Director: Jeff Meyers
Starring: David Schmader

- Reviewed by Linda

David Schmader is well-known in the Great Northwest for his weekly social-commentary column Last Days in Seattle alternative paper The Stranger, as well as for his immensely popular hosted evenings of the film Showgirls, replete with pause button and sassy commentary. Occasionally he also treats us with one-man stage shows, including the popular show Straight, which successfully toured New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and San Diego after debuting in Seattle in 1999.

Straight delves deep into the world of sexual conversion therapy, as Schmader goes undercover to expose the methods behind groups that claim to "cure" homosexuals, turning them "straight". Like a man trying to be hypnotized while keeping one eye open, Schmader immerses himself in the movement—genuinely curious as a gay man whether or not conversion groups like Exodus are as successful as they claim to be.

He infiltrates Christian "ex-gay" support groups in the suburbs (hilariously recounting his disappointment that the members talk about everyday stresses like finances and work, rather than torrid suppressed sexual fantasies). Frustrated that he is only toying with the surface of the movement, he finally goes deep into the heartland of Texas, the state where he grew up, and participates in a long weekend retreat where gays and lesbians, wanting to reject their orientation, are paired up with ultra-straight partners to help guide them into a heterosexual lifestyle.

While Straight has an obviously easy target with Christian conservatives, Schmader surprises by throwing in criticism of the urban gay community. What makes Straight so interesting is that while mocking the methods of the conversionists, Schmader honestly admits the difficulties, emotionally and socially, of growing up and being gay in straight American society. He has honest empathy for those who genuinely wish to change.

Offering no easy answers, and ending unexpectedly on neutral ground (as though calling a truce on the whole matter), Straight is a fascinating and very funny exposé of a controversial American movement.

[Included on the DVD of surprisingly well-produced film production of the stage show is an interview with David Schmader. Showing that he is as amiable in conversation as he is on stage, he offers some harsher opinions of the gay community that aren't in the play—views that are so frankly critical that they are as hilarious as they are controversial.]

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