Guys and Balls (Manner Wie Wir)

Director(s): Sherry Horman
Writer(s): Benedikt Gollhardt
Producer(s): David Groenewold, Kirsten Hager, Eric Moss, Andreas Schneppe
Starring: Maximilian Bruckner, David Rott

Ecki and Udo have been enemies on and off the soccer field since they were kids. While they may play for the same team on the field, they most definitely do not play for the same team off the field. After a disappointing loss the team takes to ridiculing Ecki. It only intensifies when the find out he's gay. Having been kicked off the team, Ecki flees to Dortmund where he creates a team from all walks of the gay community scheduled to compete with his former team in just three weeks. Together, Ecki and his teammates not only learn the game but also a lesson in pride. And maybe a little love.

Similar to "Eleven Men Out" and "Iron Ladies", this film continues to wave the banner that gay men are good at sports too! While most of these films rarely, if ever, show actual sports being played, "Guys and Balls" does an excellent job of creating an exciting soccer game for viewers to get into. For a moment, a brief moment, I felt butch. . . I said brief. I forget how blatant homophobia in sports can be. While yes, this is a movie that probably hypes up the homophobia, it's still sad that a man's worth in sports is determined by how masculine they are. One reason that I love this film is that it creates a new idea of the world masculine. All the men on the gay team are, in their own right, masculine. Whether it be the threesome of leather daddies or the effeminate muslim halal butcher, the characters all add their own spice to masculinity. And of course, when compared to the hetero-normative idea of masculinity, the gay versions are just spicier.

I don't know why I was never into sports. Even now, when I know I can watch sports and see plenty of cute men, I still have no desire. Sure, I can sit through a ball game if I had to. But that desire to go to a game and cheer for some hunky athlete with a number plastered on his back was never really built into my model of me. I will say though, that if I was interested in sports, I would kick ass. As would any gay man interested in sports. As gay men we are told from a young age that we're different from straight men. Thus as gay men, when we want to do something "hetero" we go 110% to succeed in all that we put our mind to. This film does an excellent job at showing this desire and drive that gays can have to succeed and prove themselves worthy in a world that is constantly telling them they are deficient. Whether it be soccer, volleyball, baseball, football or swimming,films such as these remind us that being gay is not just about the stereotypes we are fed. Being gay is overcoming the obstacles and celebrating the victories.