Stories of Our Lives is an anthology of five short films with LGBT themes from the East African republic of Kenya. It was made by the Nairobi-based art and activist group The Nest Collective, many of whose members prefer to conceal their identities to avoid possible persecution under Kenya’s notoriously draconian anti-gay laws. The film is still banned in it some country. The five dramas are mostly personal and domestic inspired by true incidents. ASK ME NICELY Kate, a rebellious young high school girl, meets first-love Faith, a fellow student. They begin a secret relationship, until the school principal takes action to separate the two by suspending Kate from the school. Back at home, Kate impulsively has a sexual encounter with a boy in her neighborhood. Two weeks later, Kate and Faith have an awkward reunion leading to their separation. RUN After negotiating a business deal, Patrick stumbles upon a local gay bar with his homophobic best friend, Kama. Patrick later returns to the clu...
Who would have ever thought of a lead gay cartoon character. This animated series is almost 20 years old, but somehow I wasn't even aware of it. Queer Duck was the first animated series to have homosexuality as its predominant theme and is about a "group of American gay animals" with their personalities seemingly "based on gay white men."
There are 20 episodes each of about 3 minutes long, so its an easy breezy watch. Queer Duck is the lead character who is known to gossip about anything and everything, especially on the phone while watching television. Over the course we find out he has Jewish mother in denial of his sexuality, a straight brother, a nephew and lesbian sister. 'Openly Gaytor' is Queer Duck's boyfriend. He is insecure and shy and usually a voice of reason. One of their friends is Bi-polar Bear, who often makes bad jokes and no one else but he finds it funny and finally Oscar Wildcat, an urbane alcoholic cat, who has a deep dislike for his own mother and has implied that he would like to kill her. WIth each episode we see the usual gay themes of coming out, gay relationships/marriages, and the problems that can arise when gay and lesbian people have to interact with their straight family members. These are explored through a variety of situations.
I found myself chuckling so hard in the first few episodes but the novelty soon wore off. Actually this is my personal problem where any show struggles to keep my attention for long, unless I see them in multiple sittings. And despite its extremely short lengths, after a while I found my mind drifting away, despite all episodes being quite funny. The show shows very stereotypical view of gays in a fun, and the fact that most people think that of gays is what will make you even chuckle more. I like this cartoon because they talk openly and frankly about gay issues, being gay and gay sex, just as many gay men talk between themselves in reality, and don't mince words. The show didn't seem censored at all and it was a decent time pass. Cartoons and animation are not my scene but everyone appreciates a change of scenery once in a while. I am happy to have watched this and this could be a good time pass filler for a couple of minutes here and there. (5/10)

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