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Man of the Year (1995)

A review by Damian Cannon.
Copyright © Movie Reviews UK 1997
A self-titled and self-obsessed docu-drama, Man of the Year mixes fact and fiction in a unique manner as twelve months in the life of Dirk Shafer is exposed. Dirk, who plays himself, is a typical aspiring film-maker who willingly relocated from Oklahoma to the Los Angeles metropolis. With career work hard to come by Dirk slaved in all manner of degrading film-set positions, all in pursuit of elusive experience. Then, one fateful day, his close friend Vivian Paxton (also herself) suggested that he let Pledge Cartwright (Bill Brochtrup) take a few amateur photos of him posing in the sunset. A few stamps later and Playgirl were on the phone.

From this auspicious beginning Dirk quickly graduated to centre-fold position, then on to the ultimate prize - Playgirl 1992 Man of the Year. However, there was one crucial factor that the magazine editors didn't appreciate, which was that Dirk is gay (this is not kept secret in the movie). The remainder of Man of the Year deals with Dirk's attempts to disguise his sexual orientation from the magazine, countless fans and chat show hosts. His lover Mike Miller (Michael Ornstein) was in on the idea and initially enthusiastic at the deception, while family and friends were only later party to the reality. Amongst this confusion there is one particular event which stands out - when Win-A-Date recipient Angela Lucassey (Mary Stein) travels to New York to enjoy a night on the town with her dream companion!

Man of the Year plays fast and loose with the truth, which gives it a feel somewhere between a Hollywood flick and on-the-street documentaries. This fully intentional method allows Shafer the freedom to film his Playgirl year as if there really was a film crew following him around, whilst also putting a knowing spin on events and slotting in actual TV footage. This spirit of decadence continues with an eclectic combination of actors and non-actors, which sort of works but results in some quite rigid and unconvincing performances. All of this produces a wonderfully ironic tone, amusingly reflected in the various descriptive captions applied as the film progresses.

There is, however, a serious side to this jollity, beyond the sheer impudence of a gay man becoming a sexual icon to hordes of fantasising women (as well as the sizeable gay readership of Playgirl). The dominant theme is that Dirk should be true to himself and his boyfriend, since masking his sexuality in this way only causes stress. Ideally, of course, Dirk's homosexuality should make no difference, since he's still the same person as before (although it does). One crazed fan, Lady La Flame (Rhonda Dotson), actually seems personally offended by that fact. A strange reaction when one considers that the entire sex industry is built upon appearances, fantasy and untruth. These elements only make the exploitation of a friend's death from AIDS seem more out of place though, considering the generally frivolous nature of Man of the Year.

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