The Experiment: Gay and Straight is a 2002 documentary produced locally in Chicago about five straight people and five gay people locked in a house for seven days and forced to talk about issues around heterosexuality and homosexuality. I'm not a big fan of reality TV shows unless somebody or something is getting redecorated, and this program crosses into the reality TV genre from the opening "meeting of the tribes" montage, in which there are different drop-off points for the straight members and the gay members, who then walk through a Chicago neighborhood to the house. It seals its fate with private camera confessionals, team challenges, and the mandatory hot tub (why must there always be a hot tub?). The show is very gay-focused, signaled by the constant use of techno music (a trend that must be stopped--it's like the Queer Emergency Broadcast System, warning that gay content is ahead) and it tends to portray gay people as sympathetic victims. There is also no questioning of the dominant paradigm of heterosexuality; instead the viewer is presented with the tired nature/nurture debate ad nauseam. The hook that makes these shows engaging is the drama of personal revelation, which is sometimes hard to swallow as genuine by even the documentary subjects because the glut of reality shows has given everyone a self-conscious knowledge of how to manipulate the camera.

It’s refreshing to see an ethnically mixed group of people representing the gay/lesbian group, as well as the straight group. Andrea, the young purple-haired lesbian, is a sweet baby dyke willing to open up to a group of sometimes hostile strangers and talk about the pain of family rejection; unfortunately, she barely gets any airtime. The other lesbian is Deo, a 33-year old married mother who rides a motorcycle and listens to Melissa Etheridge. She seems to do the most to expel the straight group’s stereotypes about lesbians by showing a stable and loving family with two female parents that do all the same things opposite-sex parents and partners do, that “it’s not just about sex,” as one of the straight housemates discovers.

Despite its flaws, in the current federal atmosphere of abstinence-only sex education and McCarthyesque intimidation of researchers who want to be able to study sexuality and eat, I applaud this documentary as a bold move on the part of the reporters and FOX Chicago. The stated goal of The Experiment “is to evoke open and honest discussions among those who watch this project--conversations that seem to rarely take place among many gay and straight Americans due to fear, ignorance, or simply because the issue of sexuality is still taboo for many people.” So far, it seems to be working: the documentary has received more awards than I could shake a copy of The Lesbian and Gay Studies Reader at, and a lot of people seem to be using it for educational purposes in churches, schools, and PFLAG.

There is also a website for the documentary with profiles and statements from all the participants and email addresses to contact them with questions. So not only does the audience get to benefit from the documentary, but the public's feedback has an impact on the house members, making this a more interactive experience for both the participants and the viewers. Reporters Saxenberg and Hill have spun off a film company from this project and their earlier project along the same vein called The Experiment in Black and White (which examines race relations and sexual orientation in South Africa in comparison to the US, which should be out sometime after June 2004).

The Experiment is showing at The San Francisco International Lesbian and Gay Film Festival on June 20, 2004; The Philadelphia International Gay and Lesbian Film Festival on July 15-27 2004; and Spirit & Place Festival of the Arts & Humanities in Indianapolis, Indiana November 6-21 2004.