Video
Boy meets Boy
Mar 20th
Boy meets Boy (소년, 소년을 만나다) is a Korean short film released in November 2008. It’s unique in the sense that there is no dialogue at all involved, and relies on background music and body language to project the characters’ feelings. Produced by Korea Gay Men’s Human Rights Group Chiusai & Blue Films, the film is about Min-Soo (played by Kim Hye Seong) who gets his camera stolen from Suk-Yee (played by Hyun-Jin). They later meet again on a bus, which then sparks their love. the proceedings of the film are donated to the Gay support group “Between Friends”.
You might expect a slow piece of romantic dingle-dongle but it’s actually pretty funny. I couldn’t stop laughing when she appeared on the screen…
Loveless
Mar 15th
Twelve-year old Aoyagi Ritsuka is left with his insane mother as his only family when his brother, Seimei, is killed suddenly. After moving to a new school, he meets Agatsuma Soubi, who claims to have known his brother. Ritsuka eventually discovers that Soubi and Seimei used to be a fighting pair, whereby Soubi was the "Fighter" and Seimei was the "Sacrifice". Now that Seimei is gone, Ritsuka has inherited Soubi, who will become his "Fighter". After learning that Seimei was killed by an organisation known as the "Seven Moons", Ritsuka decides to investigate into his brother’s death, with the sometimes useless help of Soubi, along the way.
Loveless has been called a “boylove anime” and by Western standards it is, of course. What else can a series that circles around the love affair between a 12-yearold and a 20-yearold be called? If in doubt, the series itself will provide you with the necessary clues. Like for example when Soubi’s jealous ex-boyfriend accuses him of having a “Lolita complex” because of his obsession with Ritsuka.
At the same time it should not be called a “boylove anime”. This anime is made for TV by a big production company. The aim is to earn money. And how do you earn money? By attracting a lot of people. And a lot of people are apparently attracted to the love between Ritsuka and Soubi. In the West, we call that boylove. In Japan, they call it sweet.
This text is a short excerpt from an article about Loveless in the first issue of the Destroyer Journal. You can order it at I Love Mags if you want to read the full story. A review can be also found here.
Godly Boyish
Mar 14th
Cam Archer is an independent filmmaker who, at the same age of most recent college graduates, has written and directed a vast amount of his critically acclaimed and award winning films. His debut feature film Wild Tigers I Have Known, which was executively produced by veteran indie filmmaker Gus Van Sant, premiered at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival and has gone on to become a landmark in new-queer cinema.
While dealing with the sensitive and taboo subject of adolescents coming to terms with their homosexuality, Archer creates images that are fresh, beautiful, and undoubtedly original. His films blend formal narrative structure with extreme and abrasive experimental imagery to help tie the symbolic knots together, and create a better understanding of the state of mind in which his main subject is trapped inside. His work, which could be compared to many Van Sant films, (Elephant comes to mind) are able to hold up on their own through their breathtaking cinematography, subtle background scores, and of course an innovative take on a subject that has been dealt with thousands of times in the history of cinema. Archer is a controversial artist, who makes films on his own terms, and through his collection of work, has created a style in which no film buff could deny.
In the short film Goodly Boyish, Cam Archer’s moody, elliptical exploration of the interior lives of teenagers, two boys (Jasper Bel and Cassidy Field) dream of a life together in heaven…
Husbands & Husbands
Mar 12th
An interesting exchange with a small boy who meets a gay couple at a family function
For this boy it was a simple step of logic. First, he admits he knew about husbands and wives but had never seen a husband and husband before. He says: "This is the very first time I’ve seen husbands and husbands." And then he draws his conclusion: "So that means you love each other." A logical conclusion, but one so many people seem to miss.
THIS drug works!
Mar 8th
Raw Love
Feb 27th
Download this Video | Found by MorGod | Content Warning: Masturbation SceneTwo friends spend the last days of high school together, but this will inevitably come to an end. Raw Love is a beautiful and sincere story of mixed emotions and secrets that one dare not speak aloud.
Smoking is Gay. For Real.
Feb 25th
It looks like the Onion has more influence on the real world than they might prefer to think. Their satire video about a teen health campaign that compares smoking to being gay triggered a discussion about what comedy is allowed to say when it comes to minorities. The French, who aren’t exactly squeamish when it comes to sex or racy content in advertising, are already a step ahead. A controversy has erupted over an ad that some feel has gone a step too far: it doesn’t just evoke oral sex, but actually simulates it. And these salacious images are targeting young people in what is actually a laudable campaign — trying to stop them from smoking.
The ads are meant to link smoking to submission and have a caption that reads: “Smoking means being a slave to tobacco”
The campaign of the Droits des Non-Fumeurs (Non-Smokers’ Rights) association features male and female adolescents kneeling at the waist of a businessman with a cigarette in their mouth.. Queer activists are concerned the ads could rehash prejudices and clichés against gays; an organisation for rape victims says “the campaign trivialises sexual abuse – worse, it implies guilt on the part of the abused”. France’s conservative minister for families, Nadine Morano, said she would take measures to get the advert banned on grounds of “public offense to decency”.
Tobacco is the number one cause of avoidable deaths as well as of cancer in France, according to the health ministry. Half of French students over 14 have tried smoking at some point. While Droits des Non-Fumeurs argues that young smokers tend to ignore adverts focusing on health, other activists were doubtful about the effectiveness of the provocative posters.
What do you think, are these ads too much or just enough?
