There are two things I've said multiple times before, and will say again. Jussie Smollett did all that for no reason, and Black people should be allowed to make bad movies. The Skinny shows a young and hopeful Jussie Smollett and it's a bad movie. It's a comedy, but the only laughs come from how bad it is. In the first ten minutes, we hit all kind of tropes. No sex for six months, all the gay stereotypes from DL to flamboyant, sex obsessed virgin who seems excessively innocent, and friends hate the partner. Two friends that hate each other but are secretly in love.
Our film follows Magnus and four of his friends from Brown University. Sebastian, the genius virgin who wants to give his virginity to Kyle. Kyle is a sex addicted asshole who refuses to stop contacting former partners of the group. Joey the most sarcastic man you ever met who's actually a shy guy. Langston, a lesbian woman obsessed with gay porn and is afraid of other lesbians. The group learns that Magnus' boyfriend Ryan has not only been cheating but filming porn in Magnus' home, despite a six month no sex rule with Magnus.
Joey and Magnus give Sebastian lessons on gay sex. Magnus discusses proper protection and testing, Joey teaches him how to douche and prepare himself. Meanwhile Kyle sleeps through the city off screen. I'm actually not sure why Langston is in the movie, her only role is for Joey to bounce witty lines off of and flirt with a waitress. She's not in any of the major moments of the film. At a night club Kyle gives Sebastian ecstasy, that's MDMA for the old folks and Molly for the young folks. Kyle leaves Sebastian who is given GHB, carried out and raped that night.
I don't care about spoiling this movie, because it's that bad. There's a lot of unanswered questions at the end. Kyle probably has HIV as we see him staring at his results and making a phone call in his last scene. Magnus and Sebastian have fallen in love as the two bond over misfortune but pretend they haven't. The entire thing is about 45 minutes too long. It was actually kind of funny up until the point where Sebastian is raped, then everything is terrible. Sebastian instantly overcomes after dancing with Magnus, he doesn't press charges despite having the address of the rapists, semen and witnesses. Magnus confronts the rapists and does nothing but tells them they're bad people. Ryan has to give us a long ass talk about why we shouldn't judge him for being trash. Joey finally overcomes his shyness and meets a guy, they plan to reunite at home in Atlanta. Langston and the bar tender hook up. They also don't spend any real time at Pride. Most of the film takes place at Magnus' condo or a nightclub. The only actual Pride event they attend is a parade, for Magnus' job.
I should have known this would be a terrible movie, but I didn't recognize the name, Patrik-Ian Polk. I know I write these to celebrate Black films, all Black films, but he needs to be stopped. He made his name with the supposedly classic film Punks, unfortunately, nobody has seen the film since 2001 except a handful of people at a private screening, or stream it anywhere so we just have to take people's word for it. His other major work, a television series called Noah's Arc, but he had with that. Now, his other written and directed work, Blackbird, which still remains the worst coming out film I've ever seen. Polk has the same problem as Tyler Perry. There's nobody around to tell him "that's not a good idea."
There's 4 people with speaking lines who couldn't pass a paper bag test. There's one really one body type in this film, get a six pack, or get out. I take that back, I don't think Seth Gilliam has a six back, but he is the best actor of those in the film and he has what amounts to a cameo as unnamed character. People don't like to talk about it but body types in the LGBTQ+ community are a big deal especially among men and contributes to the rampant body dysmorphia. There's a reason we constantly have articles such as "Too Many Gay Men Still Hate Their Bodies," "Queer Men: A New Face to Body Dysmorphic Disorder," or "Why Do Gay Men Hate Their Bodies."
Polk doesn't do anything to shake those narratives with his films, in fact he reinforces those traits. The two men who rape Sebastian in this film, are dark skinned, large, one is bald and both have less than trendy attires looking like they stepped out of a Dem Franchise Boyz Video. Clearly there's a narrative being pushed here, even if he doesn't realize it. I would give him applause for removing the white savior trope and putting some emphasis on protective sex with The Skinny that wasn't present in Blackbird but considering this was released first, he's hustling backwards.
Kevin Abstract is a rapper who once said, "I do the most for the culture by just existing [...] why you always rap about being gay, because not enough Niggas rap and be gay." That's where Patrick Ian Polk stands. It's great that he makes these LGBTQ+ films centering around Black men, because not many others will. Click the LGBT tab on your favorite streaming platform and it's full of films about white men and women. As a whole Patrick Ian Polk provides a positive to gay culture, Black culture and Black film. However, each of his works seems to be problematic in more than one way, I can't help but wonder when does the pendulum swing the other way and his films bring a negative impact?
You can check out some of my short stories at 12 AM Fiction or if you like vampires follow my web serial Exsanguinate and of course hear me on the Powerbomb Jutsu podcast if you enjoy pro wrestling.
Follow @OriginalKingD
