Historic queer films
This evening we went to the library to watch 16mm films about gay and lesbian people of the past. They were screening them in the Calvin Coolidge Presidential Museum, so we were surrounded by pictures of Coolidge and his things, which was a sort of weird contrast. (Though not as weird as watching films about the Donner Party in a room full of dead butterflies in cases.)
The first film was The Homosexuals, a 45-minute CBS special (no, really!) from 1967. It wasn't as bad as it could have been. Sure, they had some clearly closeted psychologists talking about how all homosexuals (specifically, gay men) are doomed to lives of unhappiness and it's their mother's fault, blah blah, and some self-loathing gay men interviewed standing behind potted ferns to obscure their faces, plus some clergymen, some footage of protests (with gawkers), people being arrested for public sex, and so on. Plus they told us, in total seriousness, about the Homosexual Mafia running the art/fashion/theater world. But the first gay guy they showed was all polished and well-dressed and handsome and articulate and unapologetic; they had a lot of interviews with the Mattachine Society as well. And they interviewed Gore Vidal (did people know he was gay then? It didn't sound like it from what he said) and actually aired him talking about how we need to do away with the institution of marriage, our culture's sexual mores are outdated, and so on. I was amazed that we're still having the same debate, and that they were having it then.
And, man, what a difference Stonewall made, huh? This was two years before Stonewall; the other film, five years after, has people coming out and quitting the seminary ("Maybe in ten years they'll have changed and I can go back and be ordained," she says hopefully. Sigh.), holding hands in public, and generally being happy to be gay.
The other film, Lavender, was way different. It was this self-produced lesbian film from 1974; their goal (the couple who made it) was to show that they were, y'know, regular people. And they did that. So there was footage of them brushing their teeth, doing the dishes, going to parties, playing in the snow, cuddling while watching TV. I was struck by how *real* they were; it was immediately apparent from their body language, how they moved, how they talked, that they were lesbians and they loved each other. It was really sweet to see them being all snuggly and gay. There were voice-overs over the footage; they spent the whole movie just chatting about the footage on screen.
I can't think of another lesbian film I've seen where I instantly accepted that the people were lesbians and in love; you'd think that, whatever it is, actors could capture it, but I guess they haven't. There's really something about the body language, and they definitely had it here; the way they moved, it was somehow totally about the other person (yes, they were obviously in love), plus it was recognizably lesbian -- I don't even know what the characteristics are, but they had it. Plus they were so sweet and cute and aww. I'm really glad I saw it.
The first film was The Homosexuals, a 45-minute CBS special (no, really!) from 1967. It wasn't as bad as it could have been. Sure, they had some clearly closeted psychologists talking about how all homosexuals (specifically, gay men) are doomed to lives of unhappiness and it's their mother's fault, blah blah, and some self-loathing gay men interviewed standing behind potted ferns to obscure their faces, plus some clergymen, some footage of protests (with gawkers), people being arrested for public sex, and so on. Plus they told us, in total seriousness, about the Homosexual Mafia running the art/fashion/theater world. But the first gay guy they showed was all polished and well-dressed and handsome and articulate and unapologetic; they had a lot of interviews with the Mattachine Society as well. And they interviewed Gore Vidal (did people know he was gay then? It didn't sound like it from what he said) and actually aired him talking about how we need to do away with the institution of marriage, our culture's sexual mores are outdated, and so on. I was amazed that we're still having the same debate, and that they were having it then.
And, man, what a difference Stonewall made, huh? This was two years before Stonewall; the other film, five years after, has people coming out and quitting the seminary ("Maybe in ten years they'll have changed and I can go back and be ordained," she says hopefully. Sigh.), holding hands in public, and generally being happy to be gay.
The other film, Lavender, was way different. It was this self-produced lesbian film from 1974; their goal (the couple who made it) was to show that they were, y'know, regular people. And they did that. So there was footage of them brushing their teeth, doing the dishes, going to parties, playing in the snow, cuddling while watching TV. I was struck by how *real* they were; it was immediately apparent from their body language, how they moved, how they talked, that they were lesbians and they loved each other. It was really sweet to see them being all snuggly and gay. There were voice-overs over the footage; they spent the whole movie just chatting about the footage on screen.
I can't think of another lesbian film I've seen where I instantly accepted that the people were lesbians and in love; you'd think that, whatever it is, actors could capture it, but I guess they haven't. There's really something about the body language, and they definitely had it here; the way they moved, it was somehow totally about the other person (yes, they were obviously in love), plus it was recognizably lesbian -- I don't even know what the characteristics are, but they had it. Plus they were so sweet and cute and aww. I'm really glad I saw it.