I grew up in the smallest of small towns. (Okay - maybe not the smallest, but it sure as hell felt like it). I grew up odd to say the least. I stuck out like the non-religious, hill child, listening-to-anything-but-country child I was. Luckily, I had the buffer of three siblings who stuck out just as much as me.
As much as I value growing up odd in a very homogenized town, I remember just how difficult it was at times. Watching Small Town Gay Bar made me feel some serious sympathy for the folks who grow up gay in a small town.
This documentary covers two gay bars in small towns in Mississippi. They interview the owners, town residents, and patrons. That was all very interesting until they decided to interview Fred Phellps. I sincerely believe that the more attention that man gets, the more delusions he suffers about his importance. Every spare bit of attention paid to that man hurts the general goodness of the world around us (hence my deliberate misspelling of that asshat's name.)
The end had me very hopeful though. It featured a couple re-opening a long-closed bar, and they were so hopeful and nice that I couldn't help crossing my fingers for them.
This film gets a 6.5 by me.
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