March 15, 1996
HBO etc.
Documentary
VHS
B
Although this remains an insightful and often funny look at the history of gays and lesbians (and to a lesser degree transfolk and bisexuals) in a century's worth of movies, I don't think it has aged entirely gracefully. There are two things, not unrelated. One, almost twenty years have passed, and the way we look at "gay movies," and indeed the LGBT (etc.) community/communities has changed. Homophobia definitely still exists, but there's a lot more mainstream tolerance, as evidenced in the progress with the gay marriage issue. Also, sexuality (which now includes asexuality) is by no means a binary subject anymore. (Not that it ever was, but people are more conscious of that.) And two, although this is better organized than Hollywood Uncensored, I felt it didn't do a good enough job of putting things in context with the larger culture. For example, there's only a brief mention of the medical view of homosexuality and some mention of Catholic censorship, but Hollywood was heavily affected by the perspectives of the dominant culture. Still, the movie continues to offer a different way of seeing the movies, and I know I've never been able to watch the gymnasium scene in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes without grinning.
With the exception of Will H. Hays, I've decided not to tag everyone in the film clips, but instead focus on those who are interviewed (Gore Vidal is hilarious of course), as well as Tomlin, who narrated. At the time this movie was released, she wasn't officially out, but then she was never exactly closeted either. Interestingly, Paul Rudnick would soon write In & Out, which was quite an experience to see with a mainstream audience.
The movie is based on a much more pessimistic book by Vito Russo, who had died in 1990.
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| "I just went gay all of a sudden!" |
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