Oh, you thought you I was done with Christmas movies just because the 25th had come and gone? Nope! This month had several interruptions to the theme, so I’m making up for it by finishing the week off with a few more holiday films. And hopefully some good ones since January’s theme is… it’s going to be bad. I honestly don’t know if I can keep it up through all of that month.
But enough ominous foreshadowing! Make the Yuletide Gay is a queer Christmas movie that takes the bold, shocking plot of, “What if your family doesn’t know you’re gay?” Riveting. Incredibly clichéd plot aside, this wasn’t half bad.
Olaf is heading back home for the holidays, leaving his boyfriend Nathan (Mr. Adamo Ruggiero, AKA Marco from Degrassi: The Next Generation) behind. But after Nathan’s parents flake out because they’re the worst, he crashes Olaf’s family gathering. But it turns out Olaf isn’t out to his folks. Awkward gay innuendos fill up most of the movie–there’s a bunk bed, who who gets to be on top, cue laughter–until Olaf finally comes out. It’s actually a pretty tense scene as his Midwestern parents get uncharacteristically stern, but it turns out that was because they had bet on their son being gay a decade or so ago and the dad lost $100. Olaf is accepted, Nathan tries to make up with his parents, and we get a happy ending.
Side note, Nathan’s mom is played by Gates McFadden, AKA Beverly Crusher from Star Trek: The Next Generation, and Olaf’s dad was one of the victims in The Gay Bed and Breakfast of Terror.
This is yet another movie where coming out is the central conflict, which means yet another argument about the main character refusing to come out. Both Olaf and Nathan have good points: Olaf has seen parents absolutely reject their gay kids–Nathan being a prime example–while Nathan doesn’t want to be forced by into the closet just to be with someone. Sure, Olaf acts like a dick in that scene to undercut any of his points, but whatever. It all worked out in the end.
Some of the characters were… weird, even for a gay comedy. The dad was so permanently stoned that he would forget things pointed out to him seconds before and was just an idiot for most of the film. Hell, he forgot to wear underwear or close his bathrobe when Nathan showed up, so “your dad has a big dick” jokes were used a lot after that. It’s also funny to think of a movie about coming out casting the dad–a gay actor–in a straight role. Sure, he might not be completely gay, but you watch the scene where he kisses the actress playing his wife and has his lips sealed so tightly not even air could escape, and then try saying that to me. And then there’s “Bad Sweater Guy,” who had a completely inconsequential role, but has played “Bad Sweater Guy” in three other gay films from the same writer/director. Great, now I’m thinking back to Razor McBleed in Taintlight, and NO ONE should ever think about that piece of garbage…
Make the Yuletide Gay was fine. It didn’t do anything groundbreaking and the sexual innuendos were overplayed, but it had some good moments and meant well. I’ve definitely seen worse gay movies–see The Gay Bed and Breakfast of Terror–so this was inoffensive and acceptable.
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