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It's a little less obvious why Camp Michael Jackson is also playing at gay film fests. While Parton may not be everyone's cup of tea musically, there is nearly universal acknowledgement that she's genuine, compassionate, and successful at what she does--not to mention her bona fide status as a gay icon.

Jackson, on the other hand, is the subject of enormous controversy for his reclusive lifestyle, puzzling relationships with his friends and family, and bizarre personal appearance. But there's another big difference: The Parton film centers on the annual opening of Dollywood, while the fans in Camp Michael Jackson are camped outside the California courtroom where he was on trial for child molestation.

Camp Michael Jackson takes a harder-hitting approach than does Dolly, focusing on people who have jeopardized their families and their livelihoods with their obsession. This includes a single mother neglecting her children in favor of all things Jackson , as well as two young women almost without money after quitting their jobs and traveling to California to be near their idol.

This doesn't make Camp Michael Jackson a bad film. It's not. In fact, it's really very good, taking the viewer on a dizzying visit to what the SF Bay Guardian called “the church of Michael Jackson.” Filmmaker Q Allan Brocka got willing access to the lives and thoughts of the fans, and even got invited into Neverland itself, where he met Jackson, although he had to leave his camera behind.

The problem is that since the film itself is pretty much devoid of any obvious gay-relevant content, it raises the question, “Why is this here?”

The Jackson documentary was filmed by out gay directors Glenn Gaylord (Boychick) and Brocka (Eating Out), so it's not at all unusual that it would be shown at a gay film festival. But there is a second, and somewhat troubling, “gay angle,” articulated on the website of production company World of Wonder.

Brocka writes that he came to the project convinced of Jackson's guilt, but started to question his belief as he read media accounts of the trial. “The coverage made me reexamine my initial hunch. Why had I thought he was ‘probably guilty?' Honestly? Because I thought he was a closeted gay man. And then--snap! I had made the leap from closeted gay to pedophile all on my very own. One of the most fundamental lies used to perpetuate homophobia, and on some level, I fell for it.”

Seeing this documentary making the gay film festival circuit unfortunately does lend itself to that leap being made by audiences, too. Since the movie never addresses this issue, the question of why it's being included on that circuit is never really answered.

Between the two films, viewers will probably enjoy Dolly more, primarily because it raises much less troubling issues and her fans don't appear to be quite as out of the mainstream. But Camp Michael Jackson delves more deeply into its subject matter and gets a lot grittier while doing it, giving it a hard edge and impact the gentler For the Love of Dolly ultimately lacks.

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