"We're Not Really Married"

It is impossible to go anywhere in New York City right now without seeing promotional posters for Universal Studio’s new motion picture “I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry.” The posters usually feature the two men in some sort of intimate position, although the wording on the ads makes it clear that this is supposed to be comical, by referencing the fact that they aren’t actually gay and in fact are “totally straight.” Thus avoiding the implication that a film was coming out which actually dealt with a gay male couple in a committed relationship. The films trailer presents the plot of this “comedy” as centering around the two men getting a domestic partnership in order to resolve a pension issue which would have left his children unable to collect the money from his pension in the case of his death (both men are New York City firemen). Gay marriage appears to be used synonymously with Domestic Partnerships in the films trailer, and inaccurate assumptions are constructed about the simplicity of having a domestic partnership respected. Although the film is set in NYC and domestic partnerships are legal here, it is not uncommon for queer couples with domestic partnerships to have their relationships challenged. Furthermore domestic partnerships are not federally recognized, in the same way that heterosexual marriage is thus the protections they can afford queer families is limited. The comical nature of this film overshadows the real danger that queer families face on a daily basis at the hands of our homophobic society and government. Queer relationships are not validated or respected, thus opening the door for marginalization and mistreatment of our families.

From the trailer it appears as though the film will rely on stale homophobic stereotypical humor, and example of this is as Chuck and Larry sit in their lawyer office discussing the ways in which they will proceed because their domestic partnership is being challenged by the government, they respond to their lawyer's claim that they have nothing to worry about by saying “we’re big time fruits.” Although some members of the queer community have reclaimed the term “fruit” in some cases, generally it remains a homophobic slur, and a term inappropriate for use by people who are not members of the straight community. Later in the trailer the narrator says “the only thing harder than being a mans man is letting go of being a ladies man.” Making a mockery out of gay men, and gay relationships the film insinuates that first of all there is something wrong with being a gay man, and secondly that the hardest thing is having to give up being interested in women; which feeds into the heterosexist ideals which dominate our society. Queerness is turned into a comedy at one point one of the children says “are you and dad homosexicals” the mispronunciation of “homosexual” is on the surface the punch line, however when you look deeper the “humor” of this scene is the implication that a child could know those sorts of words to begin with and could be growing up in an environment where they had gay parents. This film makes a mockery of queer relationships and queer families, which is particularly disconcerting given our current political climate and the ways in which queer families remain marginalized and placed in precarious positions by the defense of marriage act, the banning of gay marriage, and perhaps even more importantly the lack of federal civil unions or any other sweeping form of protection.

“Universal Pictures cordially invites you to a comedy” says the trailers narrator. Although the film is clearly itself a comedy, one is left wondering if this line has a deeper meaning. One could argue that it isn’t talking about the film at all, and rather is making social/political commentary on the nature of queer relationships. The underlying insinuation is that gay marriage is itself a comedy; “we’re not really married” is said later in the midst of a fight. Again although said in connection with the film, where they are not gay and are attempting to fraudulently claim a relationship, the implication is that gay relationships are not real. This sort of implication is particularly damaging as queer people attempt to build relationships outside of those which are sanctioned by the government-the implication being that any relationship which does not fit into the paradigm of married heterosexuality is not “real.”

Movie Trailer can be viewed here: