The first episode of the TV series Proud has dropped on HBO MAX: "After a tragedy, a carefree young man must grow up or lose what he has left." Nothing in the premise or episode synopsis suggests that he is a gay carefree young man, but dropping a show called Proud during Pride Month is a dirty trick if it's gay-free. So we'll give it a try.
Scene 1: Shaky hand-held camera follows the back of a Carefree Young Man's head as he walks past blurry people in a room. They seem to be models waiting for an audition. The casting agent wants them all in underwear. The Young Man sneaks into the bathroom, takes cocaine, does some push-ups, and heads for his audition.
Wait -- they said underwear. He strips, completely nude, explaining "I don't do underwear."
One of the casting agents says it's fine, "The kid's a free spirit." You just like his cock, buddy. He starts choking, so the young man gives him Heimlich.
Scene 2: A blurry club, very dark, very red, very crowded. Looks like mostly men. The Young Man does cocaine, is absorbed by gyrating body parts, then follows a group of guys through the kitchen and into the dark room. Ok, he's gay. And this must be Europe, where every bar has a dark room. They don't usually put them next to the kitchen,though.
The dark room is even darker and blurrier than the main club, but I think I see some kissing and rimming.
Whoops, a girl bursts in and opens the curtains: "Party's over! Get out!"
Ulp, this isn't a dark room. The Young Man invited four guys to an orgy at his sister's apartment! Does the apartment open directly onto the kitchn of a gay club, or do we have to deal with inept editing as well as inept cinematography?
"I thought you weren't coming back until Monday," the Young Man says in a blurry, drug-addled voice.
"It is Monday, you idiot!"
"Dang, I have a very important meeting today!"
Scene 3: After kicking the guys out, the Young Man -- Filip -- goes to the kitchen and asks Sis why she's so upset. "We had an agreement -- no partying in the house! Plus you haven't taken out the trash or done the laundry. Those are your two jobs!"
"I know. I've been busy."
She wants him out. She can't take his lack of responsibility, not doing any chores, always being drunk and high, strange men coming in and out all the time, with her child in the house. The child looks like she's about a year old.
"But I'm broke."
"Then sell your motorcycle!"
They argue for awhile. Sister yells: "You think life is all fun and games, but today is the day you grow up. Move out by this evening!" This isn't carefree, it's pathological!
Scene 3: The naked Filip is getting dressed. We may get a brief cock shot, but it's too blurry to see anything. A guy bangs on the door, asking for his money. A lady walking down the hall says that she's walking Filip's dog, and he owes 50 zloty ($13) for dog food.
The guy takes the dog. Filip yells down after him, but he says "I want my money today!"
Filip pours some vodka into a coke bottle and jumps into a taxi to head to his very important meeting. But he turns around to sell his motorcycle.
Scene 4: Two guys pick up the motorcycle, insisting that they'll only pay half of what it's worth. Hey, he has four of them! And he's broke? Maybe it's the cocaine. The guy from his very important meeting calls, angry: "Where the hell are you?"
Filip takes a taxi downtown. His agent meets him: "You're 45 minutes late! Everyone is freaking out! I'm tired of making excuses for you!" Sort of a jerk, aren't you, Filip Baby?
Uh-oh, the guy he owes money to is there. Filip pays with the motorcycle money, gets his dog back, and asks if he has any more cocaine.
On to the meeting! They rush him into makeup, complaining that he reeks of alcohol and "things go better when the models actually show up."
The makeup lady just got engaged, and her teenage daughter shows up and announces "I'm meeting someone." This upsets her. Must be a subplot brewing.
Scene 5: It's one of those daytime talk shows, show, just finishing a segment with an expert on marital conflicts. Next up: the hosts will show you how to be chic on the beach. They approach the four models.
"Filip is presenting a beautiful red brief cut."
Uh-oh, Filip is high: he begins giggling, then throws up, then collapses -- on live tv! They quickly cut to commercial.
More after the break. Spoiler alert: He lives.
