Grindr values

The Ornithologist (d. Joao Pedro Rodrigues)

What it wants to be: a fantastical voyage of gay self-discovery cast with shadows of Christian faith and art. (Note the deliberate postures which are meant to echo Christ’s body in religious paintings.) Beautifully told and it has a bunch of neat ideas that produces much interest and entertainment especially if you’re into dicks.

What it is: yet another iteration of the centrality and desirability of the white (gay) body as it is set against bodies that are not–Chinese women and costumed “natives” with masks from different cultures. It’s basically a white gay guy saying no fats, Asians, Blacks, and femmes. The most predictable thing that happens when a young white guy enters the picture and they fuck. The Chinese Christian women are already an improbability, so why can’t the love interest be equally improbable, racially? Why this amateurish mishmash of native cultures in the middle of the forest? He even gets some golden shower action too, unintended by the pee-er. Rodrigues has a lot self-examining to do. The entire narrative is basically about a white due going native and what makes the film different is because the it’s been gay-ified. The movie is beyond problematic AF.

#2019 #62