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Two Gay Sports Flicks Hit the Mark
By
Cyd Zeigler jr. I saw two gay-sports movies at the recent NewFest in New York City. Both of them resonated on various levels.
“Take The Flame” (US The movie hits all of the major steps along the way of the development of the Gay Games. First called the Gay Olympic Games, Secter exposes the battle the organization had with the Olympics and the personal vendetta the Olympic Games had against Waddell, which eventually led to a lawsuit and a lien on his assets. In another segment, the movie talks frankly about the financial problems the Games have had since expanding dramatically in 1994. However, narrated by four-time Olympic gold medallist Greg Louganis, the movie correctly focuses on the proudest moments and aspects of the Gay Games, including Louganis’ coming out at the 1994 Games and the supportive, fun atmosphere of each of the Games. The movie includes interviews with many of the most prominent gay people in sports, including former NFL linebacker Dave Kopay, former Olympic gold medallist Mark Tewksbury and Gay Games co-founder Sarah Waddell-Lewenstein, who actually married Waddell and bore his child. The story of the two Gay Games pioneers is a fascinating one, and Secter is already putting together plans for a feature film about their relationship.
What Secter is most successful at is capturing the wonder that one feels to participate in the Gay Games or any other major gay sports event. In 1982, there were precious few events tailored directly for gay athletes. Over 20 years later, there isn’t a weekend on the calendar that isn’t jam-packed with gay basketball tournaments and swim meets and bowling matches. Secter’s thoughtful portrayal of the early days of the gay sports movement, and how it is manifested in the Gay Games, is both reverent and satisfying. His frank portrayal of not only the Gay Games’ successes, but also its shortcomings, make the movie a real historical document and not just a marketing tool. In “Straight Acting” (USA, video, 56 min.), filmmaker Spencer Windes introduces us to a world that has changed his life for the better: gay rugby. Inspired by the story of Mark Bingham, Windes found the Los Angeles Rebellion, a gay rugby team, and found a home. Not interested in the clubs and parties that seem to dominate gay culture, Windes was looking for a group of friends who shared more than a bump of coke on the weekends. What he found on the Los Angeles Rebellion was a revelation: “I like these guys.”
The movie is much less about straightacting than it is about being yourself. A former Mormon missionary who had lost his way in his twenties, Windes, both filmmaker and star, finds himself on the rugby pitch and treats us to his journey in the development of the team he has come to love. “Straight Acting” doesn’t just delve into rugby; it also brings us to New York City for the Chelsea Challenge, an annual gay hockey tournament, and to Oklahoma for a peak at the gay rodeo there. Hockey players and rodeo men talk about their own escapades on the ice and in the ring, regaling us with stories of homophobia and self-assurance. The movie culminates with a trip by the Rebellion to London for the 2004 Bingham Cup. Windes’ story comes full circle when he meets Mark Bingham’s mom, Alice Hoglan, and gets knocked out of the tournament with a head injury – the ultimate sacrifice for the team. Both movies are refreshing, uplifting takes on gay life and the role that sports can play in them. They made me want to throw on a pair of shorts and get in the middle of a scrum.
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A,
video, 85 min.) chronicles the history of the Gay Games like possibly no documentary has before it. It looks at the career of Gay
Games founder Dr. Tom Waddell and what brought Waddell to found the
event in 1982. Filmmaker David Secter pulls no punches as it
showcases Waddell’s strong athletic career and also portrays the
sex-chasing side of him that eventually led to his death of AIDS in
1987.
Secter
also touches upon the rift that has developed between the Federation
of Gay Games and Montreal 2006, the organization that was once
granted the right to deliver the Gay Games, but which has since opted
to host its own event. While it is certainly easy to say that
Waddell would surely roll over in his grave at the thought of the
politicking that drove the split, Secter offers another possibility:
that Waddell would have seen it coming. In fact, the movie tells us
that Waddell didn’t want to be a part of Gay Games II in 1986
because of the politics that constantly swirled around the first
installment. In the end, though, dying of HIV, Waddell does
attend Gay Games II and even wins a medal.
A
hefty guy, at one point weighing over 400 pounds, Windes walks us
through his love affair with gay rugby, from that first glance
across an empty ballfield, to his first jog in his quest to get in
shape, to his first rugby match, against Bingham’s old team, the San
Francisco Fog.