The film's director and subject is David Thorpe, a gay journalist who, while on a train to Fire Island, noticed that all of the men surrounding him spoke in a high- pitched, nasally voice, which Thorpe says “sounded like a braying pack of ninnies.” That revelation prompts this film, in which Thorpe takes to interviews with pedestrians and famous figures within the gay community alike to confront the “gay voice” stereotype and why Thorpe, along with other gay men, feels anxiety about the way he sounds. Thorpe's approach is less historical or experimental than staid and solipsistic, as his own biography, which includes growing up in South Carolina and not acknowledging his own homosexuality until reaching college, is dutifully presented as a series of facts and tidbits which are meant to substantiate the film's interest in cultural norms regarding homosexual behavior and self- acceptance. Title: Do I Sound Gay? You must be a registered user to use the IMDb rating plugin. Login Show HTML View more styles 1 win & 1 nomination. Movie Review & Film Summary (2015) . It explores the notion of one's voice being a signifier for one's sexuality, raising and. Why do some people 'sound gay' but not others? Movies Games TV Features LOG IN /. In Thorpe's feature-length documentary debut DO I SOUND GAY?, what starts as a personal journey becomes a chance to unpack layers of cultural baggage concerning sexuality, identity, and self-esteem. Subscribe to IFC: http://youtube.com/user/IFCFilmsTube. Catch the acclaimed documentary DO I SOUND GAY? Check out all the options to stream, rent or buy in the U.S. He suspected he might, and this led to the documentary Thorpe wrote, directed and stars in: . And he asks friends and family the same question about him. The film supplements this core with interactions from Thorpe's friends and family, whose testimony yields little urgency or tension, sans a briefly heated dispute between Thorpe and several of his close, Brooklyn- resident friends. These personal elements are further entrenched by pseudo- historical measures that are haphazardly assembled, as clips from Laura and various other classical Hollywood films are proffered as evidence for pop origins of the link between homosexuality and death. However, these points are given for policing purposes, as depictions are denigrated carte blanche, with no deeper examination of what underlies their presence or construction. Steadily, the film develops into a broader, less focused expos. In a particularly revealing clip, Thorpe offers footage of himself waving and calling to Dan Savage during a pride parade; subsequently, the film cuts to Savage returning the gesture, as if Thorpe is simply seeking to confirm his cronyism. Such an instance is endemic of a film that only superficially engages its topic, preferring communal confirmation over more rigorous, troubled grapplings. The film's best moments feature Thorpe working with a voice coach, where instructions to refrain from lingering on S sounds and to speak with a flatter cadence seem almost accusatory rather than constructive. In Thorpe's feature-length documentary debut DO I SOUND GAY?, what starts as a personal journey becomes a chance to unpack layers of cultural baggage concerning sexuality, identity, and self-esteem. After a break-up with his boyfriend, journalist David. For the last few years, I When Thorpe practices these suggestions on his own, the film glimpses an underlying anguish that persists within his psyche, despite more than two decades of being out of the closet. Nevertheless, Thorpe is content to discard these concerns by film's end, despite never adequately addressing, much less resolving, meaningful parameters or courses of action. By falling back on rallying cries of “fearlessness” and blanket assertions of self- importance, Do I Sound Gay?
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