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Saturday, September 5th

Upstairs at 8:30 PM

Seek
 
Seek - Trailer
Seek

(2014, 77 min)

Country: U.S., Canada

Director: Eric Henry

Studio: TLA Releasing

Language: English

SYNOPSIS:

Evan (Adrian Shepherd-Gawinski) is a hot young, gay newspaper writer - and he's just had his heart broken. Attempting to shake off his melancholy, he takes on an assignment profiling Hunter (Ryan Fisher), an alluring gay club promoter. Around the guys are a host of other twenty-something urbanites, all longing for the same thing: approval. Whether it’s by the in-crowd, the hottie across the bar or in the industry they work, all strive for something greater, failing to appreciate what they already have. Seek explores fresher territory in gay cinema, and is all the more tender and heart-wrenching for it.


REVIEW:

Evan Brisby, is a young writer at a gay newspaper XUS. Set in Toronto, Evan finds himself leading an unfulfilling life especially after the loss of his love, Jordan. Joe Thorpe, the editor of the Toronto Gazette approaches Evan to write a story about the gay nightlife in Toronto. This task could possibly be a breakthrough for Evan’s career; however he is not too familiar with this party scene. Evan attends a club with Aidan Starr, “society” editor and comes across the centerpiece for his article, Hunter. Hunter is a club promoter who takes Evan under his wing. As Evan immerses in this work to avoid thoughts of Jordan, he finds himself surrounded by 20 year olds seeking acceptance.

The search for happiness is a reoccurring theme in the light hearted and fun film Seek. The movie delves into a subculture where the complexities of being young, gay, and hopeful are affluent. I found the message of the film was that we are too fixated on what others think and our futures. This vision clouds our perception on what real beauty is. I found this to be an important message as this is commonly seen throughout many societies. Focusing on the present rather than allowing a past to haunt us is something many people can relate to. The ability to relate to a broad variety of viewers allows the film to further persuade many of it’s other ideas.

Although this message is clear, I felt it would have been strengthened with a less mainstream approach. There was a response to the presence intersectionality, which acknowledges that identity positions are multiple-systems of oppression. However, the films focal point was the struggle of two men whose positionality were as white, good-looking, and gay men. I think a stronger addition of cultures and race would have strengthened this piece, as opposed to just social class, sexuality, and gender intersecting.

Identities in the film are shaped by the pursuit of acceptance as all these concepts interact. In this film approval is sought by level of attraction defined by the industry and individuals surrounding them. Social construction is the expectations by society to behave in a certain way because of your sex. The movie thoughtfully depicted the limitations social construction has on a society. Individuals have their perception clouded in order to attain unrealistic goals. Many people in this film and in society have to sacrifice the sensation of fulfillment in order to feel accepted. This is especially seen through the 20 year olds Evan surrounds himself with.

The film was successful in disregarding concepts such as gender polarization and sexual scripts in a society. Gender polarization is the idea that masculine cannot be feminine and vise versa. Many of the male characters such as Aidan Starr do not fall into any feminine or masculine extremes. This is an important aspect to observe, as this draws the characters away from societal influences. In my opinion, these forward ideologies are what could possibly shape the fourth wave of feminism. A sexual script is a blueprint and guideline for what we define as our role in sexual expression, sexual orientation, sexual behaviors, sexual desires, and the sexual component of our self-definition. In one of the club scenes Evan is introduced to men who dress in a stereotypically feminine extreme. I thought it was smart to include this feminine extreme as it defies societies social scripts. Sexual expression is a key factor in individuality. I find the film does a great job in emphasizing that self-definition is done solely through yourself and should not be influenced by society.

Overall, I found that the acting was well done. The cinematography seemed almost rushed, however almost made it more realistic.

My experience of going to a Reelout in terms of my own personal educational and cultural activities at Queen’s was quite interesting. Although this film and many of the other reelout films may seem controversial to others I found it almost mainstream. Where I grew up, my generation was very encouraged to express individuality. The one thing I’ve noticed about Queen’s is it’s extreme lack of diversity. I am beginning to see how individuals in societies are oppressed in ways you wouldn’t expect. Intersectionality of race, sexuality, social class and more has become more apparent. However, since I am a Science student my understanding and perspectives on topics that were touched upon in the Reelout would have been very limited if not for this course. It is this course that is providing me with the tools to further my understanding. Although commercialized Hollywood films capture my interest more, I do think I benefited from further enhancing my perspectives on the intersectionality of sexuality, social class and gender.

-- Posted by pugsnotdrugs21 (http://www.whatteamwildcats.wordpress.com)