‘Oy Vey! My Son is Gay’ A Big, Fat Gay Review

I don’t think it’s unfair to say that gay movies tend to, on the whole, suck (no pun intended). Although light and at times laugh out loud funny, “Oy Vey! My Son is Gay” doesn’t break new ground. Though not for a lack of talent in the cast, the film itself struggles from beginning to end from many of the same issues that make most gay indie films basically unwatchable to anyone outside of the MSG* bubble.

Taking a cue from John Roberts YouTube short (below), “Oy Vey! My Son is Gay!” follows two young gay men in New York City, Nelson (John Lloyd Young, “Jersey Boys”) and Angelo (Jai Rodriguez, “Queer Eye”) both of whom are from the suburbs and neither of whom are completely accepted by their families, or at least that’s what I could gather. The script itself had more twists than a soft pretzel and about as many B-stories, all of which just worked to undermine the core issues being brought up. Where the film could really have focused on one of the many obstacles facing this couple (the coming-out process, marriage, adoption, redecorating their apartment) none were given their due, and instead what we’re left with is a patchwork of story-lines that just did not add up in the end.

Then there is the reliance on misguided ethnic representations. Let me be clear that I’m not just talking about the fact that Angelo is an interior decorator and dons a rainbow yamulke to a Jewish wedding—jokes like these at the expense of us gays are to be expected. What I’m talking about is the non-gay, mostly racial profiling that the film just will not stop bombarding you with from beginning to end. Now, when done right this kind of comedy can put you in stitches (“Coming to America”>, any and every Margaret Cho stand-up special), but it can just as easily make audiences members feel outright offended. And, yes, as a gay Latino myself I’ve experienced first-hand just how fraught a relationship some ethnic communities have with homosexuality, but since when did upwardly mobile Jews from the outlying New York City suburbs—arguably one of the most liberal social groups in existence—gain a reputation for being so homophobic? And do all Italians have to be Sicilians with Mafia ties? These are just some of the questions that haunt you after watching “Oy Vey!,” others being “When will this end?” and “If these two men are supposed to be in love, why don’t we see them kiss even once during the film?”

To be fair, there are some bright spots. Lainie Kazan, herself of “My Big, Fat Greek Wedding” fame, does a wonderful job playing an extremely stereotyped Jewish mother. And it is nice to see that Carmen Electra can still walk and talk at the same time. But neither of these women—or anybody else in a cast that includes both TONY and Emmy award winners, John Lloyd Young, Bruce Vilanch, and Jai Rodriguez—could save this movie from ending up literally becoming just another one in a long line of lowest-common-denominator gay films that do more to embarrass than to empower.

Think I’m being too harsh? Think not all gay movies are this bad? Wake me when Gus Van Sant releases a new picture and then we can talk.

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The Original YouTube video by John Roberts.

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[ED NOTE: Did you see this film and disagree with Adrian? Want to counter his arguments? Send us your review and we may post it. Email your review to antonio@hom0-neurotic.com. -- HN]

MSG* = Mainstream Gay

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