Sadness in Happy, Texas

By chance I flipped to a movie on television last night of which I had never heard.

It promptly put my Beloved to sleep but I watched it to the end.

"Happy, Texas" is the tale of two escaped cons who steal an RV belonging to two gay men and end up hiding out in Happy, Texas, pretending to be those two guys. Unfortunately, those two guys had just been hired to help a class of little girls win some regional talent show. Obviously, it was supposed to be a comedy and it was funny, in parts.

Imagine a guy who is as hetero as can be, having to pretend to be someone completely different -- and pulling it off so well that it inspires a certain town resident to come out of the closet -- with him.

Yeah, funny so far -- mistaken identities have made people laugh since the beginning of time.

For me, however, the discomfort began at that moment and peaked when the con finally told that poor man to get lost. For several minutes, the movie shows the man in emotional agony, crying his eyes out, utterly heartbroken.

If this pain was supposed to be taken seriously, it didn't feel well with the comedy of the rest of the movie. If we were supposed to laugh at what was portrayed as very real heartbreak, I just can't do it.

Hearts are hearts, gay or straight.