Looking for a ‘Fresh’ orientation
By Gary M. Kramer
PGN Contributor
© 2007 Gary M. Kramer

Mike Erwin spoons San Huntington in "Freshman Orientation"

The amusing campus comedy “Freshman Orientation” pokes fun at gay and straight stereotypes by playing around with its characters’ sexual orientations. The film subscribes to the idea that a straight man can be a better, more sensitive guy toward women after walking a mile in a gay man’s shoes — not unlike “Tootsie” proved when a straight man dressed as a woman. The screwball plot features Clay (Sam Huntington), a horny straight college freshman whose most ambitious goal in college is to get laid. Clay sees Amanda (Kaitlin Doubleday), a comely coed, at a sorority party one night and thinks she might be the girl of his dreams.

Of course, there is a catch. Amanda’s sudden interest in Clay isn’t sexual; her sorority sister Serena (Jud Tylor) has assigned Amanda to get a gay man to fall in love with her — so he can be dumped — to prove women’s power over guys. And while Clay is not aware of this subterfuge, he becomes an unwilling participant when he is mistaken for being gay after he and his roommate Matt (Mike Erwin) are found spooning one morning on the campus quad in a fraternity prank.

Clay’s gay ruse, however, is suspect to Marjorie (Marla Sokoloff), his ex-girlfriend who is now an out and proud lesbian. In contrast, the local gay barkeep, Rodney (John Goodman, camping it up overtime), is happy to provide Clay with lessons on how to dress, dance and behave like a gay man.

If the film simplifies homosexuality to slogans on T-shirts and a few buzz words (i.e., gay guys call everyone “girlfriend”), “Freshman Orientation” scores points by trying to show how some queer characters slowly become comfortable with their sexuality. For example, Serena thinly masks her lesbian tendencies — she enjoys getting backrubs from a topless sorority sister and busting her ex-boyfriend’s balls — while Matt fantasizes about Clay when he’s not acting as his roommate’s moral conscience.

Unfortunately, the film is not always successful in debunking its stereotypes. When Clay takes Amanda to a GLBT poetry slam and Marjorie dares him to recite a poem, he does a reading of Britney Spears’ “Baby One More Time” that becomes a sing-along. The film often goes for cheap laughs when something more insightful or satiric would be appropriate. Yet “Freshman Orientation” contains enough witty lines and engaging characters to maintain viewers’ interest, even if the outcome of all the sexual shenanigans is predictable.

The film is at its best showing Amanda and Clay developing a strong non-sexual friendship and realizing that they each defy the other’s expectations. A former prom queen, Amanda has none of the airs Clay expects, while playing gay gives Clay a confidence with women he never had as a straight guy. And herein lies the point of “Freshman Orientation,” where many of the characters prove themselves to be someone or something they are not.

In fact, one of the film’s better subplots involves Amanda’s Jewish — and hilariously foul-mouthed — sorority sister Jessica (out actress Heather Matarazzo) being forced by her sorority assignment to date a Muslim. Her off-color reactions to this predicament provide some of the film’s funniest one-liners.

Alas, another subplot, in which Clay rebuffs an unwanted advance made by Sherman (Jeffrey Muller), the head of the campus GLBT society, leads to a fumbled third act. When Clay is injured following a misunderstanding with Sherman, the accident escalates into a “gay-bashing” incident that quickly gets out of control. Even as a comic set piece, this largely unfunny episode only touches on how minorities are treated and need to mobilize.
A scene in which Clay has a heart-to-heart with one of his professors handles this same issue of finding one’s identity and acting boldly on it with considerably more poignancy.

Despite the broad humor, the film boasts fine performances from its leads. Huntington is engaging as Clay, even if his gay Clay is less convincing than his straight Clay. Doubleday makes Amanda’s doubts about her deception believable. In the supporting cast, Matarazzo, Erwin and Tylor make even stronger impressions.

Curiously, “Freshman Orientation” was completed in 2004 and originally titled “Home of Phobia.” And while the film’s Britney reference may be dated now, the “be yourself” message is still timely and important.