boys life 6

I love shorts collections.  They offer you some of the best of the best shorts from the film festival circuit and in some cases can be a test for a film about to jump into the full length feature arena, e.g. Just One Time.  Boys Life 6 is the latest in a series of collections that enlightens, entertains, and often times  makes you uneasy at the images before you.

No film in this collection is more descriptive of this than the lead off shirt Bugcrush.  This short is a story of the gay semi-closeted geeky kid who has an unhealthy attraction for the bad boy.  The price paid for gaining the acceptance of the bad boy is physical and sexual abuse and temporary paralysis by an unknown caterpillar.  Losing one's dignity and sense of personal safety, a small price to pay for high school social climbing.

Doorman follows the traditional tale of the intermingling of the social classes and what happens when the masters start playing with the servants.  The rich college kid felt an itch that only is doorman can scratch.  But when the doorman tries to cross the line from fetishistic toy to boyfriend, he is dismissed.  The doorman does have the last word after giving into the rich college kid's ultimate desire, which has just less impact than the doorman;s final words, "You have a good day sir."

Davy and Stu is a classic tale of first love in which the lovers are polar opposites and heading in completely different direction, but fight to hold onto what they have just a bit longer.  One intellectual, one jock, one urban, one rural.  The story is quaint and cute and the ribbon on the package is when Davy (the intellectual) thanks Stu (the jock) for showering after school before coming to meet him.  A little gesture, that means so much, is the best way to seal the deal in young love.

Heartland is a sad story of a gay boy forced to return to his small town from New York to take care of a family and farm he never wanted to be part of in the first place.  While there he is outed by his best friend and makes out with the former high school football star who is also in the same situation.  A good use of parallel characters, but the story to me was not very engaging, simply due to its simplistic and formulaic nature.