Do I Sound Gay?

Last updated

Do I Sound Gay?
Do I Sound Gay poster.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed byDavid Thorpe
Produced by
  • Howard Gertler
  • David Thorpe
Starring
CinematographyMatt Bockelman
Edited by
  • Nicholas Bussey
  • Maeve O'Boyle
Music byJohn Turner
Production
companies
  • Impact Partners
  • Little Punk
  • ThinkThorpe
Distributed by Sundance Selects
Release dates
  • September 7, 2014 (2014-09-07)(TIFF)
  • July 10, 2015 (2015-07-10)
Running time
77 minutes [1]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Box office$122,595 [2]

Do I Sound Gay? is a 2014 American documentary film by David Thorpe [3] that explores the existence and accuracy of stereotypes about the speech patterns of gay men, [4] and the ways in which one's degree of conformity to the stereotype can contribute to internalized homophobia. [5] Other figures participating in the film include Dan Savage, George Takei, David Sedaris, Tim Gunn, and Margaret Cho, [4] as well as University of Toronto linguist Ron Smyth. [5]

Contents

The film was funded in part by a Kickstarter campaign in the spring of 2014. [6]

Synopsis

David Thorpe becomes concerned that his gay-sounding voice is limiting his opportunities in life. He visits two speech therapists to evaluate his condition and help him gain control of his speaking voice. Eventually he realizes that he intentionally changed his voice at about age 17 when he came out and wanted others to know he was gay.

Participants

Production

Director David Thorpe had always been self-conscious about his voice. [7] When Thorpe did not have a lot of confidence, he described his voice as "I felt bad about being effeminate and how my voice was the leading edge of my effeminacy". [7] Production of Do I Sound Gay? was crowdfunded through a Kickstarter campaign launched by Thorpe on April 30, 2014. [6] [8] The campaign would go on to raise $120,573 out of $115,000 goal with 1,968 backers. [9]

Release

Box office

Do I Sound Gay? opened theatrically in one venue on July 10, 2015, and earned $10,461 in its first weekend. At the end of its run, six weeks later on August 20, the film had expanded to 18 theaters and grossed $108,620 domestically. [2]

Critical reception

On the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 81% based on 47 reviews, with an average rating of 6.54/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Do I Sound Gay? proves to be a light, affable, entertaining look at a largely unexplored issue". [10] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 65 out of 100, based on 16 critics, indicating "Generally favorable reviews". [11]

Leslie Felperin writing for The Guardian said that, "the point is inclusiveness, not conclusiveness, and that makes this open, honest and endearingly slapdash work especially interesting". [12] Writing for Variety, Andrew Barker wrote that, "The film does lose its way at times, especially during its long look at the evolution of cinematic gay stereotypes — still a worthwhile subject of study, though one that’s been explored more thoroughly elsewhere — and the ending is a little pat". [13] Sara Stewart of New York Post wrote, "Thorpe does elicit entertaining, thoughtful and sometimes deeply sad insights". [14]

Gary Goldstein of the Los Angeles Times wrote, "Thorpe’s topic might have been better served in a broader-based documentary about LGBT stereotypes than as the basis for an entire film". [15] Danielle Davenport of the One Room With A View said that, "On the whole, Do I Sound Gay? is didactic and empowering, but not overly rigorous; its encouraging premise is not entirely satisfied". [16] Clayton Dillard of Slant Magazine called Do I Sound Gay? "a film that only superficially engages its topic, preferring communal confirmation over more rigorous, troubled grapplings". [17]

Accolades

The film was first runner-up for the People's Choice Award for Best Documentary at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival. [18] Do I Sound Gay? won Best Documentary Feature at the 2015 KASHISH Mumbai International Queer Film Festival. [19]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Margaret Cho</span> American comedian and actress (born 1968)

Margaret Moran Cho is an American comedian, actress, LGBT social activist, and musician. She is known for her stand-up routines, through which she critiques social and political problems, especially regarding race and sexuality. She rose to prominence after starring in the ABC sitcom All-American Girl (1994–95), and became an established stand-up comic in the subsequent years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gaydar</span> Colloquialism for intuitively assessing peoples sexual orientation

Gaydar is a colloquialism referring to the intuitive ability of a person to assess others' sexual orientations as homosexual, bisexual or straight. Gaydar relies on verbal and nonverbal clues and LGBT stereotypes, including a sensitivity to social behaviors and mannerisms like body language, the tone of voice used by a person when speaking, overt rejections of traditional gender roles, a person's occupation, and grooming habits.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Sedaris</span> American author (born 1956)

David Raymond Sedaris is an American humorist, comedian, author, and radio contributor. He was publicly recognized in 1992 when National Public Radio broadcast his essay "Santaland Diaries”. He published his first collection of essays and short stories, Barrel Fever, in 1994. His next book, Naked (1997), became his first of a series of New York Times Bestsellers, and his 2000 collection Me Talk Pretty One Day won the Thurber Prize for American Humor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rupert Everett</span> English actor

Rupert James Hector Everett is an English actor, director and producer. Everett first came to public attention in 1981 when he was cast in Julian Mitchell's play and subsequent film Another Country (1984) as a gay pupil at an English public school in the 1930s; the role earned him his first BAFTA Award nomination. He received a second BAFTA nomination and his first Golden Globe Award nomination for his role in My Best Friend's Wedding (1997), followed by a second Golden Globe nomination for An Ideal Husband (1999).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amy Sedaris</span> American actress, comedian, and writer (born 1961)

Amy Louise Sedaris is an American actress, comedian, and writer. Most recently, she has appeared in both The Mandalorian (2019–2023) and The Book of Boba Fett (2022) as Peli Motto. She played Jerri Blank in the Comedy Central comedy series Strangers with Candy (1999–2000) and the prequel film Strangers with Candy (2005), which she also wrote.

Particularly within North American English, gay male speech has been the focus of numerous modern stereotypes, as well as sociolinguistic studies. Scientific research has uncovered phonetically significant features produced by many gay men and demonstrated that listeners accurately guess speakers' sexual orientation at rates greater than chance. Historically, gay male speech characteristics have been highly stigmatized and their usage may be sometimes coded to a limited number of settings outside of the workplace or other public spaces.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elliot Page</span> Canadian actor (born 1987)

Elliot Page is a Canadian actor. He has received various accolades, including an Academy Award nomination, two BAFTA Awards and Primetime Emmy Award nominations, and a Satellite Award. Page was assigned female at birth, and later publicly came out as a trans man in December 2020. He appeared on the cover of Time in March 2021, becoming the first openly trans man to do so.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Rakoff</span> American humorist and essayist

David Benjamin Rakoff was a Canadian-born American writer of prose and poetry based in New York City, who wrote humorous and sometimes autobiographical non-fiction essays. Rakoff was an essayist, journalist, and actor, and a regular contributor to WBEZ's This American Life. Rakoff described himself as a "New York writer" who also happened to be a "Canadian writer", a "mega Jewish writer", a "gay writer", and an "East Asian Studies major who has forgotten most of his Japanese" writer.

Sonali Gulati is an Indian American independent filmmaker, feminist, grass-roots activist, and educator.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tim Gunn</span> American author, academic, and television personality

Timothy MacKenzie Gunn is an American author, academic, and television personality. He served on the faculty of Parsons School of Design from 1982 to 2007 and was chair of fashion design at the school from August 2000 to March 2007, after which he joined Liz Claiborne as its chief creative officer. Over 16 seasons, Gunn has become well known as the on-air mentor to designers on the reality television program Project Runway. Gunn's popularity on Project Runway led to two spin-off shows; Bravo's Tim Gunn's Guide to Style and Lifetime's Under the Gunn, as well as five books. In addition to being an executive producer, Gunn has served as mentor for the teen designers on Project Runway: Junior. He also provides the voice of Baileywick, the castle steward in the Disney Junior television show Sofia the First and narrated the sitcom Mixology.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KASHISH Mumbai International Queer Film Festival</span> LGBT film festival held in Mumbai, India

The KASHISH Mumbai International Queer Film Festival is an annual LGBT event that has been held in Mumbai, India, since 2010. The film festival screens gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and queer films from India and around the world. It is voted as one of the top five LGBT film festivals in the world.

<i>Broken Age</i> 2015 point-and-click adventure video game

Broken Age is a point-and-click adventure video game developed and published by Double Fine. Broken Age was game director Tim Schafer's first return to the genre since 1998's Grim Fandango, and was released for Microsoft Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, and Xbox One platforms. The game was developed in two acts; the first was released on January 28, 2014, and the second was released on April 28, 2015. A retail version of the complete game for Windows, macOS, and Linux, published by Nordic Games, was released on April 28, 2015. A Nintendo Switch version was released on September 13, 2018.

<i>Bridegroom</i> (film) 2013 American film

Bridegroom is a 2013 American documentary film about the relationship between two young gay men, produced and directed by Linda Bloodworth-Thomason. Bridegroom premiered at the 2013 Tribeca Film Festival on April 23, 2013, and attracted further press coverage because its premiere screening at the festival was introduced by former President Bill Clinton.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sam Smith</span> English singer and songwriter (born 1992)

Samuel Frederick Smith is an English singer and songwriter. In October 2012, they featured on Disclosure's breakthrough single "Latch", which peaked at number eleven on the UK Singles Chart. They were featured on Naughty Boy's "La La La", which became a number one single in May 2013.

<i>The Theory of Everything</i> (2014 film) 2014 biographical film of the life of Stephen Hawking

The Theory of Everything is a 2014 biographical romantic drama film directed by James Marsh. Set at the University of Cambridge, it details the life of the theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking. It was adapted by Anthony McCarten from the 2007 memoir Travelling to Infinity: My Life with Stephen by Jane Hawking, which deals with her relationship with her ex-husband Stephen Hawking, his diagnosis of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), and his success in the field of physics. The film stars Eddie Redmayne and Felicity Jones, with Charlie Cox, Emily Watson, Simon McBurney, Christian McKay, Harry Lloyd, and David Thewlis featured in supporting roles. The film had its world premiere at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival on 7 November 2014. It had its UK premiere on 1 January 2015.

Gaming In Color is a documentary film by MidBoss about queer people in gaming. Directed by Philip Jones, Gaming In Color focuses on lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) issues in video games, gaymer culture and events, and the rise of queer themes in gaming. The film is largely interview based, and features notable gay gaming personalities in the industry and communities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cassie Jaye</span> American film director

Cassie Jaye is an American film director, best known for directing the 2016 documentary film The Red Pill about the men's rights movement.

<i>Queer Japan</i> 2019 documentary film

Queer Japan is a 2019 documentary film directed, edited, and co-written by Graham Kolbeins. The documentary profiles a range of individuals in Japan who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ). Queer Japan is produced by Hiromi Iida with Anne Ishii, written by Ishii and Kolbeins, and features an original score composed by Geotic.

<i>Its Elementary: Talking About Gay Issues in School</i> 1996 documentary film

It's Elementary: Talking About Gay Issues in School is a 1996 American documentary film directed by Debra Chasnoff and Helen Cohen. It provides educators with information on how to teach elementary schoolchildren to be tolerant of gay and lesbian people. The film was noted as the "first of its kind" and was generally well received, although there was some backlash from conservatives. It was released in several film festivals, and had screenings in the 2000s.

<i>Q-Force</i> American adult animation on Netflix

Q-Force is an American adult animated comedy series on Netflix. In April 2019, Netflix ordered 10 episodes of the series, with Gabe Liedman as a showrunner, along with Sean Hayes, Todd Milliner, and others as executive producers. It was released on September 2, 2021.

References

  1. ↑ "DO I SOUND GAY? (15)". British Board of Film Classification . October 8, 2015. Archived from the original on March 6, 2016. Retrieved October 29, 2015.
  2. 1 2 "Do I Sound Gay? (2015)". Box Office Mojo . Internet Movie Database. August 21, 2015. Archived from the original on September 15, 2015. Retrieved October 29, 2015.
  3. ↑ "Brooklyn director asks ‘Do I Sound Gay?’ in new documentary" Archived November 29, 2014, at the Wayback Machine . Los Angeles Daily News , May 17, 2014.
  4. 1 2 "'Do I Sound Gay?': Toronto Review" Archived September 15, 2014, at the Wayback Machine . The Hollywood Reporter , September 8, 2014.
  5. 1 2 "Liam Lacey’s TIFF diary: A guide to this year’s gay-themed films" Archived March 3, 2016, at the Wayback Machine . The Globe and Mail , September 4, 2014.
  6. 1 2 "'Do I Sound Gay?' Documentary Engaged In Kickstarter" Archived September 14, 2014, at the Wayback Machine . Huffington Post , April 30, 2014.
  7. 1 2 "This Guy Just Wants to Know If He Sounds Gay". Time. Retrieved January 14, 2020.
  8. ↑ "Update 1: Thank You for an Incredible 24 Hours! · Do I Sound Gay? A Documentary About Finding Your True Voice". Kickstarter. Retrieved January 14, 2020.
  9. ↑ "Do I Sound Gay? A Documentary About Finding Your True Voice". Kickstarter. Retrieved January 14, 2020.
  10. ↑ "Do I Sound Gay? (2015)". Rotten Tomatoes . Flixster. Archived from the original on October 29, 2015. Retrieved October 21, 2015.
  11. ↑ "Do I Sound Gay? Reviews". Metacritic . CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on November 10, 2015. Retrieved October 29, 2015.
  12. ↑ Felperin, Leslie (October 29, 2015). "Do I Sound Gay? review – upbeat self-portrait exploring sexual identity". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077. Archived from the original on January 14, 2020. Retrieved January 14, 2020.
  13. ↑ Barker, Andrew (July 10, 2015). "Film Review: 'Do I Sound Gay?'". Variety. Archived from the original on January 14, 2020. Retrieved January 14, 2020.
  14. ↑ Stewart, Sara (July 8, 2015). "New documentary asks, 'Do I Sound Gay?'". New York Post. Archived from the original on December 1, 2017. Retrieved January 14, 2020.
  15. ↑ "Review: 'Do I Sound Gay?' doesn't say enough about speech issues". Los Angeles Times. July 10, 2015. Archived from the original on January 14, 2020. Retrieved January 14, 2020.
  16. ↑ "Do I Sound Gay? - BFI Flare 2015 Review". One Room With A View. March 27, 2015. Archived from the original on January 14, 2020. Retrieved January 14, 2020.
  17. ↑ Dillard, Clayton (June 27, 2015). "Review: Do I Sound Gay?". Slant Magazine . Archived from the original on January 14, 2020. Retrieved January 14, 2020.
  18. ↑ "‘The Imitation Game’ Wins Toronto Audience Award" Archived September 21, 2017, at the Wayback Machine . The Wrap , September 14, 2014.
  19. ↑ "'Boys' gets Best Feature Film Award at Kashish 2015". Business Standard India. June 1, 2015. Retrieved January 14, 2020.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.