difference and différence
by Douglas Messerli
Kai Stänicke (screenwriter and
director) Golden / 2015 [3 minutes]
In what you might describe as an
almost promotional gay short, German director Kai Stänicke presents us with the
birth of a child covered head to toe in gold. Despite his “specialness,”
however, he seems to grow up rather normally, beloved by his father and mother,
camping with his father, having a birthday, going to school, masturbating,
getting sick perhaps from too much too drink, fighting another boy, smoking,
sitting alone in the locker room, learning how to drive, etc. etc.— until
finally we see is parents helping him pack up to go to college. There, after
several classes, he runs into another golden boy on the street, the two
wondering at the marvel of one another and finally kissing, while suddenly
observing another golden man walking by. The end.
Presumably, except for his golden color, our hero, his life is utterly
uneventful until he suddenly discovers another boy like himself, the metaphor
of the normalcy of being somehow different.
Sorry, however, something is wrong with this picture. Why were there no
other golden boys as he was growing up? Had he never truly wondered about his
difference? Had he never seen one of his own kind in the news? Had he never
discovered there were golden boys and girls (this film seems to suggest there
are no golden females) in the movies? Had he never truly felt different because
of his special color? I suppose sitting alone in the locker room is meant to
suggest his ostracization, as perhaps the fight he has with another boy. But
surely that is something that might happen to even black-, white- and
yellow-(as opposed to golden) skinned boys.
I also find it dangerous to represent
sexual difference through the color of one’s skin, a far different issue than
one’s inner sexual desires. There is no hiding one’s skin color. And there is
no escaping the prejudice of those who don’t like that particular color or find
it strange in their community. A black man, an Asian, a Native American cannot
hide in a closet. And being a person of color is not at all the same as one’s
inner sexual desires, although the hatred it invokes might seem similar.
This short film’s metaphor is an
unfortunate one, and not truly explored in a very effective manner. It is a
one-liner approach to a series of far more complex issues and problems. The
three minute duration of this film appears to indicate the brevity of thought
with which this film was conceived.
I’m sorry, gay boys are not golden nor particularly protected by their
gay status and realization. This is pure gay fantasy, and you know what, I don’t
like it.
Los Angeles, September 2, 2022
Reprinted from World Cinema
Review (September 2022).
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