Buddy Games (2021) - Movie Review

Time to do a bit of recalibrating for this one because, if I judged this film solely on the basis of good taste and common sense, we’re not going to get anywhere with this thing. This kind of uber-macho, “let’s do dumb shit to prove our MAYUN-liness” reeks of critic-trapping, like it actively wants to be judged by politically-correct standards just so the chuckleheads who made it can point and laugh at people taking this ‘too seriously’. And in all honesty… yeah, there’s a place for this kind of meathead comedy in the world: The Jackass films more than proved that point long before this, and for as much love as it didn’t get, I still think the movie Tag is a fun and inventive take on the action-thriller formula. So, rather than act all shocked at how tasteless this all is, let’s instead judge it by its own standards as a bro comedy… and how it still fails from that perspective.

Love, Simon (2018) - Movie Review

 

I’m quite thankful that I grew up in the generation that I did. One where not being straight isn’t seen as much as a taboo as it once was. Oh sure, discrimination persists as it does for pretty much anything that isn’t the norm, but when I came out as bisexual at my high school formal (in response to a gay joke, no less), words cannot express how happy I was that went over as well as it did. It remains one of my few memories from that time that I wholeheartedly cherish.

But even with that said, no matter how much acceptance there is in society for such things, it still feels like a secret that needs to be divulged. "Coming out" is still treated as more of an event than anything to do with heterosexuality, and at a time like high school where one is still trying to figure out what their identity even is, that event can feel terrifying. Even when dealing with people who you know in your heart of hearts would welcome it.