The webcam diaries: Outfest, Day 5

Remember the days when a webcam house following a bunch of skinny, barely post-pubescent boys as they lived their lives was something new and quaint? Man, how far we've come! Today, webcam sites are a dime a dozen, and their popularity is waning compared to sites like XTtube. But back in 2003, webcams were all the rage. Award-winning documentary editor George O'Donnell (Out of the Past, Who is Alan Smithee?) tracks the daily goings-on of one of those webcam houses in his fascinating and surprisingly prescient flick College Boys Live, which played at Outfest last night. (Review after the jump.)

The movie is about a website with the same name that operates out of Orlando, Fla. In 2003, the owners of the site were under fire from the local homeowner's association, and faced the threat of being shut down. But that's just a tiny part of O'Donnell's film. After hearing about their troubles, O'Donnell contacted the owners, then accepted their invitation to go and live in the CBL house and make a movie about it. And that's just what O'Donnell did, capturing all the fun (whipped cream battles by the pool), the sex (the CBL boys regularly jerk off and have sex with their boyfriends on camera), the heartache (insecure J.C. goes back to his family reunion at his estranged father's request, only to find his father decided not to show), and--oy vey!--the drama (J.C. gets in fights--sometimes violently--with just about every one living in the house).

What's most remarkable about O'Donnell's film is that it is surprisingly free from judgment. Perhaps this is because the owners of the house--out-of-touch Zach and his idealist boyfriend Jonathan--too often dig their own holes when being interviewed on camera. "The boys aren't required to be naked," Jonathan says at one point, dismissing claims that they are taking advantage of the guys. "Well, except for the last 30 minutes of their web chat. We ask that they be naked for that."

Whether or not the boys who live in the house are being exploited--all are over 18, and all live in the house rent-free in exchange for living their lives on camera--is the main thrust of O'Donnell's movie, though he makes sure to temper such material with footage that is by turns amusing, shocking, frustrating and, amazingly, poignant. There's real life in this movie, and it bursts with compassion for its subjects. Most people will probably come expecting a titillating inside look at the X-rated shenanigans inside an adult webcam house, but they will get something much more fulfilling. In its quest to unearth the truth about a controversial reality site, it unearths several truths--many of them uncomfortable--about the plight of many young gay men today who still have too few support systems in place to help them in their journey to manhood.