Freak Show

In James St. James’s Freak Show it focuses on Billy Bloom, an out of the closet drag queen that has no shame. He is willing to walk the walk and talk the talk. There are no secrets when it comes to Billy. As a result he is consistently harassed and teased and his life is almost taken away from him. Things quickly change after that when Flip Kelley the star football player decides to become Billy’s protector. From there this hidden romance develops. Encouraged by Flip, Billy becomes more and more outrageous and fabulous. Flip as he leads Billy on keeps his mantra of being the straight football star. When Billy makes the first move a group of tourist gets the shock of their lives and Flip distances himself from Billy. As a result Billy becomes depressed but decides one day to change the image of the school and run for homecoming queen. This grows Billy’s confidence and makes the school a little more friendly for people who are different. However, through this entire run Flip is not involved. It is not until the end where Billy is almost raped and Flip comes into the picture again. He purposely missed the game winning football play at the homecoming game so he could be with Billy. As a result it shows that star athletes cannot be gay. Flip has to be a non-celebrity to be with Billy. Flip’s journey is much more interesting. It shows the stress that comes with being gay. He could not be accepted for who he is. He had to be anonymous for his journey to continue.