William Branden Blinn | Toeing the Line / 2013

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by Douglas Messerli

 

William Branden Blinn (screenwriter and director) Toeing the Line / 2013 [17 minutes]

 

William Branden Blinn’s 2013 short film, Toeing the Line begins with a heterosexual gathering of four friends, Zach (Jesse Pepe) and his long-time best friend, Lamar (D’Andre Lampkin), Lamar’s girlfriend Shawnee (Zondra Wilson), and Rebecca (Kristin Erickson), the later evidently Shawnee’s new employee and a married woman with children with whom Lamar is convinced that Zach is having sex just because she isn’t available. He seems to know his friend well, as we will discover soon.

    When the two women depart, Shawnee insisting she going “to get to the bottom” of why Zach and Rebecca have become such good friends, the conversation becomes more serious, as it also becomes apparent that Lamar has actually invited Zach to join them for their breakfast.

     The discussion begins with Lamar’s restatement that he knows what’s going on between Rebecca and Zach, despite Zach’s insistence that they are just friends. Had this short film continued in this manner, we might have imagined that we are entering soap opera territory, with more gossip to come.

     But soon Lamar gets to the “serious” business, which somewhat shocks Zach and rather startles us, given the social set-up at the beginning of this work. He wonders whether Zach would ever  “cross the line,” a term with which Zach seems to be unacquainted, and which he seems to imagine has something to do with his relationship to Rebecca. But Lamar insists that he figure out his meaning for himself, which Zach finally realizes means sexually crossing the line of gender.

     Lamar knows that Zach has regularly eyed him in the shower. And Zach is certainly acquainted with the fact that Lamar has had masturbatory sex with a mutual friend, Rankin since Rankin has told everyone about it, in particularly describing Lamar’s penis as being as the size of his forearm. Zach insists that every male is checking the other males out; it’s only normal.

     Although he’s a bit nonplussed that Rankin has evidently told “everyone,” he persists arguing that, in fact, that means Zach was interested.

     Zach, however, insists that not since he was 16 had he ever even imagined have sex with another male, and continues to find Lamar’s questions absurd. Lamar, on the other hand, is quite serious, insisting that Zach is now nervous about the whole subject and wonders why.

     Again Zach argues that he doesn’t care, with Lamar repeating, “But you did.”

     I was perfectly happy at just taking Rankin’s word for it and leaving it at that, alright?”

     “Yeah,” responds Lamar, “toeing the line.”

    Zach once more insists he doesn’t care, while Lamar thinks he does. And Lamar is interested in crossing the line again and can’t imagine anyone he’ rather do it with than his best friend, a kind of person who, unlike Rankin, wouldn’t talk.

    The conversation clearly makes Zach terribly uncomfortable, particularly that it’s been five years (Lamar argues it’s just been a little over 4 years) since he has called him.

     But Lamar makes it clearer by bringing up the fact that at a wedding party “last June,” when he had become drunk, Zach held his head as his friend puked in the toilet, then undressed him, leaving him naked, and put him in bed, crawling in beside him. “And I thought maybe you’d understand,” he concludes, referring again to his desires to “cross the line.” “Look Zack, I felt it too. It wasn’t like the others with you. It was different.”

      Lamar again asks if his friend has ever thought about it, but Zach denies it one more time, yet adds an interesting clause, “Not since then.”

      So he has thought about it. He is curious.

     “It’s not like I wanted to actually to do something about it,” he insists.

     “Why?” Lamar asks. “Let me get this straight. It’s okay to peg a married woman, but it’s not okay….” Zach interrupts again with a denial which Lamar adamantly ends with his words: “I know you are.” Lamar takes it one step further, asking “You sportin? Now, right now, you sportin one?”

      Zach is now truly defensive, answering in the negative and wondering if Lamar is, Lamar going so far as to reach over to feel his crotch, Zach immediately standing up and turning away before clumsily returning to a chair at the small table.

      Lamar answers, “No, I’m not, but you are.”

      “Why the fuck you messing like that with me, man?”

      Lamar insists he’s not messing with him. “This is serious. Did you want me high school?”

      After a long pause, he admits, “Yes, yeah I did! You happy now?”

      He claims he didn’t “want” him, he just wanted to know whether his monster dick was as huge as Rankin said it was.

      Lamar, answers, “Well it is. By the way Zach, I wanted you to.”

      “So, why aren’t you sporting wood?”

      Lamar insists that he has to “make out” first before he can get an erection and have sex.

     Somehow through this rather inconceivable conversation, he convinces Zach to give it a try. We don’t know in which of their houses they choose to conduct the experiment, but Lamar insists he drive so that Zach, in retrieving his car, won’t get cold feet and run.

   Their sexual encounter is played out basically not in the nude, although after a long a kiss, they do partially pull their clothes down. But it is, nonetheless, one of the sexiest of gay love scenes I’ve watched for some time, both of them apparently ejaculating quickly simply by frotting, Zach laying across Lamar’s body as they both shudder in waves of release, the remnants of which we see later on Lamar’s belly.

     Both seem to agree that it was an amazing experience, and when Lamar asks Zach what he’s doing that evening, the previous denier insists that he’s not doing anything that he can’t change, clearly the two planning that to go much further “over the line.”

       For my tastes, the film could have stopped there. But Blinn takes it one step further, interrupting the credits with Shawnee looking straight at the camera to ask “He did what? I’m gonna kill Zach. You know what? I’m gonna kill Lamar.” Who told her about Zach and Lamar’s new relationship is not explained, and I don’t think it’s necessary reiterate what we already know, that both men’s straight relationships have come to an end.

       The question remains, was this simply a delayed coming out for Zach, Lamar having already evidently perceived himself as bisexual, or do some straight men actually “cross the line” from time to time, just out of curiosity? In this case their curiosity has appeared to have killed their heterosexuality; and we can imagine given Lamar’s after-sex declaration of “Wow,” blessed by Zach’s kiss, that they may live happily ever after as a gay couple.

 

Los Angeles, August 18, 2025

Reprinted from My Queer Cinema blog (August 2025).