Breaking the mould
Tired of playing Asian gangsters and waiters, British actor Chowee Leow teamed up with director Ray Yeung to develop a film with new portrayals of gay Asian males living in the west.
Their comedy, Cut Sleeve Boys, follows two friends Ash (Leow) and Mel (Steven Lim) dealing with love while approaching 40 and invisibility in the London gay scene obsessed with youth, beauty and masculinity.
In this age where we have openly gay men on screen, either in fiction or reality, being gay is no longer quite the issue it was. What’s next? Leow says.
He wanted to look at less easily accepted parts of the community such as transgender issues, creating a character that decides to cross-dress to find his dream man.
Ash is very effeminate, he finds it hard to fit into the mainstream gay scene, and probably hasn’t had a relationship or a shag since the mid-80s, Leow says.
The instant Ash puts on a dress, he finds himself a gruff love interest from the lower ranks of the British army, ostensibly the hero he’s searched for all his life.
But true love is never smooth, and Ash wants to be accepted, not as a female caricature, but as himself.
The main thing about the film is self-acceptance and love, which is universal, Leow says. It’s not a political film, although it is talking about serious things, and the best way to get across to people is through humour.
The character of Mel presents just as much comedic opportunity as a body-beautiful pumped circuit boy obsessed with putting on his face-mask.
Gay people are constantly searching for the next high, the next shag.
Sometimes when you look at circuit boys in their quest for ego-stroking, they do things that are quite extreme. But when you look at it it’s tragic, Leow says.
They wanted to show how the scene in 2007 is quite different from the days of fighting for gay rights.
If you’re gay and you live in a big city you’ll fit right in, it’s become colourless these days, he says.
In the last 10 years the gay Asian scene has exploded. You get gay Asian men who are just as steroid-pumped as white men.
Workshopping with Asian actors, Yeung and Leow found that they wanted to see themselves as desired as a non-white person in a white society, to see an Asian man on top.
It’s something that’s never been represented before and it’s about time, Leow says. So let’s give Mel a really hot white boyfriend, show him having pulling power in the gay scene.
We’ve had an amazing response at festivals with Asian men coming up saying, -˜It’s so wonderful to see a movie represent us in a positive light.’
It shows that we’re very normal, we’re just as fucked up, we can have just as much fun.
Cut Sleeve Boys screens as part of Queer Screen’s Mardi Gras Film Festival on Friday 23 February, 7:30pm, and Tuesday 27 February, 9:30pm, at the Academy Twin Cinema. Bookings through MCA Tix on 1300 306 776.
