Patrik 1,5 – a teenage boy in a gay family

September 17th, 2008, 13:03 | No comments

We’re back from a week’s vacation, during which we attended the premiere of Ella Lemhagen’s new film Patrik 1,5 (Patrik, Age 1.5), about a gay male couple who wants to adopt a child. Due to a typographical error, they think their new child will be one and a half years old – but he turns out to be 15. And unbelievably gorgeous at that, but since the gays are portrayed as the only normal people in the village, that is no problem.

The film is a traditional feel-good movie with Desperate Housewives aesthetics and a schoolbook script. And the execution is impeccable. Well done, Ella! I even shed the occasional tear.

On a symbolical level, the film is proof of how lovable gay men are these days. A little bit too lovable, it seems, since they are not allowed to have any flaws at all. Indeed, all straight people in the film are portrayed in such an unfavourable way that they sort of create the ugly background that makes the gay men’s normality shine even brighter. I think that’s what’s called overcompensating.

Category: Movies

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