I really wanted to hate the movie Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist, despite the fact that I really like Michael Cera. The whole premise — boy and girl meet cute, rehash plot of 200 Cigarettes (only with less actors), bone after discovering shared love of hipper-than-thou indie rock — makes me want to yack. And then there’s the fact that the film stars Kat Dennings; if McSweeney’s started manufacturing females, she’d be the prototype.

But here’s the problem: The film (which just came out on DVD) really, really works. Dennings, effectively playing herself, is sensational (Cera is as well), and while one could credibly argue that the film is an 83-minute music video, it’s something of a tonal masterpiece, ala the similarly razor thin but ultimately very satisfying Lost In Translation. And there’s one element of the film that’s genuinely award-worthy: its straight-faced treatment of homosexual teens.

In the film, Cera plays guitar in a band called The Jerkoffs. His bandmates — who double as his best friends — are both gay. Not only are they both gay, but they’re not involved with one another — they’re just platonic friends who happen to be gay. They’re plenty horny, to be sure, but they’re never depicted as trying to “make” Cera — they’re just depicted as his close buddies, rooting for him to ditch a vapid girlfriend in favor of Dennings. Reflecting on my own relationships with gay men, this is how most dudes actually are, and I’m not sure I’ve seen them portrayed this accurately onscreen. Ever.

Which brings me to the GLAAD Media Awards. In GLAAD’s best picture category, Nick & Norah is up against Milk, which will undoubtedly walk off with the honor. There’s nothing wrong with this; Milk is a sensational film. But the Harvey Milk story got its glory back when The Life & Times of Harvey Milk won an Oscar for Best Documentary. If GLAAD wanted to honor a truly groundbreaking picture, it’d honor Nick & Norah instead.