You'll Get Over It... You'll See (2002) (AKA
Tu verras, ca te passera)
This is another one of those "coming
out" films that just pissed me off! It was such a
disappointment. Maybe if had been complete shit from
the beginning, I would just hate it and go on with
life. But "You'll Get Over It" has so many magical
moments and so many interesting ideas in it that when
it denigrates into complete and utter crap after its
fabulous start, you just want to scream!
At first, for 30 minutes or so,
the film was one of the best I've ever seen. Young,
wide-eyed Vincent (Julien Baumgartner) is still in
high school (or whatever the French equivalent is)
and seems to have the world by a string. He messes
around with a guy, messes around with a girl, is the
star swimmer on the school team, has teammates who
like him, has teachers who adore him, and have parents
who constantly praise him while chiding his unemployed
older brother. Vincent walks through all of this aimlessly
and seems to be completely happy. He's a character
who is cute and whom we like seeing.
For half a minute I thought this
was just going to be a coming of age movie where three
friends, a girl and two boys, love each other, have
sex together, and then realize that it is just an
idyllic moment in youth and sort of drift apart after
high school is over. It could have been about how
the relationships you have when you are young are
magical and you don't really have the same kind when
you are an adult. Wouldn't that be a nice and fresh
movie to see?
Instead, the film turns to shit.
There is a mysterious boy who sort of stalks Vincent
and when they finally meet and kiss, Mr. Mysterio
demurs and runs. Now, first off, this is bullshit.
This other boy would never run away. Second off, the
justification that they give for his running away
later in the film is also bullshit. Third off, he
immediately and inadvertently outs Vincent to some
of his swim team buddies. These school chums, who
have engaged in grab-ass in the shower with Vincent
in an earlier scene, are now complete homophobes.
After this, Vincent's life turns to shit.
From this point on, Vincent becomes
a "victim." Worse yet, the time period seems to change
from a 2002 mentality to a 1980 mentality. Every single
person he has in his life rebuffs him. It begins when
he goes to school and someone has written "Vincent
is a Fag" in graffiti near his locker and the entire
school stands and mocks him, snickering. Apparently
there is not a single gay-friendly person in the entire
school. Not a single teacher. Not a single administrator.
Not any other student. Not only is no one else gay
in this fantasy world created by the writer of the
film (who must be either a moron or 13 years old),
but also everyone is a hater. It's stupid.
Vincent's swim teammates actually
kick him and physically abuse him at practice. The
coach does nothing and says nothing. The teachers
try to get an obviously gay teacher to talk to Vincent
and he refuses. Vincent's girlfriend asks him about
the graffiti and he admits he's gay. After this she
does not have the slightest idea how to be his friend.
And Vincent's homophobe brother outs him to his parents
who are hopelessly ill-equipped to understand or help
him.
This may sound realistic to some
people. I know we have all struggled to come out in
our own way and many of us have been outed to others,
especially when young, and had numerous bad experiences.
Those experiences are valid and have meaning. This
film does not. It belittles true coming out experiences.
It goes from being one of the most beautiful movies
I have ever seen in my entire life to one of the worst.
It turns into an Afterschool Special.
But the worst part is that Vincent,
our protagonist and supposed hero, is a complete milquetoast,
a sop. He's a pussy. He has no fight in him. He allows
all this ridiculous homophobia and hatred to go on
around him and he does absolutely nothing to stand
up for himself. It's stupid. It's so false.
After this, the film does have some
interesting moments and wavers between good and bad
for another 45 minutes or so. For example, Vincent's
best mate (who looks so similar to the guy Vincent
fucks in the film's first scene that we confuse the
two for much of the movie) accepts him and loves him.
Vincent's parents try to cope and actually accept
him and love him. There's even a beautiful scene where
his father tells him he loves him that is a beautiful,
albeit a bit typical, moment.
Storylines that are stupid include
Vincent's coach accepting him but then working it
out so that Vincent can train separate from his teammates
(who finally begin to accept him at the end of the
film). Where is the speech from the coach telling
the team that they better accept Vincent and that's
that? Vincent also goes to a gay bar with his lover
from the first scene (who has already been set up
to be an asshole and a creep) and immediately gets
accosted by some of the most stereotypical queens
imaginable. Seriously, the gay bar scene is less than
60 seconds and in that time, Vincent is hit on by
three old poofs and even physically molested while
in the bathroom. It's a sickening segment and one
that says all gay men are insensitive creeps! This
is the sort of shameful shit that we used to boycott
movies for!
And the worst scene in the film
comes when Vincent's closeted teacher finally comes
and tries to talk to him. He pours his heart out to
Vincent and the boy laughs at him. LAUGHS AT HIM!
What the fuck is that? It took me much time to consider
this hateful scene which makes Vincent, our supposed
hero, a character that we loathe and I finally realized
that the filmmakers were trying to lambast anyone
from past generations who has lived in the closet.
In a scene completely devoid of compassion or understanding,
the character of Vincent laughs at all gay men who
have come before him who have not come out and, by
their hiding, has made his coming out so painful.
This is a stupid scene and another reason this film
should be burned and forgotten.
An idea that is explored in the
movie that works is the feelings of Vincent's girlfriend.
This is a storyline that I've rarely, if ever, seen
explored in a film before and the filmmakers waste
an opportunity for true ingenuity and creativity here.
Vincent obviously needs a confidant and a mother-confessor.
In other words, he desperately needs a fag hag. He
tries to use his girlfriend for this purpose and she
is so in love with him that, no matter how hard she
tries not to be, that she just can't be a friend to
him. There could have been a lot more here but the
filmmakers think they do all they can with it by having
her sleep with Vincent's best mate and then leaving
to be an au pair in the states.
By the end of the film, Vincent
is accepted by his teammates, his parents, his school
and friends. He hooks up with the boy who ran away
and in true, stereotypical fashion the film ends with
them frolicking in the park. Cause, you know, that's
what we gay people do when were happy. We frolic in
the park.
This film is vulgar, crass, sophomoric,
stupid, contrived and horrid. Sadly, it has kernels
of truth and moments of honesty here and there that
further frustrate the viewer who can envision all
the film's wasted opportunities in which it could
have been unique and realistic. This film, when you
look at it, negates any struggle we have made as gay
men by saying that things truly have not changed for
gay youth. To that I say BULLSHIT. I know it is not
easy to be a gay youth. I know homophobia and violence
against gay youth still exists. I know there is still
much work to be done. But this piece of shit, this
hateful film, insists that not a single advance has
been made in the last thirty years. Again, BULLSHIT
BULLSHIT BULLSHIT! The filmmakers here laugh in my
face and in the face of any openly gay man who has
been a part of the evolution of the acceptance of
gays into society. We ARE better off than we were
thirty years ago! It is easier to come out now than
it was thirty years ago. (This sounds like I'm negating
the pain of coming out for young men today, I am not
- but they are, if nothing else, coming out in a world
that is far more accepting of gay persons). To spit
in my face and the face of the millions of gay men
throughout the world who have also made it through
this struggle by saying we didn't do enough is cruel,
mean and just plain wrong.
Whew. I'm glad I got that off my
chest. Now, I gotta run and frolic in the park. See
ya.
Notes:
In French with subtitles.
The title listed in the Agliff program
is simply "You'll Get Over It" but the full translated
title on the video screener we saw (it was shot on
video) was "You'll Get Over It... You Will." (Yet
another reason to hate this film, its smug and pedantic
title).
Viewed at the Metropolitan as a
part of Agliff 2003.
Notes on Agliff 2003 - Day 10 -
Saturday, 8/30/03
I sat next to John and Craig during
this film. The sponsor was the Austin's Mens Project
and the poor guy who got up to speak on their behalf
was so nervous. He made the fatal mistake of asking
for forgiveness if he said "Ummm" too much and then
preceded to say "Ummm" before and after each sentence.
It was nearly unbearable.
The film was prefaced by a hilarious
and hot music video (posing as a short film) for a
song called "Soccer Practice." The lead singer was
a bit odd looking but he wore the coolest shirt, a
sleeveless black number that said "GAY PIMP" in diamond
studs. It was hot as were the numerous hunky athletic
boys in the video. I have got to get a copy for Lube
TV.
I hated this film and I couldn't
help but sigh audibly during its running, it was so
horrible. I had to apologize to John and I told him
it was so hard not to just get up and walk out and
he told me if I had sighed one more time he was going
to ASK me to get up and leave. I didn't mean to ruin
it for him but it was just such an abysmal film. I
was talking to both John and Craig about my problems
with the film and a couple other people chatted with
me about their thoughts too.
Craig and I got in line to buy tickets
to the late show of "Lock Up Your Sons and Daughters."
This was a clip show with a live host, a genre of
programming that is becoming more and more popular
at festivals. It also featured clips of educational
film which had to do with denouncing homosexuality.
I recently saw a program like this at the Alamo Drafthouse
with Johnny and Melissa and her fiance which was about
weird children's educational film. It was cool and
I wrote about it on the Notes from Austin from May
2003. My favorite was one about a mime who sent children
silently to their death by playing hide and seek with
kids who stupidly hid in car trunks and abandoned
refrigerators. (This genre is becoming so popular
that a collection of education films from driving
courses featuring car wreck footage called "Hell's
Highway" has been picked up for distribution.)
This program was nowhere near as
fun or profession as the one we saw at the Alamo.
The guy hosting this one, who collects the films,
was named Bill Taylor and he was unprepared and quite
dull to listen to. He told us things we didn't need
to know before seeing the films, ruining the surprise
of much of their humor and showed us clips that were
intended to be used as a political platform (reminding
us that there was still much homophobia to fight).
We just wanted to have fun but Taylor insisted on
injecting a message.
Truly the best clip in the series
was one that Taylor said was rather new. Called "Activity
Group Therapy," the film was made in the late 50's
and intended for psychologists. Taylor had edited
it down from 30 minutes to 13 or so. The focus of
his edit is a young man labeled "the effeminate boy"
who, over a series of group therapy sessions that
reminded me of my old boy scout days, learns to be
more masculine. The grown male leader of this group
of boys (who are being filmed without their knowledge)
is meant to be passive and to intervene only under
desperate circumstances, at one point, allows the
boys to start a fire. For a second it appears as the
whole scene may quickly become a Jr. High recreation
of "Lord of the Flies."
After the program, the three of
us went our separate ways and I went to Wan Fu and
picked up some dinner. I went to bed and set my alarm
for 3am so I could get up and tape my show, The Lodger
Showboat. But my alarm didn't go off for some reason
and I woke up at 3:37 and ended up watching the end
of the episode and then not being able to go back
to sleep until after 6am. I had to get up at 8am and
go to my day gig.
