Five-handkerchief

coming-out story

hits a nerve online



HOW DOES ONE human being reveal love for another?

Arguably, the three most difficult words to utter for the first time to another person in the English language are: “I love you.”

They are even more excruciating for a young gay man coming to terms with his same-sex attraction.

A nine-minute video written and performed by an Australian high school student exploring this topic – with a twist – has become an internet sensation.

Kim Ho, 17, shares his angst over revealing his love for another boy in French class in “The Language of love,” which has been viewed more than 160,000 times on You Tube.

He told the backstory in an interview aired Wednesday on Public Radio International.

Watch the videos below the fold.

“ ‘The Language of Love’ is about an Australian teen named Charlie who’s in the middle of taking a French exam,” says PRI on its web site.

“He’s having a dialogue with himself, contemplating typical teenage stuff when he suddenly realizes something big; he’s in love with his best friend, another boy named Sam.”

Reach for the Kleenex. This is a five-handkerchief experience.

The nine-minute version of Ho’s contemplation about the risks and rewards of coming out to Charlie is based on a three minute original “Transcendence” posted on April 9.

Speaking mostly into the camera, Ho recounts: “He was sitting right in front of me. Not (the teacher) Mr. Edgerton. Sam.

“Shy, inarticulate Sam with his quiet grace and eyes that smile…. There was something funny that happened, and he turned around and smiled … at that moment everything felt OK. It didn’t feel like I was some kind of freak, poofter, faggot … Life’s not black and white. There are shades of …. gay.”

The original seems to have been overlooked by the rapidly growing audience. It has been viewed fewer than 5,000 times.

“Why does it have to define you? Always?” Ho (as Charlie) continues. “Why is it a “choice” that you can’t control?

“People say it’s weird and just not normal. Isn’t that the point of love? To transcend normalness and become something special … That has to be the case with me. Otherwise I have nothing.”

IN THE LINER NOTES we learn that Charlie is struggling with French and the language of love.

The original video “Transcendence” was written and performed by Ho for The Voices Project 2012, as part of the online monologue competition Love Bytes.

“Ho then worked with playwright Tommy Murphy and filmmaker Laura Scrivano to develop the piece further,” we learn.

The result, “The Language of Love,” as of Thursday, had been viewed more than 166,000 times.

Ho told PRI that his nine-minute film was inspired by a commercial that aired on Australian television. He said the response from his classmates had been overwhelmingly positive.

“His other inspiration was a love song of course. “This Old Love” is by Israeli-Australian singer songwriter, Lior.”

You can view both of these sources of inspiration at “The Language of Love: One Aussie Teen’s Short Film on Unrequited Love” by Nina Porzucki.

There is also another nine-minute video “Making the language of love” which tells the backstory. It has been viewed almost 20,000 times.

It’s liner note says:

“Writer/performer Kim Ho, mentor Tommy Murphy and director Laura Scrivano, on the making of “The language of love.”

Love is a universal emotion. Everyone single one of us can identify with the issues so delicately explored in this intimate personal coming out.

Watch the original here:



Watch the smash hit expanded version here:



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