Those People

‘Those People’ is a recent addition to Netflix. Every time I signed in, it was assigned prime of place in my recommended slot. Hardly surprising since I have watched just about every romantic film with gay characters that Netflix has to offer. I eventually took the plunge earlier this week and boy, am I glad that I did.

Joey Kuhn, the writer and director behind ‘Those People’ has a talent for dialogue. His use of prose is beautiful and by using well educated millennials in the mould of characters from ‘Girls’, he’s able to achieve a level of realism. I don’t doubt at all that these characters would quote Joubert at each other.

Unlike Marnie and Hannah though, Kuhn never really allows his kids to come over as spoilt or entitled. Yes, they are rich and were afforded comfortable lifestyles but they’re all very aware of this. The closest this film gets to seeing this group as the other is in their names – Sebastian, Ursula, Wyatt– and the title of the film. It is the press that are after Sebastian – whose father is now in jail for pulling off some Bernie Madoff like scam – that are shown to be evil. Ursula is working two jobs as she attempts to break into her dream profession, her boyfriend is a bar tender. This is hardly a living the dream lifestyle.

This isn’t to the film’s discredit; it’s actually to its success. These characters are inhibited to a large extend because they are constantly second guessing how the world sees themselves. London is the exception to the group in that she wasn’t born into money and has worked her way up. She distances herself from Sebastian because she fears retaliation for being seen as part of an entitled, corrupt part of society. It’s not unfounded, she loses a job because the company is worried about the way it’ll play. It captures beautifully the current climate in which we’re all too willing to let our preconceptions meet social media and doom people to the box we’ve assigned them.

Kuhn’s discussion about wealth and entitlement is a secondary point. This film is primarily a coming of age story. It’s not about Charlie being gay, this is just a fact. Probably because these characters aren't in their final year of school; they're just finishing or have just finished university. It's only now that they're out of these bubbles that they're beginning to find themselves. Charlie's main dilemma is that he loves his best friend Sebastian and is unable to move on. This is made clear before the love interest is even introduced. Kuhn is a skilled writer, though he seems unable to leave subtly developed plot points, returning to them later and so we have two separate warnings about Charlie moving in with Sebastian. Of course, these fall on death ears. Sebastian needs help and Charlie will be there in an instant.

Enter Tim. Tim is the antithesis to Sebastian, he’s more reserved and mature. He’s an accomplished pianist and yet likes to play show tunes in dive bars. He’s also meant to be a lot older than the group but this was lost on me. Then again, I frequently date men twice my age so maybe I’m not the best judge of that. Tim and Charlie bond but from the beginning it’s clear that they’re not going to be together. It lessens the tension sometimes but that isn’t always a bad a thing; this film is about Charlie moving on and Tim is the catalyst for this; he’s not the resolution.

Things come to a head when Tim tells Charlie that we ‘all have a Sebastian’ and he needs to grow up and get over that. Not quite in those words but hell he’s totally right and all I can say is preach, Tim, preach. Charlie is an excellent protagonist because he’s so relatable but it does make him very frustrating at points. He’s so infatuated with Sebastian that he can’t see it’s hurting other people and even when he does; he releases himself from that guilt by pointing to the inherent selflessness in his actions to help a friend that is hurting.

This leads to my favourite scene of the entire film. It has all the elements of a delicious scene and are executed to perfection. We have our protagonist spiralling into a humiliating reveal of their feelings, a difficult to watch confrontation with reality and a cameo by Max Jenkins to ground it in hilarity. Charlie confronts Sebastian and though Sebastian obviously has been stringing Charlie along, it’s because he’s afraid of losing Charlie. It would be sweet if it didn’t scream of a horrifically bad case of co-dependency.

Sebastian could have turned out to be the monster that the press so desperately wants him to be. For sure, he’s quite a selfish person. But at his heart, he’s a very lonely guy that is inherently good. He was born into a legacy that he desperately wants no part in. Relationships between father and sons are explored in this film quite a bit but we only ever see Sebastian’s Dad. It’s not that he’s evil but he is distant from his son and evidently only wants to use him to continue a criminal enterprise whilst he’s in prison. It’s not too difficult to see where Sebastian has developed that ability to manipulate and why he would feel the need to manipulate those closest to him to stay with him. Sebastian believes he’s a bad person and that he’s soiled goods. It’s a credit to Kuhn that he is able to create such a sympathetic, rounded character under the guise of an entitled, spoilt rich kid.

After this scene, Charlie distances himself from Sebastian and rekindles his romance with Tim. The latter of whom then gets a job offer in San Francisco and wants Charlie to join him. This is the only part of the film that I think doesn’t quite land well. It’s pretty clear that realistically, Charlie hasn’t known him long enough to commit to this and he’s still in School in New York. I get why it’s necessary as a plot device but it does stick out as one.

Having said that, I took that development to be Kuhn taking the easy route out by removing Tim and letting Sebastian take the space. The film doesn’t disappoint in giving such a generic ending. It was always about Charlie and it lets him secure his own independence. Overall, this film was a terrific effort and really enjoyable to watch. Given this was his first feature length piece, I can’t wait to see if he brings out more work as he obviously has the ability for writing believable, relatable characters.

Tickled

‘Tickled’ is a very strange film. David Farrier is a journalist that comes across a video about ‘competitive tickling.’ That is a video of athletic men tickling another young athletic man. You’ve probably never heard of that sport and Farrier hadn’t either so he decides to reach out to the company.
 

Jane O’Brien, the company owner, does not take well to the idea of a documentary, taking special exception to the fact Farrier is gay. Not only does she throw multiple slurs at him but also threatens legal action if he continues to investigate the company. Of course, as a journalist this makes him only more interested and so begins a fascinating exploration of the ‘competitive tickling’ world. He decides to create this film with the help of his friend and colleague, Dylan Reeve.

From the moment the film begins, it is obvious that ‘competitive tickling’ is a front for a fetish around tickling. I’m not going to lie, I find that a bit strange. I mean these people are clothed so it’s not even really porn and yet is obviously sexually stimulating to some. At the end of the day though, you do you. If you get your kicks out of being tickled or tickling or even watching it and everyone is consenting, then what’s the problem?

And the film makers agree; during the course of the film they explore those that actively and openly engage in tickling in a sexual way. It's evident that they have no issue with the tickling fetish, believing that it demonstrates the beauty of a democracy and sexually enlightened society. Then again I can't help but feel that Farrier is giving conditional acceptance throughout as I detect a sense that he's still looking down on them for doing this. It’s a subplot of the film but it’s a very interesting one to me. Even though we happily throw up our hands and say ‘you do you’ to what extent do we actually believe that? 

As I say though, that’s only a subplot. The main plot is the fact that Jane O’Brien is trickling young men into participating in this fetish without their knowledge and using the competitive tickling as a cover story. This is absolutely not okay and as the film continues, we discover that the company specifically targets impoverished areas, offering money to young men in financially difficult circumstances. It’s easy to see why these men might buy into any narrative presented if, at the end of the day they received one thousand dollars.

The problem isn’t the fetish, it’s the exploitation of these people. The fact these guys were paid doesn’t invalidate the fact that by denying them the true facts, their agency was removed from them and therefore they weren’t able to make their own decisions. Not only that but in many cases these men were told that the videos would be kept private and then were put on youtube and could be accessed for free. You can imagine the devastation that could cause, especially when these guys are coming from very conservative backgrounds.

As the film continues, you’ll be stunned by the extensive web of lies that the company has spun to continue making these videos. The main thing that I take away from this film is that all this would be unnecessary if ‘Jane O’Brien’ was not so ashamed about the fetish. As already mentioned, Farrier visits a man who has set up a company which specialises in this fetish and does incredibly well. People participate voluntarily, engaging in activities which they know will be watched for sexual pleasure but have decided that they’re willing to do it. It seems to prove that it’s completely unnecessary for all the lies and deceit. In this light, the shadowy figure of Jane O’Brien which once seemed menacing is really a pathetic character almost deserving of pity had it not hurt so many people.

‘Tickled’ is an excellently put together documentary that is incredibly thought provoking and it’s a shame that it has had such a small release. However, it’s out on DVD at the end of November and I’d definitely recommend getting it.