FAQ

This question has been debated. In the original version, we know nothing of Mr. White's personal life and "Lloyd" is just his unseen, and put-upon assistant. As such, the argument could be made that Mr. White's sexuality is unknown. However, the extended version includes scenes in which Mr. White and Lloyd, played by Howie Long, by the way, are clearly in a loving, homosexual relationship. The question really then is a matter of whether one feels the extended version is canonical. If you consider it part of the "That Thing You Do" canon, then, he is definitely gay. If you consider it non-canonical, then, his sexuality is unknown. Experts differ on this, but, for my money, if the extended version doesn't change any facts of the story (and in this case it does NOT... it merely expands on or adds plotlines that are NOT mutually exclusive to anything in the original), then the extended version is canon, and, thus Mr. White is gay. Your mileage may vary.

The Extended Edition released in the USA is really impressive. 39 minutes of plot have been added. For example there is more emphasis on the relationship and the breakup between Guy (Tom Everett Scott) and Tina (Charlize Theron), such as Guy's growing affection for Faye (Liv Tyler). Even though the movie has a running time of almost two and a half hours, time seems to be flying by. You can literally feel how much the actors enjoyed shooting the movie.

The extended version also has a more adult feel to it. Even though both versions make it clear that these "kids" are actually in their early 20s, the original version still had the feel of a bunch of high school kids on a wild (and fairly chaste) ride. The extended version makes it clear that these are adults. The boys drink beer on several occasions. Tina most definitely has an affair with her dentist rather than a girlie crush. T.B. Player has a sexual relationship with his favorite member of "The Chantralines". Mr. White has a semi-open homosexual relationship with his assistant Lloyd. In any case, it is one of those rare cases where the extended version really is a different (though just as good) movie than the original. Oh, it covers the same ground - the rise and fall of a one-hit wonder - but it does so with a surprisingly different tone.

U Thant was Secretary General of the United Nations from 1961 to 1971. While he was relatively well known in his day (and he certainly had a memorable name), he was not the kind of person a 20-something-year-old musician would be aware of unless he was fairly well read and possessed an intellectual curiousity. Guy Patterson knowing this is another way of proving to us that he is, indeed, the "smart one".