THEGAYUK

Author: Chris Bridges

  • FILM REVIEW: Four More Years

    David is a Swedish politician with a stellar career ahead of him.

    He’s also a bit of a silver fox and cuts a fine figure in a business suit. After an unexpected political defeat leaves him feeling adrift, he bumps into fellow politician Martin and the two quickly fall in love. This isn’t the usual romantic comedy though. David is from a strict Baptist family, straight and married. Martin is openly gay and a senior politician for the opposing party. It’s a relationship fraught with issues.

    The film is a gentle comedy which follows the men through a series of turbulent events and the usual misunderstandings and mix-ups. The humour is subtle, rather than raucous, and the film is beautifully compiled with artful shots and stylish views. What raises the film above the romantic comedy genre is the quirky way it deals with him being gay.

    Interestingly, the film doesn’t portray David’s sexuality as a major problem; more of a shock to him. The scene where his wife reflects on him being gay is hilarious and unexpected. Instead the film concentrates more on what it means to fall in love with someone who you aren’t supposed to fall in love with.

    Overall the film was actually quite touching and the three main characters were likeable and engaging. This is definitely a film which leaves you feeling a bit better about the world. Recommended for a rainy autumnal afternoon.

  • COLUMN: Come Out, Come Out Wherever You Are

    Is there a need to come out? Is it anyone’s business?

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  • Coming Out: Top 10 Coming Out Novels

    Coming Out: Top 10 Coming Out Novels

    Having always been a fan of reading, I navigated my way through my teenage years by devouring as much gay fiction as I could. It made me feel affirmed and like I belonged. It’s always good to know it’s not just you. Here are my top ten “coming out” novels:

    Maurice

    Maurice by E.M. Forster: This is one of the original classic gay novels. Written around the time of War World I, it’s never going to be smooth sailing when Maurice discovers that he’s gay in a world where homosexuality is illegal and considered a perversion. It’s a beautiful story, though, with some gripping moments.

    A Boy’s Own Story

    A Boy’s Own Story by Edmund White: This literary masterpiece from 1986 outlines the coming of age of a young gay man in a tender and well-written account. The writing is lyrical and moving with an evocative and fascinating story.

    Running With Scissors

    Running with Scissors by Augusten Burroughs: This is a coming out story with a difference. Burroughs’ childhood was far from usual. He grew up with an alcoholic father and a mentally ill mother, ended up being adopted by his mother’s psychiatrist and his eccentric family and had a relationship with a 33-year men whilst in his early teens. Memoirs don’t get much more compelling, brutal or funnier than this one, thanks to Burroughs’ comical take on his life

    Sucking Sherbet Lemons

    Sucking Sherbet Lemons: by Michael Carson: Young Martin Benson is a teenage boy who’s gradually coming to terms with being gay in a predominately Irish Catholic community in the late 1950s and early 1960s. It’s a humorous and touching book of a boy’s dilemma between the joys of discovering gay sex and the guilt instilled on him by a religion that labels him as sinful. It’s is also the first of a trilogy which goes on to follow Benson as he navigates his way through life.

    Fifty Ways Of Saying Fabulous

    Fifty Ways of saying Fabulous: by Graeme Aitken: Billy is a young boy living on a farm in New Zealand. He’s not quite cut out for farm life and spends his time imagining he’s Judy from “Lost in Space”, fumbling with a friend and lusting after the 19-year-old farmhand. It’s a very funny and entertaining read.

    Someday This Pain Will Be Useful To YOu

    Someday This Pain Will Be Useful to You by Peter Cameron: James is a misfit and in discord with his surroundings and fractured family. Caught in a limbo between leaving school and starting university he feels adrift. His psychiatrist is driving him more insane and his crush on a co-worker is getting more than he can manage. This is an above-average account of the pain and confusion that sometimes accompanies being a teenager.

    Mysterious Skin

    Mysterious Skin by Scott Heim: This is a dark and at times disturbing read. It’s a coming of age novel but with a twist. Brian is a guileless innocent and forges an unlikely friendship with a savvy cynic and part-time male prostitute, Neil. The novel is fast-paced and at times shocking as the two move towards a conclusion which causes Brian and Neil to re-evaluate their shared past. Mysterious Skin has also been made into a movie which TheGayUK has reviewed

    A Home At The End Of The World

    A Home at the End of the World by Michael Cunningham: Pulitzer Prize winner Cunningham has created a moving account of the extraordinary situation which Bobby, Claire and Jonathan, three friends and lovers find themselves in. The book explores how people manage to find a place for themselves and is an accomplished piece of work.

    How I Paid For College

    How I Paid for College by Marc Acito: This camp tale is reminiscent of a 1980s teen movie but with a musical theatre loving cast of misfits and a gay main character. It’s a light and funny book with lots of tongue in cheek moments and an amusing storyline.

    Terre Haute

    Terre Haute by Will Aitken: Jared is the son of a wealthy family growing up in Indiana who happens to fancy boys. He’s sly, manipulative and cunning and has a predatory nature. When he enters into a relationship with an older man he quickly gains the upper hand. This is a moody, erotic tale which is really compelling to read but also makes the reader wince a little. Jared is definitely an anti-hero with a difference.

    Happy reading people.

    This article was first published in 2012

  • BOOK REVIEW: Love You Bye, Scott Mills

    Scott Mills has been a much loved DJ at Radio One for the past 14 years and also happens to be one of the boys (aka gay).

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  • THEATRE: The Importance Of Being Earnest

    So, most of us know all about Oscar Wilde?

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  • COLUMN: Made To Measure

    There’s always that question in my mind whenever I see a traditionally dressed skinhead in Doctor Martin boots and braces: Is he gay with a skinhead fetish, a Neo Nazi or part of the real skinhead culture? Maybe all three?

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  • INTERVIEW | Andrew Doyle

    Andrew Doyle is a brutally funny openly gay comedian whose debut solo stand-up show “A Crash Course in Depravity” elicited critical acclaim and five star reviews at last year’s Edinburgh Fringe.

    The show was intelligent and razor sharp and covered subjects as diverse as the Marquis de Sade, the Pope, Grindr and Bonnie Langford. It was described as feeling like the most bizarre and intense Gaydar meet you can possibly have and part of the fun was guessing which audience members were going to leave in a disgruntled huff. In spite of this Doyle is a charming and engaging performer (and is also boyishly good looking) who could never be accused of smuttiness for the sake of a cheap laugh. The show also carried a warning of full frontal nudity. What’s not to like? He’s back again this year and we’re looking forward to what he has to unleash for us.

    So, Andrew, this year’s show is called “Whatever it Takes”. Can you tell us a bit more about the new show?

    It’s about a humiliating near-death experience I had in Suffolk. I was walking by the coast and found myself caught in wet mud. I sank to my waist and was unable to move. The tide was coming in and there wasn’t a coastguard in sight. You’ll have to come along to my show to find out whether I survived or not.

    I hate to mention it but can we talk about the Mickey Mouse incident? How was it for you and are there going to be any more puppet sex shows for us this year? Maybe Orville might be free?

    I deny everything.

    You asked audience members about their own acts of depravity last year and you asked me to leave the room for being too depraved for words (it involved a Roman Catholic priest). Were there any memorable depraved acts which were shared?

    Plenty. One woman told me about a threesome in a skip. Another guy told me about his fetish for uncooked ham. It always surprised me doing that show how open people would be with their experiences. I suppose if you buy a ticket for a show with “depravity” in the title you’re up for anything. (That said, some were offended by the content. The title was fairly self-explanatory, as was the warning at the box office, but there will always be some idiots who just wander in because they like the pretty colours on the poster.)

    Is there a danger of being an openly gay comedian that people expect an old style camp show a la Duncan Norvelle or Larry Grayson or have things moved on for the stand up comedian?

    Things haven’t moved on all that much. The most popular gay comedians are still the camp types who appear sexless (although, believe me, they’re far from it). There are always some in the audience who are uncomfortable with the idea of a gay comic even talking about it. One audience member recently posted online that because I mentioned being gay it was “tired”. Of course, straight comedians never mention their sexuality, so she’s clearly got a point.

    Lots of our readers are about to implode through Olympic overkill and even the men’s diving is getting dull due to lack of the right camera angles. Can you suggest a few of this year’s Fringe acts that might appeal to disaffected gay men and drag us away from the tedium and tempt us to venture to Edinburgh?

    I have no interest whatsoever in competitive sports, so I understand where you are coming from. In fact, I mentioned my complete indifference to the Olympics on stage last night and got some very cold looks from the predominately laddish audience. In terms of shows to tempt you, there’s a few that immediately spring to mind. The Life and Sort of Death of Eric Argyle is a brilliant new play by Ross Dungan and is my favourite show of the fringe so far. Jo Caulfield is always worth seeing; she’s one of the best joke writers around. James Acaster is inherently hilarious. David Mills is a gay San Franciscan comic with impeccable timing and razor-sharp material. The brilliant Scott Agnew is doing a show this year about his various experiences in gay saunas over the years. Finally, I’d go for Susan Calman’s show about her civil partnership. I haven’t seen it yet, but Susan’s a superb stand-up.

    What’s your favourite fruit?

    Passion fruit, star fruit, grapefruit. Any fruit that has the word “fruit” in its name, really. It sounds so wonderfully insecure about its own identity.

    Finally, you commented on Twitter that the start of the Olympic opening ceremony was like the longest Hovis ad ever. What did you think of the show?

    I thought it was jingoistic nonsense. Nationalism makes no sense to me. The idea of being proud of something as arbitrary as your birthplace strikes me as ridiculous. All those millions spent, and for what? As a prelude to some people running about and playing various games with balls and sticks. They don’t do this kind of thing for backgammon, do they?

    Andrew is appearing at Just the Tonic at the Caves till the 26th of August

    http://www.edfringe.com/whats-on/comedy/andrew-doyle-whatever-it-takes?day=05-08-2012&performance=88%3A2463

    Read more about Andrew at:

    http://www.andrewdoyle.co.uk/

  • INTERVIEW | Christopher Banks

    New Zealander Christopher Banks is a man of many talents. He’s a chart topping song-writer, producer and musician.

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  • COLUMN: Mind The Gap

    What is it with gay couples and the age gap thing? It seems to be so much more prominent in gay life but that could be my perspective as I have a mildly jaundiced view.

    A friend of mine is in his mid forties yet wouldn’t consider entering a relationship (sexual or otherwise) with any man over the age of thirty. His ideal is twenty-five. He constantly trawls the internet, bars and Grindr looking for attractive younger men who he can bed and or develop a relationship with. Oddly, these relationships don’t seem to go well. They tend to be messy and short lived. I can’t imagine dating someone a lot younger than myself. If they haven’t heard of The Clangers, vinyl records or can’t remember when the pound was a note, then I don’t want to know. What could we possibly have in common apart from sex and you can only do that so many hours of the day…

    Maybe my view is skewed through past experience. My first boyfriend was older (by one year). It was a full on teenage infatuation. I loved him madly to the point where I couldn’t eat or sleep. Two weeks later I realised he was actually a bit dull and had a funny whiff about him. I then upped the ante. My next boyfriend was a lot older. I met him aged almost seventeen in a gay bar (I was precocious and illegal, O.K.?). He was 39. He wooed me, by telling me I was beautiful and buying me books and gin, which was a sure fire way to my heart.

    The power balance was skewed from the outset and by the time we were living together a year later he was definitely assuming the role of the older and wiser one. I didn’t know how to manage money, pay bills and shop. I was still a teenager. I could cook and clean but not much else. I was pretty useless with a power tool too. This felt fine and him keeping my bank account card seemed a positive and sensible thing.

    I think I made a fundamental mistake though. I fell in love with an older man rather than pursuing one for his money. My older man was penniless with terrible career prospects and a deep love for alcohol.

    Fast forward twelve years: I was now 29, still without my own bank account and believing I was unable to function at the most basic level without him supervising everything practical for me. He chose the holiday destinations, the TV we watched and where we went out. The basic problem was that he wanted me to stay a teenager, naive and vulnerable. Unfortunately for him, in the intervening years I’d gained a career, friends and confidence. The balance of power shifted and along with this I gained the characteristics of someone hurtling towards thirty (ear hair, the beginnings of crow’s feet and general grumpiness). It didn’t bode well.

    When I finally left him it was a revelation that paying bills, changing light-bulbs and making choices in life wasn’t that taxing for me. I’m also pretty good with managing my own money. I vowed to myself that never again would I enter a relationship where the age gap was more than the amount of time Eastenders has been on the BBC for.

    The next relationship was with a man who loved young fair haired men who were slim. He was a more sensible choice at four years older but his adoration of youth came to become a stressor. My hair grew darker, I grew older and less toned and frisky and we disintegrated, going our separate ways after six years.

    The world of internet dating that I found myself in aged 36 was at times frustrating. I’d read through a profile for a hot looking man of my own age only to come to the crunch line: No one over the age of 25 need apply. This happened time and time again. It seemed bizarre to me. It seemed to be a recurring theme that the older you get the younger you want your take out or take home to be. I’m not bitter, I met some decent men and of course a few cads. It was fun at times, demoralising at others.

    Then there was the withholding of truth. A hunky thirty five year old would turn up on a date and you’d quickly realise that he was actually ten years older and twenty pounds heavier. Maybe the grainy Polaroid picture with the Wham posters in the background should have been a clue. The Eighties mullet should have told me those photos weren’t recent. Liars are really not my thing.

    Eventually, I met my current partner. I know that’s a lot of long relationships but serial monogamy is so my thing. We didn’t meet in a bar, on the internet or Grindr but in actual real life. How odd is that? Here’s where I reveal my hypocrisy. He’s a fair bit older than me. The balance of power is fine. We’re both equally powerless. It’s pretty good so far. I go with the flow and am happy with that.

    I know some of you will be shouting at your screens: “But I’ve been with my boyfriend who’s twenty years older/younger for ten years and we’re blissfully happy.”

    Good luck to you, if that’s the case. Maybe I was just unlucky and it was just the wrong man. I just hope you can cope with those awkward restaurant moments well. It’s never nice when people address him as your dad or son. Unless that’s your thing of course but that’s a whole other topic.

    Chris Bridges is a regular writer for The Gay UK and also writes more of his observations on his blog:http://www.gayboyinterrupted.blogspot.co.uk/

  • BOOK REVIEW | My Policeman

    Naive schoolmistress Marion first catches sight of handsome Tom in Brighton and is instantly smitten by his wholesome good looks and swimmer’s physique.

    In spite of some reservations about this dashing young policeman, she is determined that her love will be enough for them both. The complication is that Tom is increasingly lured into the gay underworld of 1950’s Brighton when he meets sophisticated gay museum curator, Patrick. The ensuing love triangle has far reaching consequences for the three of them in a society where homosexuality is still illegal.

    Vintage style is big business in the 21st century and one decade which brings on a warm rush of nostalgia is the 1950s. Homes are being decorated with stylish repro 50’s patterns and tweed jackets are making a comeback, but have you ever considered what it was like to be gay before the law reforms of 1967 made homosexuality legal? This pitch perfect novel captures the atmosphere of fear which surrounded being gay in 1950’s Brighton. Roberts has created a compelling and haunting story with strong credible characters which is hard not to become instantly immersed in.

    The backdrop of historical detail doesn’t intrude on a great story but adds depth and colour to it. The city of Brighton is recognisable by its landmarks but alien in its climate of repression. I would heartily recommend this book as being well written and eminently readable. It’s a book which causes you to stop and think about how we view the past through a filter of our own current experiences and realise that maybe the good old days weren’t always so good for gay men.

    BUY FROM AMAZON

  • BOOK REVIEW | My Policeman

    ★★★★★ My Policeman |Naive schoolmistress Marion first catches sight of handsome Tom in Brighton and is instantly smitten by his wholesome good looks and swimmer’s physique.

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