Totally f***ed up (D)

Independent queer film maker Gregg Araki pays homage to Jean-Luc Godard’s Masculin Feminin with his “15 random celluloid fragments”, Totally fed up. The first in Araki’s teen apocalypse trilogy (“The Doom generation” and “Nowhere” complete the series), the film opens on an article regarding the alarmingly high suicide rate amongst gay teens. Using mainly direct to video camera addresses, “Totally fed up” chronicles the ups and downs (mostly down) of a group of gay teenagers, living in contemporary Los Angeles (presented here as a barren wasteland), as they come to terms with relationships, their sexuality and the sense of hoplessness that envelops them all. Littered with numerous popular culture references, “Totally f***ed up” is divided into various chapter headings like, ‘Lifestyles of the bored and disenfranchised’, giving the film’s sense of impending doom and utter nihilism a shot of much needed irony and humour. Araki’s rejection of what is considered mainstream gay is evident throughout the film, from the prevalant alternative music soundtrack to the lead characters line on homosexuality, “Everything that homos are supposed to like-disco music, drag shows, Joan Crawford- I hate.” Cast includes James Duval, Roko Belic, Susan Beshid, Jenee Gill, Gilbert Luna and Lance May.