Richard Louprasong | The Man Crush / 2016

misreading behavior

by Douglas Messerli

 

Richard Louprasong (screenwriter and director) The Man Crush / 2016 [10 minutes]

 

Somewhat obnoxious Trevor (Ryan Prohaska) is convinced that he has a relationship going with an actor with whom he’s worked, Dave (Josten Rositas). And tonight, at Dave’s birthday party, to which he’s been invited, he’s determined to tell him just how much he loves him, having had a crush on him all the time they’ve been working together.

     Arriving at the party in a white round-necked shirt with a black bowler hat—apparently a version of his everyday costume—Trevor’s greeted by his friend and talks for a few moments, while the cinematic narrative retells the time of their meeting and, with voice-over, describes how he imagines he’ll tell the handsome Dave that he loves him from across the room. He comes back to reality a few seconds later, drink in his hand still babbling over nothing to Dave, but realizing this is the moment.

      His friend first wants him to meet someone, and calls over—you guessed it—a woman named Bradley (Briana Patnode), not only someone who Trevor has never heard about but, so Dave tells him a few seconds later, his girlfriend.   

     Astonished, Trevor pulls away bumping into another party goer, Luke (Burak Tekin) who spills his drink all over the departing man. Dave runs to find out what the problem is, with Trevor reporting, finally, that he thought they’d had a relationship, and that his gaydar had definitely picked up the fact that Dave, who flirted with him constantly, was gay. Dave apologizes if it’s seemed that way but insists that he’s straight.

      A bit like an angry queen, Trevor comments on his girlfriend’s male name, and demands that Dave give back the tickets to “Star Wars: The Musical” which he has presented him as a gift. And with that, Trevor parades off in a huff.

     I suppose Louprasong intended his viewers to side with Trevor and to sympathize with the fact that he claims he’s never seen Dave since, even though Dave clearly saw him as a friend. Frankly, I might think that someone who’d made the terrible mistake of misreading another’s behavior would be somewhat embarrassed and settle, at least, for a friendship with the man he has doted on for so long.

     But Louprasong seems to feel Trevor is justified for his snippy fit and even awards him a prize for having gone through such a disappointing moment in his life. Sitting in the park Trevor is suddenly greeted by Luke—you know, the man who spilled his drink over Trevor during his grand march away from the truth he has just discovered. Luke suggests they get a drink together, and the two merrily off, presumably the beginning of a new, truly gay, relationship.

      Luke, alas, is not half as beautiful as Dave, but Trevor it doesn’t seem to really matter. He has found someone who apparently likes him for the right reasons, being a gay man.

      If you enjoy trite stories consisting of offended queer stereotypes, this is your film!

 

Los Angeles, August 30, 2022

Reprinted from World Cinema Review (August 2022).