‘Make the Yuletide Gay’ satisfies (in a Velveeta kind of way).
by Nancy Ford
It’s the holidays. Time to break out the cheeseball.
Not that we don’t love a good cheeseball. That annual offering of the port-wine-infused mound of processed whey and other dairy products layered with chopped nuts is a fond, gentle herald of the end of the year in many, many an American home. Though not necessarily nutritious or delicious, it is filling, and serves its purpose at holiday dinner gatherings ’til more substantial fare is served.
Such is the case with Make the Yuletide Gay, a light and cheesy new holiday comedy from writer/director Rob Williams.
In it, out college student, Olaf “Gunn” Gunnunderson (Keith Jordan), must leave his boyfriend, Nathan (Adamo Ruggerio), to visit his family—and his closet—over the holidays. But Nathan is having none of that. Laughs ensue when Nathan shows up on the doorstep to share Christmas with Gunn’s family, who supposedly don’t know Gunn is gay.
Amid the requisite make-out scenes and recognizable Human Rights Campaign product placement, we enjoyed the bathroom scene in which Gunn “de-gays” himself of fashion-forward apparel and jewelry prior to his arrival at his parent’s house, reverting to bland colors and boring hair. If while traveling during the holiday season you’ve been in an airport restroom where a butch walked in and a fluff walked out, you’ve witnessed this same phenomenon. Somewhere in that airport’s parking lot is an SUV, that lesbian’s mother or sister waits, bursting with the news that said lesbian’s throw-down prom date (probably gay himself) from years gone by is still single and would love to see her.
Bottom line, Make the Yuletide Gay is no It’s a Wonderful Life, but it is family oriented, funny at times, and even has a valuable coming-out message to share. But if you do indeed choose to watch it with your family as a way of telling them you are gay, take care to skip over the racy previews of other not-quite-so family oriented films: Granny’s not ready for that kind of cheese. 2009. TLA Releasing (tlareleasing.com).
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