Straight & Butch

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Popular Philadelphia gay TV personality, Butch Cordova, documents his efforts to create a unique calendar for his fans - one that not only pays homage to classic pop culture photos, but also pairs him with a naked heterosexual model in each case. The film covers his lengthy search to find models who not only had "the look" he was seeking, but were straight and had no insurmountable problems posing nude in "hands on" scenes with a gay man. Needless to say, we hear a lot of "My friends/family might not like it, but I'm secure in my sexuality"-type comments, as Codova camps it up a bit to push the envelope. The film includes a studio shot with Codova and a skinny, longhaired young model emulating a classic "naked in bed" pose of John and Yoko, and a nude version of the "Abbey Road" crosswalk cover photo, done by Butch and three models naked on a public street. This is obviously more of a vanity project (as was the calendar) than anything else, and viewers with no further expectations will get what they bargained for. There is also considerable content about the photographers and their "vision" for the shoot, which could be of interest to those into such things. . My screener copy had no extras, but the DVD will include a bonus "13th Photo Shoot," director interview and a blooper reel. I give it tree stars out of five.

This movie is likable and charming. But do not expect high production values! This slight movie does explore aspects of "pushing the envelope" with respect to gay/straight relations. Yes, it's true that in large cities like Philadelphia this should not be a big deal. But clearly this relationship still pushes buttons for people -- even those who consider themselves open-minded and liberal. Is it a vanity project for Butch? Of course. But that turns out to be one of the biggest charms of the movie. Think of this as a home movie that you will enjoy watching and talking about with your friends.

Interesting idea well delivered with an amateur feel. Not for everybody. But I found it to be entertaining.

Both this documentary and the calendar had the opportunity of being something interesting. Specifically had Butch chosen to focus not on sexual orientation but, instead, focused on bringing together different types of men of all ages, sizes, shapes and sexual orientation and simply celebrating their uniqueness and beauty. Instead what we end up with is a vehicle for Butch to ogle straight guys, create really uncomfortable situations and allow him to engage in a lot of embarrassing and, frankly, creepy behavior. The only remotely interesting part of this documentary was when photographer Tony Ward introduced a female into photo shoot which sent Butch into a tizzy about how is art and vision were being compromised. Honestly, his freak out had nothing to do with artistic integrity but probably his concern that the straight male he was pawing would be more interested in her than Butch.

This documentary doesn't work on many levels. I rented it wanting to really like it, but wasn't impressed. First of all, shooting a calendar of naked straight men with a naked gay man isn't nearly as controversial or scandalous as Butch (the project's creator and documentary's director and producer) would indicates in the film. It is 2012, not 1950. Hollywood and the fashion industry has been pushing this envelope for years. Gays and straights can play well together if you ask nicely. Even when naked. Butch laments how hard it was to find straight guys to be photographed naked with him trying to spin it into a social statement. However, I am sure the reason it was tough to find models had more to do with the fact that Butch is CREEPY. He is not a big enough celebrity or handsome enough to merit a nude calendar. He is far too old and worn looking and I was rather embarrassed for him during each of his photo shoots. He is trying to act much younger than he actually is and it comes across as distasteful and pathetic. It is obvious that a lot of Butch's motivation for doing the calendar was to oogle and sexually harass straight men. He tries to portray the project as legit, but insists he gets to view the model's genitals before each shoot. He also personally shaves all the models chests and crotches HIMSELF ...almost like he is emasculating them. He also take every opportunity to playfully peek inside the model's underwear which comes across as inappropriate. The only scandalous thing in the documentary is a shoot with a very young looking stock boy that Butch picks up at his local Whole Foods. The naked young straight guy looks barely legal and Butch looks like he is pushing 50 and they do a shoot copying John Lennon and Yoko Ono's bedroom Rolling Stone Cover (gross). All the other photography for the vanity calendar is rather blah and amateurish. Some of the shots and locations felt too staged and made no sense. I think the project might work (and the documentary might work) if a known photographer or artist was driving the Art rather than a local celebrity with a big ego. Do not watch this documentary thinking there is anything sexy or informative or even entertaining. You will be disappointed.

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