Washington Post columnist Tom Shales takes a look at cable station TCM's "Screened Out: Gay Images in Film," a Gay Pride Month series featuring major or minor gay characters that starts Monday night. There's more on the TCM website.
More. Much discussion on TCM of Hollywood's reliance on stereotypes of "nervous nellies" and other sissified representations. Actually, it doesn't seem like so much has changed in that regard in Hollywoodland, except that the excessively flamboyant "funny gays" are now counterbalanced somewhat by average gay Joes (the "Will & Grace" stratagem).
15 Comments for “The Way We Were (and Weren’t)”
posted by Greg Capaldini on
Filmmaking is a medium whose artists can pass off any human stereotype as reality. For the viewer the results range from enlightenment about the human condition to reinforcement of biases. Lesbians and gays are examples of both, as are many other types of people. I’ve looked at TCM’s website materials about this series, and there are some interesting offerings. However, I long ago concluded that the products of major studios don’t paint as complete and true a picture of my kind as do independently produced films.
posted by ETJB on
Vito R. did some great research on this in the 1970s – 1980s and it was the subject of a documentary film in the 1990s.
I also done some research on how video games have depicted LGBT people over the years.
posted by Lori Heine on
Will on “Will and Grace” is pretty believable. But Jack represents the average gay man about as well as a minstrel performer, in blackface and singing “Mammy” with a banjo, can be said to represent the average African-American. Jack was funny for about the first ten minutes (and in occasional, brilliant flashes thereafter). Most of the rest of the time, I’d watch him and think “ye gads, no wonder so many straight folks have such screwed-up notions about us.”
The movies on TCM promise to be interesting. They had one on the other night (I’m not sure it was supposed to be a part of the official collection) in which a woman writer, wearing a tie and fedora and smoking a cigar, made wisecracks about the stupidity of marriage. I don’t know what else they could have been trying to portray, if not a lesbian. Of course this film was released in 1930.
I suppose I can’t get too offended, since I, too, smoke cigars. But I’ve never worn a tie in my whole life. And as for marriage, I count myself among those not trying to “beat” it, but to “join” it.
posted by ETJB on
Their certainly are effeminate gay men, although I think that “Jack” was certainly over the top and often times ‘brave’ television is one step forward, and two steps back.
Television is a different medium them film.
ill on “Will and Grace” is pretty believable. But Jack represents the average gay man about as well as a minstrel performer, in blackface and singing “Mammy” with a banjo, can be said to represent the average African-American. Jack was funny for about the first ten minutes (and in occasional, brilliant flashes thereafter). Most of the rest of the time, I’d watch him and think “ye gads, no wonder so many straight folks have such screwed-up notions about us.”
The movies on TCM promise to be interesting. They had one on the other night (I’m not sure it was supposed to be a part of the official collection) in which a woman writer, wearing a tie and fedora and smoking a cigar, made wisecracks about the stupidity of marriage. I don’t know what else they could have been trying to portray, if not a lesbian. Of course this film was released in 1930.
I suppose I can’t get too offended, since I, too, smoke cigars. But I’ve never worn a tie in my whole life. And as for marriage, I count myself among those not trying to “beat” it, but to “join” it.
posted by ETJB on
Also, “Jack” was certainly not a “minstrel performer”.
The old racist images in pop cultural were largely designed to depict black men as being wild animals that were either content with inequality or out to rape white women.
Here, “Jack” was simply an effeminate and flamboyant gay man. He was oftentimes a male reflection of “Karen”, although he had more of a heart.
Frankly, I never found the show — or any of its characters to be consistantly funny –. It came off as being a tad bit too ‘Friends’ (people who rarely work, but live in the urban upper middle class)
The jokes about the maid got old fast.
I thought that final episode was a let down. Will and Grace were destined to meet so as to ensure that their straight children would meet in college…Jack and Karen live richly together.
Again, people should watch ‘The Celluloid Closet’ (based on book of same name) to learn more. ‘Mannish’ acting/looking women were oftentimes ‘code’ for lesbians.
posted by J. Peron on
First, don’t bother the TCM previews if you have a Mac. They ban Macs from viewing the films.
Comedy is a difficult topic to discuss in gay circles because it is often based on exaggeration of all kinds. Is Jack a typical gay man? No. And what husband on a sitcom is a typical husband? Is Peggy Bundy a typical mother? Karen is not the typical rich woman and Rosario is not a typical maid. No one is typical.
A comedy where everything is typical is rarely funny. The problem would be if this is the only image out there competiting for attention. It is not. It strikes me as absurd to judge a comedy because it exaggerates traits. A huge amount of comedy is based exactly on that and has always been so.
posted by Lori Heine on
Last night, TCM ran “Queen Christina,” starring Greta Garbo. The lesbian angle, much-ballyhooed by Mr. Osborne in his intro to the movie, was so subtle it was barely discernible.
There was, I couldn’t help but notice, the obligatory stereotype of Christina — which, I suppose, was meant to “explain” any funny stuff between her and her lady-in-waiting. Her father, the king, dressed her in boy’s clothing when she was a child.
It might be helpful if Mr. Osborne and his guests discussed this sort of thing to some degree, instead of focusing entirely on the silly things the Hays Office would have done with these films had they been released a few years later.
posted by Craig on
Lori you smoke cigars? Seriously? I know you take your Christian faith very seriously, so somehow I pictured you as one of the Baptist ladies in the church where I grew up in the midwest.
Very cool…
posted by Lori Heine on
Craig, I am actually a lapsed Catholic. So cigars are on my OK list. I don’t drink alcohol (any more), but I must admit that along with nicotine, caffeine is also my drug of choice.
posted by Craig on
Totally off the subject here, but I grew up in a very sheltered Baptist environment – no smoking, no drinking, no cards, and on and on.
I first met a Catholic priest when I was about 14 – he was sitting in a restaurant chomping on a cigar and swearing up a storm. I was of course appalled. But I think that was the first time I began to realize that you could be a Christian and not be tied to all the restrictions of my church.
Being gay was a ways off at that time, but I guess meeting that Catholic priest was the beginning of my realization that it was okay. I bet he would be appalled if he knew the effect he had on me 🙂
posted by Lori Heine on
Catholics seem to have a lot more humanity about morality in general — at least, until they get to the subject of sex. Then they go absolutely off their rockers.
I went to a Southern Baptist university, and it seemed to me that they tended to go off their rockers about pretty much everything. At our school (Grand Canyon University), a student could be expelled if caught sitting in a restaurant drinking a beer.
posted by Craig2 on
My sympathies, Lori. I went to a fundamentalist Christian school for thirteen years, although happily, there are no fundamentalist ‘universities’, and the Baptist denomination is tiny down here in comparison with the SBC.
As a result, I developed a strategic insight into the NZ
Christian Right when I got sorted
out enough to finally come out,
and they’ve been regretting my
unhappy days there ever since…
Craig2
Wellington, New Zealand
posted by ETJB on
Wikipedia has an interesting article on LGBT characters in the Star Trek franchise and some articles on LGBT characters in American network tv.
posted by Lori Heine on
Gay characters in the Star Trek Series? Oh, if only there’d been more!
Seven of Nine, Captain Janeway and me — in a funky, futuristic Voyager hot tub.
Sorry for daydreaming on line…
posted by Lori Heine on
Again last night I watched another “Screened Out” movie and half of one more. I couldn’t stand to finish the second one, a lurid potboiler about a womens’ prison.
Yee gads, the stereotyping is awful. All the supposedly gay and lesbian characters are neurotic creeps or colorful circus freaks.
If this is “paying homage” to us, then please — let’s go back to being ignored.