Okay, before you dismiss my credibility as a film student with taste, please hear me out– I am not saying that the Eating Out films are GOOD films. Understand too that I’m not saying that they are completely bad films either. In fact, I really don’t remember much about the few entries in the “franchise,” if you will, that I’ve seen. What I will argue, though, is that these films hold importance just by their very existence and that they should not be dismissed just because they are low budget, or “another gay film,” or vapid trash full of basically-and-actually-naked, faggy fodder.

Here’s the thing: due to the fact that gay films have been so few and far between (sure, there are MANY, MANY gay films over the span of the last hundred years, but evaluating it from a perspective of ratio, gay to straight, they are scarce). What I hear from other cinephiles (especially queer ones), is that films like these are culturally reductive and completely shatter an image of a marginalized people trying to make progress. Gay films such as these give the queer community something to watch as entertainment that does not probe (yes, probe) any thoughtful dialogue about meaning, theme, technique or any area that academics are made to feel is worth studying.

I hate to break it to you, but that’s entertainment, Honey!

If you liken it to something like FUBU (For Us By Us), a fashion line that made a big splash in the ’90s because it was made for and by African American people, this makes a little more sense. It was monumental by its very existence, regardless of whether the clothes were deemed fashionable, innovative, or well-made. Even if the clothing line reinforced stereotypes about black athleticism, hip-hop culture, or street life, it was powerfully made by their own.

While stereotypes can be harmful if they are seen as projections of a wholistic truth about a group of people, they can also stem from some small kernel of cultural truth. As a gay person, I’m tired of feeling like there are parts of gay culture that need to be the Belial of Basket Case, chopped off and hidden away. The best way to take away the fill effect and “harmful” nature of stereotypes is to dilute them with other images of gay culture that help to inform the viewer that Eating Out is just part of the picture. There’s still Maurice, Moonlight, Call Me By Your Name, My Beautiful Laundrette, Kiss of the Spider Woman, Happy Together, The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant, Pink Flamingos, Pariah, Sunday Bloody Sunday, Fox and His Friends (…I can keep going) that elevate queer films to a form of “high art.” Even John Waters is in the Criterion Collection! Give us everything and let us decide what’s culturally significant and what isn’t.

I guess my point is this– straight people watch shows like The Bachelor and films like Bad Moms, but look at what else they have.

As a sort of side note and closing bit, the director of Eating Out (the first one, anyway) is Q. Allan Brocka, a Filipino, out-and-proud member of the gay community. His uncle was the incredible Lino Brocka!