Rating: 8.5/10

Director: Malcolm Ingram

Malcolm Ingram is a Bear. No, he doesn’t maul people or steal picnic baskets, he isn’t that kind of bear. A Bear is a homosexual male, who is very big and covered in hair. Big doesn’t necessarily have to mean fat (you wouldn’t be wrong in that assumption though), it can mean many things. There are Muscle Bears too. In short, someone who is into Bears wants a man who is the embodiment of manliness.  This brings me to BEAR NATION.

BEAR NATION is a deep study into life as a Bear and the Bear lifestyle in general. Although many people might have never heard of the Bear community, it is surprisingly widespread. All around the world there are Bear clubs, Bear conventions, Bear rendezvous. What was once a niche thing, is now hitting the mainstream and this film explores all of these social gatherings.

To help push the narrative, Ingram uses old black and white footage of grizzly bears in the wild, and 1950’s style footage with an anti-homosexual agenda. Some of the old reels were so hilarious, ridiculous, and so incredibly outdated, they never once failed to make laughs. It really shows how far public opinion has come in the past 60 years on the topic of homosexuality.

Sex is funny, talking about sex is even funnier. Not to mention an interview with two women who were staying at the same hotel as a Bear convention. When they’re asked what they thought about Bears, they exclaim that they thought there was a truckers union meetup. The film just says it like it is, and it is just naturally has a humorous tone. It was really refreshing to see such a light tone on a subject that so often can be a serious topic.

The film celebrates being a Bear, and how important it is to have some sort of human connection. The Bear community has touched so many lives and helped people really discover themselves. Most of the film is interviews with people who are into Bears, as they explain what the Bear community means to them and what it was like getting into it. The film has all the bases covered in this regard, whether it be the athletic jock, or the guy who could never find his place in the gay community, explaining how the Bear community changed their life for the better.

Life as a Bear isn’t all roses and blue skies, there is some major discord in the community–just as any group of people or lifestyle, a stereotype is created. What was once  such an accepting group, eventually grew to be very selective in some circles. The film takes a good bit of its time displaying the negative sides of being a Bear. Malcolm has even stated that the film was originally supposed to be entirely focused on the negative aspects of the community. One of the big problems in the Bear world is that they look down on other sub-communities such as the leather community in a not so nice way.

The only major downside to the film is a portion with Kevin Smith. Of course, when Kevin shows up it is for a relevant reason. Kevin is revered in the Bear community for posing on the cover of A Bear’s Life magazine with Malcolm Ingram, and then spoke about the expirence on David Letterman. No, Smith isn’t gay, but he was supporting his friend and let’s face it, he does have the Bear look. But after that, he just starts joking around. Smith is hilarious, but he had way too much screen-time, it got tiring really fast. I was there to see BEAR NATION, not AN EVENING WITH KEVIN SMITH.

Overall, BEAR NATION is a really nice movie. It is so charming, hilarious, and inspiring to the Bear community. If you have any interest in learning more about the history of the Bear movement and what it’s members go through, this is a film to see.