By Juan Markos
Los Angeles, CA (The Hollywood Times) 7/25/23 – I attended the Closing night of Outfest on July 23rd at the Ricardo Montalban Theater, the show opened with the board of directors, followed by a mini award ceremony, Awarding Melissa McCarthy and Ben Falcone for their continued efforts supporting LGBTQ+ and helping to pave a path to a future without fear, they, of course, were not able to attend due to the writer and actor unions strike currently happening.
Karine Jean Pierre was also honored for her trailblazing journalistic efforts as an advocate for black and LGBTQ+ journalists, being the first Black, Gay White House press secretary, she wasn’t present as an acknowledgment of the strike in Hollywood.
The final film screened at the film fest was Chasing Chasing Amy, a documentary about a person’s experience of Kevin Smith’s 1997 film Chasing Amy, and their self-discovery because of the film’s influence on their life, I was this old when I discovered that chasing Amy was an LGBTQ+ or gay film. The documentary has many levels, Sav Rodgers self-discovery while filming the film is documented while he goes through defragmenting of the 1997 Film that influenced him. I saw Chasing Amy when I was 13 also, and never really related on the level they did, I never thought of the movie as an LGBTQ+ film, they mention they’re from Kansas and I’m not, I grew up in southern California where there were many openly gay women. Straight men falling for gay women has always been a discussion in the community, to me Chasing Amy isn’t a gay movie, it’s a straight-man fantasy movie, there’s a cross-examination of the film with a real lesbian movie “Eating Out” the documentary has its funny moments, Sav interviews Kevin Smith and some of the characters, they discuss the movie and its creation, Smith’s failed relationship with Joey Lauren Adams and their connection with polarizing Producer Harvey Weinstein who produced the film, they discuss Rose McGowan and his treatment of women and how its sadly connected to the film. The two films share a connection Chasing Amy is despised because the lesbian character (Joey Adams) turns straight for a Cis gender-white man (Ben Affleck) and Chasing Chasing Amy documents the director’s transition into becoming a male and his partner who’s openly a lesbian choosing to stay with him. The film is a modern discussion on labels and gender and a love letter to Kevin Smith.