Tuesday 12 June 2012

Out and About

FYC: "Out and About" - Howard is a well-liked English literature teacher in a small private school, living in a sleepy little town with his fiancée and fellow teacher Emily. The town is filled with anticipation over the nomination of Howard's former student, Dick, for the Best Actor Oscar. He does indeed win the Best Actor award, and in his acceptance speech, tearfully outs Howard as gay on global television.

This is news to Howard, whose family, friends, students , colleagues, and Emily react with all-too-predictable righteous indignation and shun him, whilst he angrily tries to reassure those who know him that he is heterosexual. Local hooligans begin harassing him following the awards night telecast, smearing "DIE FAG!!!" in excrement on his front door and throwing empty beer bottles at his head at speed from moving cars whilst hollering like frenzied apes, and Howard is sacked by his boss, a Christian-fundamentalist Principal who is uncomfortable with a gay teacher being at the school - not being a government employee, Howard has no legal recourse.

Things come to a head when a kid at school who Howard had expelled for misconduct retroactively accuses him of pederasty, and he flees the town, attempting to drown his sorrows in a dive-bar. But after the truckers there recognise him from a TV news article, they drag him screaming into the car park where they beat him with tire-irons and set him on fire. The film ends with everyone dancing round his flaming corpse to the Village People's song "Macho Man". Light hearted liberal fun.

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