Michael Schulman on “Do I Sound Gay?,” a documentary by David Thorpe that explor how vol nc are associated wh sexualy.
Contents:
- A DOCUMENTARIAN WONRS: 'DO I SOUND GAY?'
- “WORD IS OUT”: A PNEERG DOCUMENTARY OF GAY VOIC
- HOW I LEARNED IS OKAY TO BE GAY
- FORMER 'EX-GAY' LEARS DENOUNCE 'CONVERSN THERAPY' IN A NEW DOCUMENTARY
- FILMMAKER AND SPEECH PATHOLOGIST WEIGH IN ON WHAT IT MEANS TO 'SOUND GAY'
- WHAT MEANS TO ‘SOUND GAY’
- IS THERE A “GAY VOICE”?
A DOCUMENTARIAN WONRS: 'DO I SOUND GAY?'
In a new documentary, a gay man tri to change the sound of his voice and wonrs why, exactly, he thks he should. * talking gay documentary *
Before Sean Penn played the charismatic, martyred gay polician a dramatized film, we got to see the real Harvey Milk this documentary om director Rob Epste.
“WORD IS OUT”: A PNEERG DOCUMENTARY OF GAY VOIC
Dave Sebastian tells the story of his own past and prent: g to terms wh, acceptg, and eventually embracg his inty as a gay man. He rells his transn om "self-disgt" to "nfince" and "pri", stg a msage of love as a dogma that will prevail over prejudice. * talking gay documentary *
The team of Rob Epste and Jefey Friedman me up wh another important documentary 1996's The Celluloid Closet, based on the classic book by Vo Rso and explorg how Hollywood has portrayed homosexualy.
HOW I LEARNED IS OKAY TO BE GAY
In Do I Sound Gay?, director David Thorpe search for the orig of the so-lled "gay voice" and documents his own attempts (wh speech pathologist San Sank) to sound "ls gay." * talking gay documentary *
"Hollywood, that great maker of myths, tght straight people what to thk about gays and gay people what to thk about themselv, " says narrator Lily Toml. He had strong opns on uture but was hard to p down about his sexual inty; he's been scribed as gay, bisexual, or fluid, but he exprsed disda for labels. The San Francis Gay Men's Chos went on a journey of renciliatn at a divisive time -- durg the 2016 printial mpaign -- tourg the Deep South, nsired hostile terrory by many LGBTQ+ people.
FORMER 'EX-GAY' LEARS DENOUNCE 'CONVERSN THERAPY' IN A NEW DOCUMENTARY
What the way we talk says about gay pri and lgerg prejudice * talking gay documentary *
Films like Portra of Jason and Tongu Untied, for stance, tell ntemporary viewers as much about the dividual stori about gay Black men prented on screen as about the muni (real and imaged) that their rpective filmmakers brought to bear on their fished films.
Siarly, aptly-tled works like Before Stonewall: The Makg of a Gay and Lbian Communy and Forbidn Love: The Unashamed Stori of Lbian Liv offer not jt potent history lsons but snapshots of how Amerins were nceivg of their own muny-buildg the years followg the 1969 Stonewall rts. Crics Consens: Outrage walks a difficult moral and ethil le -- and not always succsfully -- but spe s flaws, 's a fascatg, provotive look at homosexualy Amerin polics.
FILMMAKER AND SPEECH PATHOLOGIST WEIGH IN ON WHAT IT MEANS TO 'SOUND GAY'
Synopsis: Osr-nomated documentarian Kirby Dick directs this shockg and passnate dictment of the clanste hypocrisy of many closeted homosexuals Washgton,... Crics Consens: We Were Here reviss the cris facg the gay muny the early 1980s -- and offers a powerful tribute to the spirg rolve shown at a time of turmoil. Produced by Ilene Chaiken, -creator of the televisn seri The L Word, the film prents a personal look at many of the stggl faced by gay Amerins the 21st century, as vout relig lears and muny members prott the subjects’ marriag and unns.
WHAT MEANS TO ‘SOUND GAY’
The Emmy-wng documentary Before Stonewall explor the gay, lbian, bisexual and transgenr muny prr to Stonewall, analyzg the begngs of an era of activism. This documentary prents some lser-known moments om history while monstratg how Amerin attus towards homosexualy evolved leadg up to and after Stonewall. In the wake of a bad breakup, journalist and gay activist David Thorpe did what many of do: He took tense ventory of his own flaws and securi, then stepped up one of them to a Thg.
IS THERE A “GAY VOICE”?
A good Thg, as turns out, whose end rult is the charmg documentary Do I Sound Gay?, which Thorpe wryly treats his anxieti about his "gay" voice as an exercise self-improvement, and wds up wh a pellg portra of ternalized homophobia and liberatn.
Back South Carola's Bible Belt, where Thorpe grew up, relativ and childhood iends pot out that he didn't sound gay until he me out of the closet llege. Friends wh his tight-kn gay circle are more divid: Some nfs to hatg their lispg, anoidal voic; others own gayspeak wh varyg gre of fiance and jubilatn. The explanatn that pleas him most is that gay speech has s origs ls blogy or nro-chemistry than early female fluence: Men who grow up mostly around women tend to mimic feme speech styl — which, Thorpe argu, would expla why some straight men sound gay, and why gays who grow up wh brothers often velop basso profundos.
Is very good on the way many gay men who were bullied as children have learned to turn the hatred of others ward, which helps expla s of gay hyper-masculy and ternal ostracism of effemate men. Takg his cue om the swellg ranks of gay celebri (among them Gee Takei, Margaret Cho and the effably funny and ndid David Sedaris) who are willg to speak on mera about liberatg themselv om their own fears, Thorpe realiz he's been askg the wrong qutns. While he was by tryg to iron out his gay voice, New York State legalized gay marriage, and the film's release jt weeks after the Supreme Court legalized gay marriage across the natn.