When I first scanned the program of over 160 films scheduled for the Ninth Annual Dallas International Film Festival, Do I Sound Gay? resonated in a particularly personal way. As the title suggests, the documentary examines the complicated relationship between gay men and their speaking voices and specifically chronicles the attempt by director David Thorpe to discover his own true voice—ideas that have informed my own writing extensively. As the festival program notes, “What began as a personal journey quickly became a larger examination of sexuality and identity.” Do I Sound Gay? was released on July 10th by IFC Films. Stephen Holden of the New York Times called the film “an engaging personal documentary.”
Director David Thorpe and Tim Gunn
The documentary features interviews with Dan Savage, David Sedaris, Tim Gunn, Margaret Cho, Don Lemon, and George Takei and explores the subject of authenticity and masculinity in a way that is both entertaining and insightful. Here is the trailer to Do I Sound Gay?:
And speaking of interviews and gay voices, I was so pleased to be asked by the Dallas International Film Festival to speak with David Thorpe just a few minutes after attending the screening.*
*Videographer and Editing by Andrew Conway: [email protected]
John
July 13, 2015 at 8:26 pmJust love what you do. And am so happy you keep doing it.
David Munk
July 14, 2015 at 4:03 pmHi John,
Lovely of you to take the time to say that. To be completely transparent, I have been in the process of trying to get the blog monetized through Google Adsense for over a year and it has been an endless series of problems (not the least of which is that in the digital world —and especially with monolithic companies like Google— you can’t just pick up the phone and speak to a person). Point is, encouragement like yours is extraordinarily meaningful.
I am on the cusp of old media/new media. Not to be a negative Nancy, but as wonderful as the internet revolution has been, I despise the democratization of platforms for everyone to speak at the same time. No one is listening when everyone is talking. Prior to the early 2000s, everyone did not have an equal voice and, frankly, I liked it much better. As Fran Lebowitz pithily observed (paraphrasing): “there is not enough democracy in the world and too much in the arts. You can’t be a basketball player just because you want to be. You have to be exceptional.” It’s hard for something of value to penetrate in a world that has become a narcissistic echo chamber.
Long winded way of saying, I’ll keep writing and I hope you’ll keep telling me your listening.
David
John
July 14, 2015 at 8:14 pmDavid, would you mind if I started posting you on my Facebook page for some exposure?
David Munk
July 17, 2015 at 8:52 pmPlease feel free to share any of my posts. It’s a very helpful way to expand my readership! David