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Do I Sound Gay?

Country: USA, Language: English, 77 mins

Gay | Documentary | 2014

Director: David Thorpe
Writer: David Thorpe
Producer: Dan Cogan; Howard Gertler

CGiii Comment

Is it an actual question that you've ask yourself?

Do you actually care?

David Thorpe did and does...sadly.

Well, one thing is for sure...he may not like the sound of his voice...but, he certainly likes to use it...he rarely shuts up throughout the entire film. The over-dubbed mimicry is an absurdity.

Let's get straight to the point...a point that Mr Thorpe either, swerves, side-steps or, misses completely the question...camp men sound gay. Mr Thorpe is a camp man - when he speaks his hands do an impersonation of a demented windmill.

It takes 44 minutes before the 'camp' word is even mentioned (fleetingly)...again at the 60 minute mark where it gets scrutinized for less than a minute...

Amid all the jargon and buzzwords...administered by the likes of Dan Savage - no conclusions are actually posited. Wait...stop...there's more...all Disney villains have 'proto-gay' qualities...so says a cinema-dwelling boffin. Well, that revelation certainly has changed the course of the world!

As a film...it's haphazard, repetitive, stuffed to the rafters with archival footage (the censored porn scenes were a big mistake) and B-list celebrities spouting irrelevancies by the bucket load.

And, why is Margaret Cho in this? Because... she was available. Unqualified and unnecessary.

More of a vanity project than anything else...it goes nowhere, gets nowhere and answers no questions...apart from the titular...yes, you do...because, you're as camp as glitter embossed tits.

Trailer...

The(ir) Blurb...

This hilarious doco follows the journey of David Thorpe, a man confronting his anxiety about "sounding gay". Enlisting the help of his speech therapist, who hilariously has him working on his nasality and long vowels, Thorpe begins to unpack his own personal story through honest conversations with his family and friends of how, why and when his voice became "gay".

Along the way, he candily questions the wider cultural issues concerning sexuality and self-esteem, especially the inherent fear of "sounding gay". Thorpe gains frank and funny perspectives from respected celebrities, such as bisexual comedian Maraget Cho, actor and activist George Takei from Star Trek, sex-advice columnist Dan Savage, fashion guru Tim Gunn and the famous writer of Barrel Fever, David Sedaris. In addition, he maps out a history of the "gay voice" ranging from classic movie icons to notable cartoon villians.

The film opened the New York Documentary Festival and was part of the selection in the Toronoto Film Festival. The Hollywood Reporter has called it "light-hearted…clever and fun note". From the clever opening scene to the funny and heart-warming commentary, this documentary attempts to answer an often unexpressed and vulnerable question in many of our minds: "do I sound gay?"