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Title: More than Hair Care Products Rating: 2.9 out of 4 Reference: Director, Pendra Wilson. Abstract: This is possibly the only documentary celebrating the gay bear movement and it is made by an outsider. More than Hair Care Products is heavily influenced by Steve Reich’s music made from recordings of people talking to one another then transcribed to music. The unconscious polits of: gay culture’s consumerism, inherent racism, media representation and other body politic issues are investigated within visual chapters. The director is exploring a safe communication style that generates courageous uncensored conversations not confrontation. (Abstract provided by V-Tape.) Library of Congress subjects: Reviews and Numerical Ratings (3) I enjoyed the film. I liked the fact that it spoke to people in the community and not people in academia being interviewed in front of their bookcases. I felt that I would have liked the video to be longer, because they touched on some very important and interesting issues that I would have liked to see explored further. This was a kind of “introduction” but I would have liked the video to deal more with issues of body image in the gay male community, issues surrounding the politics of Bear identity or Bear groups (who can and cannot be a “Bear,” issues of race), and Bear desire. Kate Hunc (2.5) The movie offers a somewhat glossy, somewhat shallow exploration of urban gay bear culture. The strengths of the movie include: 1) an introduction to a subcultural form with little extant filmic representation; and 2) a brief treatment of the important issue of looksism within urban gay male communities. That said, the movie tries so hard to illustrate diversity within the bear community (including one female who, by her own admission, sews stuff for the men), and to showcase bear philanthropy, that one has the impression that one is watching a pro-bear infomercial. But bear culture consists of fascinating categorical differences across bears (e.g., the "cub", "otter", and "wolf") and a serious adherence to traditional constructions of masculinity--both of which are seriously obscured by this fluffy rendering. There are also some very explicit scenes of fellatio that do not always relate to the dialogue and may be prohibitive for a general undergraduate audience. Adam Green (3) In the context of perhaps a 3rd or 4th year course on sexual communities/politics – i.e., something that would contextualize this video’s themes – this could be a good video to show. The stipulation would be that the readings & lecture materials would have begun to introduce & develop the themes of the film, so as to prepare students to elaborate on these themes in discussions. The themes include: community; and inclusion & representation of gender, cultural, racial & ethnic diversity in the Bear movement. What I liked most about the video is really that it was made at all – that there’s a video on bears and that rather than just looking at bears as a cultural fetish like leather, it contextualizes bears as part of a community & movement. I also found interesting the undeveloped theme of a tension between when one decides to identify oneself as a bear and when the rest of the queer community applies this label – the question of whether it’s just a matter of hair, or whether there’s identification with an attitude. What I liked least is that the themes were introduced casually and not developed much. The video doesn’t stand well on its own unless you’re familiar with the queer community. Chris Sanders (3) Although this film provides only a very shallow overview of the conflicts and contradictions that concern the Bear community, it would be a great tool to open a discussion about sexuality and identity. Moreover, the provocative visuals and brief interviews are sure to keep the attention of students. Sarah Newman (2.5) Here’s a light-hearted & interesting
video to use in courses where something on women’s body image
is ordinarily shown (e.g., Still Killing Us Softly), because similar
issues are addressed but from a novel angle, or perhaps in Social Interaction
& Community (SOCI 2060). The shortness of the video and the way
it touches on diversity/exclusion issues within a movement already positioning
itself as doubly excluded are what’s appealing. I also enjoyed
the tension between the peachy-keen claims made verbally about diversity
and the very limited diversity of bears depicted in bear clubs (e.g.,
the token Black guy in one photo). The limitation of the video is that
it rambles. Maybe it goes from age-size-hair definitions of beardom
to attitudinal or political ones…maybe.
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