Gay Essential Films To Watch, Gypsy 83
Gypsy (played by Sara Rue) is a heavyset twenty-something Goth girl who works in a photo hut in the predominately white bread town of Sandusky, OH in the romantic drama Gypsy 83. After presumably spending most of her days developing photos of family trips to nearby Cedar Point, Gypsy knows she just doesn’t fit in. Her only other friend is Clive (Kett Turton), a bright high school student and the only other Goth kid in town. Together, they make their own clothes and spend their nights listening to The Cure and Stevie Nicks via candlelight.
Obsessed with the Fleetwood Mac front woman, Gypsy and Clive discover a Stevie Nicks tribute contest – the Night of a Thousand Stevies. In exploring the event web site, Gypsy sees an old image of her mother, who had abandoned Gypsy 18 years ago. Seeing this as the perfect opportunity to break out of their sleepy, closed-minded town and possibly reconnect with Gypsy’s distant mother, they load up the car and head to New York.
The 9-hour drive across Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey takes the pair through a number of small towns and road stops. Each step along the way, Gypsy and Clive are met with resistance, unacceptance, judgment, and plenty of opportunity for self-discovery. Karen Black delivers one of the film’s highlights playing Bambi LeBleau, a lounge singer with a tragic story.
Upon finally arriving in New York, Gypsy and Clive finally feel “at home,” surrounded by like-minded Goths, outsiders, LGBT, and many other lifelong residents of the counter-culture.
Critics
“This is a tiny, vulnerable, rather treacly film at heart, one that would probably float away were it not for Ms. Rue’s generous presence.”
— Dave Kehr, The New York Times
“The chemistry and rapport between the two characters is magical, and feels as immediate as any of the intense friendships I had at that age.”
— Two Whole Cakes
“There’s a blustery charm to the gothy outcasts of writer/director Todd Stephens’s beautifully realized Gypsy 83, two unlikely best pals who cling to each other in the cultural wasteland of cool-deprived Sandusky, Ohio.”
— FlickFilosopher
Did You Know?
Interestingly, despite Gypsy and Clive’s obsession with Stevie Nicks, the soundtrack to the film Gyspy 83 is noticeably lacking any of Stevie Nicks’ music. Unfortunately, Ms. Nicks refused to license the rights to her work for the film, leaving the filmmakers to get creative. The only Stevie Nicks song in the film is performed in a karaoke bar. Review our Gay Themed Films Here
Alexander Ryll
@gayessential
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