‘Eating
Out’ enhances negative stereotypes
about homosexuality
By
Elena Encarnacion
Online Forty-Niner
Contributing Writer
Gwen is a “fag-hag,” and Mark is her accessory. Caleb is a “breeder-boy,” and
Kyle is his roommate and interpreter for the world of gay subtext, in “Eating
Out,” an indie sex romp about girls, their gay boyfriends, and men so
desperate for sex they’ll do anything, or anyone.
The plot is simple: Caleb lusts for Gwen, who is only turned on by gay boys;
Kyle wants ripped, coifed, gorgeous Mark, who is clearly out of Kyle’s
league because, as Gwen says, Kyle’s looks are embarking into K-9 territory.
So
Kyle devices a scheme to help Caleb and him get laid by their respective infatuations.
Kyle tells Gwen that Caleb is gay and needs some help coming
out of the closet. Naturally, he expects Gwen to set Caleb up with Mark, at
which point he envisions Gwen finding Caleb irresistible as she watches him
date her favorite “queen.”
Once Gwen has fallen for him, Caleb
can switch teams, leaving Mark devastated, and Kyle will be there as a shoulder
to cry on, attracting Mark with his heart of gold and culinary flair for heating
up sausages.
And so, the sexual exploits ensue in this film, which may have had the potential
to be whimsically salacious, but results in resembling low-budget, uninspired,
softcore porn.
“
Eating Out” is comprised of amateur actors, who, for the most part,
seem to have been cast for their eye-candy qualifications rather than their
talents;
but more repugnant than the acting are the characters the actors portray,
who are all despicable, vapid or annoying. The dialogue that spews out of
their
mouths is equally obnoxious.
For example, when yet another one of Gwen’s boyfriends comes out of the
closet to her, post-coital, he whines that she is not being positive about
his confession, to which she replies, “I couldn’t be any more
positive if I was gang raped in a repository bin at the needle exchange.”
The actors speak in an array of constant sexual metaphors, puns and gay slang.
Every line is a punch line. Every utterance is acerbic. However, with so many
punches delivered, the overall sense of the viewer is one of assault rather
than amusement by the pugilistic banter that has plenty of bite, but little
wit.
Aside from the dialogue, the film itself is not edgy. It is politically incorrect,
depicting homosexual males as shallow studs whose only fixation in life is “rump
wrangling,” adhering to many of the negative stereotypes that have
plagued the gay community for years.
This is especially startling considering that
with the ubiquitous gay jargon, most heterosexuals would need a gay to English
dictionary to decipher, and the blatant male full-frontal nudity in the film,
this movie was clearly made and marketed for gay viewers.
So
it is baffling and even condescending
that “Eating Out” chooses
to debase and insult the very audience
for which it was intended. |
