Small Town Gay Bar (2006)

Director:

Malcolm Ingram

Writer:

Malcolm Ingram (written by)

Genre:

Documentary

Plot:

The story of community in the Deep South that is forced to deal with the struggles of ignorance, hypocrisy and oppression. |

Plot Keywords:

Gay Bar | Gay Interest | Hate Group | Drag Queen | Homophobia

Awards:

2 wins & 2 nominations

Cast

Jim Bishop	...	Himself
Terry Capps	...	Himself
Jackie Cox	...	Himself
Bill Curtis	...	Himself
Rick Gladish	...	Himself
Charles 'Butch' Graham	...	Himself
Geoff Kates	...	Himself
Jack McCrory	...	Himself
Fred Phelps	...	Himself
Cindy Sartin	...	Herself
Debbie Shutawk	...	Herself
Charles Smith	...	Himself
Lum Weaver	...	Himself
Martha Weaver	...	Herself
Tim Wildmon	...	Himself
Justin Williams	...	Himself

Runtime:

81 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Filming Locations:

Alabama, USA

Company:

View Askew Productions

Extremely Disingenuous

After spending half an hour examining Rumors, a gay bar located outside Tupelo, Mississippi, SMALL TOWN GAY BAR shifts focus to the murder of Scotty Weaver in Bay Minette in order to demonstrate the risks run by the interview subjects. But there is a problem here. Bay Minette isn't near Tupelo, as the film implies. It isn't even in the same state. It is actually about three hundred miles away in coastal Alabama.

Director Malcom Ingram doesn't exactly rush to point out this fact, nor does he bother to mention that while Bay Minette itself is little more than a wide spot in the road, it is actually about two deep breaths away from the major metro area of Mobile, Alabama--which has a noticeable gay community, quite a few gay bars, and even a congregation of Metropolitan Community Church. If Ingram is disingenuous on these points, one has to ask if he is on others as well.

Speaking as someone who was born, raised, and continues to live in Mississippi, I have to say that I find most of SMALL TOWN GAY BAR a lot of hooey. Neither Meridian nor Tupelo, the communities upon which Ingram focuses, are as rural, small, or as isolated as he would have you imagine, and gay bars are indeed more common in the state than the film implies. That said, Ingram rather blithely ignores the fact that the absence of a gay bar does not mean an absence of a gay community, and in doing so he demonstrates a rather profound ignorance of southern culture, which tends to hold those who frequent bars--be they gay or straight--in low esteem.

SMALL TOWN GAY BAR is, in my opinion, an instance in which a film maker came to his subject with a personal agenda in hand and then proceeded to film the agenda. Do gays and lesbians living in rural Mississippi face major, sometimes frightening challenges? You bet they do--but that's no excuse for fiddling with reality to such a degree. The DVD includes a commentary track and a number of deleted scenes, but I found the feature film itself so ridiculous that I didn't waste any time on them.

GFT, Amazon Reviewer