I think it’s fair to say that when director Brian Fender set off to make Dick: The Documentary he didn’t have a budget to rival Avatar or Man Of Steel. But then he didn’t need one, because what he did was take a very simple but surprisingly underexplored idea – getting men to talk about their penises – and realised that doing something flashy would detract from looking directly at it (if you’ll pardon the expression).
The entire documentary is simply a selection of guys who strip naked, stand in front of a wall and discuss their dicks. We never see any of their faces, which is a smart move as while on the surface it makes the whole thing seem slightly voyeuristic, it ensures that the guys involved are less inhibited as they know that even though it’s being filmed they have anonymity. It also ensures the viewer sticks with the subject at hand and that the participants remain somewhere between individuals and archetypes.
Although your first reaction might be, ‘What the hell are they gonna talk about, surely it’s just a dick?’, that would be to underestimate the complicated relationship many men have with their genitals. Fender got most of his participants through online ads, many of them targeted towards gay men, and as a result there are more gay guys represented that in the population at large, but that’s probably a good thing, as having had to deal their sexuality head on perhaps gives them a more nuanced perspective on both theirs and other’s dicks.
It’s a surprisingly effective way of dealing with the subject, with the incredibly simple setup ensuring there’s nothing to get in the way and Fender making sure that his subjects are open and talkative. One of the more fascinating things is wondering how honest the participants are being, along with their motivation for being there. Some of those involved seem genuinely interested in the project, others seem a bit confused about why they’re there, a few seem to be challenging themselves and trying something new, while a couple undoubtedly see it is a sexual experience in its own right.
Seeing these hidden motivations is perhaps as important to the film as what the guys actually say, as it gives you almost us much information about how they view their penis and their sexuality as their actual words. That’s not to say their words are irrelevant, as much of it is very interesting, with the unusual situation giving them free range to talk about their penises in a way men relatively rarely do. For example it allows them to chat about what they feel about the size, when they first became aware of it as a sexual organ, how they think of it in relation to other guy’s dicks, and both the positives and negatives associated with it. And then of course there’s the interesting fact that while some guys talk about it merely as part of their overall sexuality, others have a slight tendency to refer to their penis almost as if it’s a separate to the rest of them.
It would be churlish not to admit there is an element of titillation and voyeurism here – after all, if this was ‘Right Ear: The Documentary’, it wouldn’t be as interesting or intriguing. And if you are of the gay persuasion, there’s undoubtedly a certain excitement to particular moments, such as when one of the guy’s dicks swells into a minor semi when he’s talking about his early sexual memories. And even that is relevant to the overall documentary, as it gets you to consider your own relationship with your penis.
However that’s certainly not the most abiding side of the film, as while many will be drawn in by the promise of penis, it’s difficult not to end up being more interested by how other men view and relate to what they have downstairs. Whether it’s the physiological, psychological, sexual or purely functional, as well as how the relationship changes at different times of life, it’s fascinating purely because for an organ that is so central to men’s lives, it’s rarely discussed in this way even with close friends and lovers. Watching Dick: The Documentary it’s difficult not to think about how you view your own penis (if you have one, of course) and how you differ from or relate to the guys on the screen.
Overall Verdict: Dick: The Documentary may have an incredibly simple set-up but it’s an almost literally blank canvas for both the participants and the viewers to look at the penis in a way they may never have before.
Dick: The Documentary is available to rent via IndiePixFilms.com.
Reviewer: Tim Isaac
thank you for the review Tim.