OMG/HaHaHa (2008/Water Bearer DVD) + We Were One Man (1980/Water Bearer DVD) + The L Word - The Complete Final Season (2009/Showtime DVD Set)
Picture: C/C/C+
Sound: C/C/C+ Extras:
C/D/C- Main Programs: C+/C+/C-
As a new wave of gay rights seems upon us, some of which
may seem irreversible, it is interesting to look at dramatic media on the
subject from different time periods and of different types to consider. It has been my argument that media has had an
effect on this transition and that gay rights are a barometer of progress on
civil rights for all. We’ll start with
two features and the end of one hit cable TV show.
Morgan Jon Fox’s OMG/HaHaHa
(2008) wants to portray the life of young gay male youth and how they use the
Internet to communicate. We have seen
teens gay, straight and otherwise portrayed in this way and some of the results
have been a plastic mess. This may not
be groundbreaking and even formulaic, but I do give it credit for being
consistent and you could do worse, but the definitive (at this time) work on
the subject has yet to surface.
Philippe Vallois’ We
Were One Man (1980) is almost as interesting as his film Johan (reviewed
elsewhere on this site) as a loner named Guy finds injured German soldier Rolf
on his farm circa WWII. Both do not get
along at first and Guy has a girlfriend, plus Rolf might be a killer Nazi, but
they eventually get involved with odd results.
The film does not always seem realistic considering it is during WWII
and the conclusion is not as effective as it could have been. At least it is ambitious.
That leaves the final season of the Showtime Networks’ hit
The L Word, easily the
longest-running TV show on lesbian life ever made (though maybe not the
absolute first, we don’t know) but the show portrays the melodramatic
relationships of the characters in a way that is sadly as boring as the many
heterosexual variants and this Final
Season shows it has outgrown itself ending just when it should. We get some recognizable faces and the last
eight hours/episodes of the show, but this is for fans who were not bored to
death or dropped out from earlier seasons.
The soap opera aspect wrote the show into a corner, but now the whole
show is on DVD and you can judge for yourself.
The 1.33 X 1 image on the Water Bearer DVDs are softer
than expected, with OMG being a
low-def digital affair that could have been a little sharper. Man
was shot on film, but this transfer is analog and does not bring out all the
work that was apparently done for the restoration here. L Word
is presented in anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 video and is much softer
than it should be for an apparent HD shoot with too much motion blur and lack
of detail overall.
The Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono on the Water Bearer DVDs are
lower in volume than expected, with OMG
again suffering from fidelity issues and Man
has harmonic distortion from being an old low budget production. L Word
has both Dolby Digital 5.1 and 2.0 Stereo tracks, but they are virtually
the same as this is a dialogue-based show.
I expected more from the surrounds (the 2.0 has Pro Logic surrounds) but
the sound is just not there.
There are no extras on Man, but OMG adds interviews, deleted scenes and rehearsal footage, while L Word adds pictures by Jennifer Beals,
Generations featurette, 11th Annual Women’s Event of the New York
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center, while Elbridge
Technology via your PC will allow you to access thing like a Marlee Matlin
biography and episodes of shows like United
States Of Tara and The Tudors (from
the third season here) that serve as cross-promotion.
Missing from the content of all these fictional
productions are anything political, anything that might have caused explicit
advances. The fact L Word was even a hit is a triumph in its own way, but when I watch
these releases, the characters seem to be in their own world somewhat oblivious
to the outside world. That can even be
in a dangerous way. However, the fact
they exist is a triumph of some kind and though they could all have been
better, they hold together as best they can.
- Nicholas Sheffo
