Born into a French upper-class family in 1972 (the year following the legalization of homosexuality in France), Guillaume's mother quickly noticed his interest in making dresses out of bed covers, and aspiring to be like his mother.
Guillaume is very effeminate, and always has been. So much, to the point where his own mother always believed he would come out as gay. But Guillaume is in fact straight, and one of his latest films tells the story of his troubled growing up.
The fact his mother practically always told him he was gay, he likes boys, and wouldn't be surprised if he brought a boy home one day, caused Guillaume to doubt his own sexuality. Interested in acting, literature and the arts, his mother didn't stop him from doing what he wanted, but his father was determined to fit him into a mold by sending him to an all-boys Catholic school and encouraging him to do sports.
He tells his story through his latest film Me, Myself and Mum in which he plays himself and the role of his mother. The French title, "Les Garçons et Guillaume, à table" ("Boys, and Gullaume, dinner is ready") reflects his mother's view of him, constantly distinguishing him from his two brothers, and making him feel unlike other boys, building on his insecurity. Lost, Guillaume ends up seeing a psychiatrist who prescribes him a stack of medicines to try and "turn him straight".
Here is the trailer in English.
I went to see this film some time ago, when it came out in here in France. Since then it's had me thinking about how bizarre this situation is. You would more inclined to expect "His Mother Was Disappointed When He Came Out As Gay" to be the title of an article on a site like ours, but I think this is the first time I've ever come across a story like Guillaume's.
What his mother believed comes down to is the same root of homophobia, even though she accepted Guillaume as "gay": assumptions but most of all, prejudice and stereotypes. The real reason I'm writing about this is to point out that just because a man is effeminate, it doesn't mean he's gay. And just because he's masculine, it doesn't mean he's straight. It all comes down to stereotypes, and society's view and categorization of individuals into communities.
Guillaume recently directed and starred in Me, Myself and Mum as himself and his mother, and starred in Yves Saint-Laurent as Pierre Bergé, Yves Saint-Laurents's lover. I highly recommend Me, Myself and Mum to anybody who likes foreign and LGBT film and doesn't mind reading subtitles (I don't think there's an English dubbed version).
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