There have been a few short films that have replaced coming out as gay with having to come out as something else (usually as straight), as a way of highlighting how the questions people ask and the issues that it often raises are ridiculous.
Out Smart does a similar thing, with it’s premise seeing a young man having to come out as intelligent. It’s a neatly to make the point that many people’s reactions are absolutely predicated on the idea that being gay is a bad thing (as well as to subtly position those who have a problem with gay people as being intrinsically dumb).
Director Dawn Cobalt comments, ‘When I first came out, it was the scariest thing I ever had to do. And I realized that, as I kept meeting new people, I would forever be coming out. I would also forever be coming out to people from my past who didn’t know me as out. They would wonder, “Why didn’t she just tell me?” So this film is very special to me.
‘I had to make this film to express that experience – and add humor to a very tough confession to make to anyone. Everyone is different in his or her own way and society tries to decide what is normal and what is not. We have all been in a situation where you want to tell people something that is out of the “norm” and hope that they still accept and love you.’
It’s been screened at numerous film festivals and won several awards, as well as being screened at numerous PFLAG meetings across the US. And you can take a look at it below.
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