THE GAY WE WERE: ‘THE BROKEN HEARTS CLUB’
• GAY HEARTBREAK QUOT & SAYGS
• HEARTBREAKG GAY ROMANCE
• THE BROKEN HEARTS CLUB: INSI THE MAKG OF THE 2000 GAY ROM
• ‘I FELL LOVE WH A GAY MAN AND NEARLY BROKE ME’

THE BROKEN HEARTS CLUB: INSI THE MAKG OF THE 2000 GAY ROM

Greg Berlanti’s The Broken Hearts Club: A Romantic Comedy told the story of six gay bt iends — Dennis (Timothy Olyphant), Cole (Dean Ca), Benji (Zach Braff), Patrick (Ben Weber), Taylor (Billy Porter), and Howie (Matt McGrath) — navigatg the Los Angel datg scene.

“I felt like at the time there was no gay Der. There was no movie that kd of ptured the spir of young gay iendships as I knew them at that particular moment the late ’90s Wt Hollywood. EW talked to Berlanti and many Club members about gog to “gay school, ” embracg pa shell necklac, and the film’s important legacy.

It was like, “Dean, I know you love this, but I don’t thk ’s a good ia for you to play a gay character at this pot time. THE BROKEN HEARTS CLUB: A ROMANTIC COMEDY, Timothy Olyphant, 2000, (c)Sony Pictur Classics/urt Cred: Everett Collectn The Prep BRAFF: Some of were gay and some weren’t.

THE GAY WE WERE: ‘THE BROKEN HEARTS CLUB’

When we were rehearsals, Greg said, “I want you to act like gay men would act. CAIN: We were ee to ask and discs anythg our “gay school.

GAY HEARTBREAK QUOT & SAYGS

” [Berlanti wanted the actors to bond and enuraged them to go out to Wt Hollywood gay bars as a group. In my experienc wh women, there’s subtleti you need to read to, and the gay world was so open-and-shut.

When I do n to gay men that haven’t seen I’m like, “What?

The highs and lows of that first fay and those nnectns we form at that tim of our liv — do really pture what felt like to be part of that group and be around gay men at that moment and that particular group of iends.

HEARTBREAKG GAY ROMANCE

Related ntent: 12 upg romantic edi to fall forThe gay My Bt Friend’s Weddg sequel that almost happenedRom-s, refed: How new stori are herg a genre boom. ” No, not a hirsute gay man, even though that might make the breakup a ltle easier (and a lot more nfg) I mean is that, when men are pa, they like to hibernate. The 1990s were an odd ltle crossroads for gay entertament.

At the same time, far om the mastream, the ttage dtry of gay romantic edi pched self to a greatly unrserved market. We’re gog to exame this subgenre one film at a time and exame what they said about gay entertament and the era that once was. It seems strange to kick off this seri about ’90s gay movi wh a technil outlier, sce premiered 2000, but s spir uld not be more firmly lodged ’90s gay rom-s.

The plot se a group of Wt Hollywood gay men livg, lovg, and plag about every sgle godforsaken element of gay life. Over-tellectualizg, massively-nrotic Howie is the kd of guy who will bch about the damage that gym bunni are dog to the gay muny and kick Jt Theroux out of bed for smokg pot, and still I fd him so enarg as played by Matt McGrath. Var aspects of gay life get touched on, but while Patrick’s subplot, for example, volv surrogacy wh his lbian sister, the film generally elis the more buzzy gay topics of the day.

THE BROKEN HEARTS CLUB: INSI THE MAKG OF THE 2000 GAY ROM

There’s no AIDS angle, no gay-bashg, no ght on-mera g out to relativ. In many ways feels like a check- on where gay self-hatred has e sce The Boys the Band turned to an artform.

But better to have a movie where gay men looked ward than yet another movie where we were beg gawked at om the outsi. Y, ’s a movie about, handsome (mostly) whe gay men ettg about their love liv. As a romantic edy, I’m willg to cut the film a lot of slack this area, bee that’s what romantic edi are, and bee even 2000 ’s not like even whe gays had a whole lot of plac to turn, culturally speakg.

Olyphant is ridiculoly charmg as Dennis, and he matas a self-awarens that’s sential to a guy who’s awfully preachy about the way gay guys ought to live their liv for a man who’s tryg to bone a twentysomethg h out of the closet.

‘I FELL LOVE WH A GAY MAN AND NEARLY BROKE ME’

As wh almost all gay rom-s of this era, a certa datedns pervas the proceedgs, though ’s funny that this almost never the form of pop culture referenc. Gay rom-s hardly ever immerse themselv the pop culture of their own era, choosg stead the pastiche of days gone by;  The Broken Hearts Club, that translat to a Carpenters motif and repeated referenc to Steel Magnolias.

If anythg, ’s a remr that gay culture and mastream culture still stood far apart 2000. ” Gay movi were all steppg ston leadg to the next one.