User reviews

A heartwarming short, part Nora Ephron 'intellectuals'-in-relationship-inadequacy comedy, part fairy (arf!) tale. It might be argued that this latter is a betrayal of the reality facing gay men even today, but gay cinema has never been about conforming to a reality that would seek to reject, limit or appropriate. The best way to subvert a conservative system or medium is to subvert its systems of signification. This film, seemingly an anodyne WHEN HARRY MET SALLY clone, occasionally flashes teeth. Just because it sacrifices 'plausibility' does not mean that the film is not truthful or honest, whatever those devalued terms mean.

The story concerns the difficulties of a freshman trying to get laid. A familiar tale, and one here treated with sensitivity, wit and a little irony, but fully conscious of the fact that while it may be 'familiar' to many, its more difficult when you're from a wealthy, respectable family, gay in a seemingly macho atmosphere, and can't exactly walk up to anyone you feel like, without fear of hostility, as the girl at the party does, especially when the boy you love is sooo macho. (Indeed, much of the film's humour comes form the observation that macho behaviour is inherently camp, an observation given a neat, sly, twist).

Like Todd Haynes' awesome DOTTIE GOT SPANKED, DOROTHY plays with gay stereotypes (e.g. terrible music taste (Barbara Streisand, Bette Midler - ugh!), sensitive intellectualism (reading DH Lawrence, notoriously a gay-baiter, and yet who had two of his literary altar-egos wrestle nude). Not very specifically, the film seems to follow a WIZARD OF OZ logic, as Winston (after Churchill? Smith?) leaves his reassuring, but dull, and literally monochrome (we don't see it, only the black of the opening credits) home town (where he had few friends, where his parents, who open the short as disembodied Voices Of God, attempt to control his destiny, and where his father thinks he's not normal), for the strange, bright new world of The Village, armed with nothing, but a charming diffidence, adorable hair and his stereotypes (a clumsy attempt at a code for recognition?).

After he has finally consummated a love affair, he starts looking for Judy Garland CDs, and visiting Stonewall, leading into a possible friendship with an almost cultish group of Dorothies, in the film's curious suggestion that he has entered into his inheritance. Surely the film can't be saying that you're not really gay unless you listen to Judy Garland (although she IS my heroine). This Dorothy doesn't want to leave Oz; like her, and unlike most cinematic heroes, he doesn't want to be an individual, an outsider - where outside the system means being stigmatised, and lonely; but needs to belong to feel self-worth.

This is the film's real coup - although there is the fairy-tale (dreamlike?) element, the quest is filled with real pain. The toilet scene is very funny, but also very harrowing, and there is a desperate sense of frustration throughout, and of loss towards the end, as the grasping of the prize is seen to be elusive, unsatisfying and transitory. Thankfully, this isn't one of those gay dramas where doom and renuciation are all that's on offer, just life in all its frightening possiblity.

Raoul O'Connell, the star who also directed, forestalls accusations of narcissism, with a beautifully judged, deceptively rich performance, capturing many difficult emotional nuances. His film style, in which realism is slightly, but crucially tweaked, allied with an original use of music, adds to the films charm. The eventual love scene is a lovely appropriation of soft-focus hetero-romance-fantasy. DOROTHY is no classic; it has little of the darkness or power of the aforementioned DOTTIE, but its balancing act between feel-good and wistful is satisfying, if unaccountably irritating.

This is a cute little film telling the story of a gay young man who is desperately trying to find someone with whom he can have his first real gay experience. He experiments around a bit, but he is very frightened -- mainly of himself.

He has a crush on his handsome room mate and doesn't know quite what to do about that. Eventually, he allows himself to be himself and discovers that he is a "friend of Dorothy" -- in other words, someone who, like Dorothy in THE WIZARD OF OZ, wants happiness somewhere over the gay rainbow. The story leaves us with the idea that he can find that happiness.

Cute short film. Watched it in a collection with other gay short films. The innocence of having a crush on someone.

This movie is extremely inane and illogical; it is predicated on the premise that a cute young college kid cannot get laid on campus--- IN NEW YORK CITY!!! There is some decent photography but none of the characters are interesting and it is a good example of the lazy thinking that goes into a lot of "gay cinema": mainly that if you put some goodlooking guys up on screen, then it will fly as a dramatic piece. A lot of audiences may buy into this half-baked nonsense despite some very implausible situations and rather tiresome body-worship politics but there is much better gay cinema out there: check out the films of Todd Haynes or Barbara Hammer for instance... "Friend of Dorothy" is tiresome nonsense, strictly gay film-fest filler.

I'm assuming had I been born into that generation when there weren't already hundreds of "coming out" stories A Friend of Dorothy would have probably been avant guard and brave. But looking at it now for the first time, it seems very self-indulgent without much substance, plot or creativity. I'm thinking this Raoul most likely had aspirations to be an actor and this was his personal "calling card" or "demo reel", because it's mostly him mugging into the camera at different angles trying to come off as 'cute". Unfortunately, that's really all he's doing throughout the film (as opposed to say...acting), so there's not much empathy or connection to his character or any of the others to speak of. So, a few stars for good cinematography and being "brave" for its time, but that's as far as this goes.