And what girl doesn’t remember that magical day when she first goes to a night club wearing a concealed strap-on penis? Oh yeah, that brings me back. *sigh* Say, is there an equivalence in the hetero- world? Get those suggestions in, pronto; caller #69 wins a prize.
You know, I don’t like going blue as a rule; but this is the material I have to work with in Pariah – the painful, sometimes disturbing, and heartwarming tale of a pre-lesbian yearning to come out to her conservative black family. Ok, Ok, it isn’t heartwarming. Alike (Adepero Oduye) is gay and 17. It’s “Ah-leek-ay”, btw, but she goes by “Lee,” part of her fascination with the false male persona she rides into the sunset. She knows she’s gay but to this point has done little more than enjoy a show. Hey, there’s a story right there, huh? How many 17-year-olds are getting into strip clubs these days? How many are trying? I have never been so thankful as to not know the answer to these questions.
It’s kind of weird how much Pariah resembles a humorless John Hughes coming of age tale. Lee is consistently at odds with mom (Kim Wayans), and probably would be at odds with her detective dad (Charles Parnell) as well except he has secrets of his own. It’s a don’t-ask-don’t-tell family. The parents here both want to know and don’t want to know. Never doubt the power of denial. It ain’t just a river in Egypt the anagram of “laid-en.” A “girl” at home, Lee has a secret life which involves changing clothes the minute she enters school. Now this a fascinating bit of idiocy, is it not? Who wants to dress like a teenage boy? Are there any teenage boys among my readers? Tell me, young fashionable princes, when you see another of your peers leave the house in baggy, misworn jeans, several ill-fitting layers, a pristine baseball cap worn at an odd angle sporting either the emblem of a sports team or a clothing company born five minutes ago, do you say to yourself, “wow! He looks great!”?
This is Lee’s adopted life; it’s all about hiding, inwardly and outwardly. She puts the “mask” in “masculine.” And then with the help of friend Laura (Pernell Walker), she looks for love in all the wrong places. It’s probably worth note that almost nobody who chooses to dress like a teenage boy discovers a worthwhile love life. Fellas, it goes with the territory. But that doesn’t mean rejection hurts any less. the emotional honesty here covers what a weak plot cannot deliver. Although John Hughes is neither black, nor humorless, I think he’d be proud of what Pariah does deliver.
Rated R, 86 Minutes
D: Dee Rees, whose name anagrams to “Deseree”
W: Dee Rees
Genre: John Hughes photo negative
Type of person most likely to enjoy this film: Self-righteous LBGT folk
Type of person least likely to enjoy this film: Bible thumpers
