Written and directed by Maya Avidov, when Andrew Logan founded the Alternative Miss World in a jigsaw factory in Hackney in 1972, he didn’t expect that his celebration of transformation would take him from the Croisette at Cannes to the highest court in the UK.
Straight out of the gate, Too Disgusting to Be Confused is charming, fun and friendly. The tone immediately does justice to the vibrancy of this story and its subjects. Maya Avidov’s directorial style is strong and filled with personality from start to finish. Especially with the added use of animation, it brings an air that’s somewhere between Monty Python, Paddington and Paris is Burning. Something that may sound like a slightly odd combination but makes perfect sense as soon as you start watching the short.
It’s very British, in no small part thanks to the terrific narration from Christopher Adlington and additional voices by Peter Serafinowicz, both of whom have such an infectious energy to add to the mix. Building that captivating energy is definitely a key part to the success of Too Disgusting to Be Confused because Avidov clearly made a sincere effort to capture how you can never overestimate the creativity, ingenuity and relentlessness of the queer community, especially when it comes to putting on a show.
It also helps that Andrew Logan himself is a great storyteller, the way that he’s able to condense the story down so well, with the help of Abolfazl Talooni’s editing work. It keeps things moving at a quick pace, it covers a lot of ground within its brief thirteen minutes, and it manages to keep the strong atmosphere going without missing a beat. It’s very colourful and it has a fantastic sense of humour.
Too Disgusting to Be Confused is short, sweet, endearing, cheeky, and a wonderful example of finding the silver lining through an arduous, tedious battle. It’s a fascinating story filled with passion and determination. It’s all purposefully constructed, with lovely animation and editing, but at the same time it feels like a perfectly natural conversation, to Maya Avidov’s credit. It definitely makes you want to go out and delve more into the details of this story and all the curious, innovative, weird and wonderful sights that Alternative Miss World has to offer.
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