From state censorship to cross-dressing to cane fondling, the portrayal of homosexuality in film does more than reflect the opinions of the day — it helps mold them.
Below, work your way up from The Gay Brothers in 1895 to see how gender roles, stigma, homophobia and ultimately liberation tells the story of gay representation.
What’s next?
James Benson
WOW if you have never seen this Movie , worth taking a look, “My own Private Idaho”
Steve Ollerenshaw
I’d say it was more to do with the tenacity, bravery and hard work of gay people and our straight allies
Harold Powell
If they did then Now is the time for LGBT actors to win Staring Role Equality! LGBT roles for LGBT Actors; No More Rainbow Face!
salex
YOU BET!
AtticusBennett
yes. they inspired “us” to come out and claim our lives, they inspire non-gay people to exercise empathy and compassion
art is transformative. novels, tv, film, visual art, dance: they cut right to the core of the human experience and they open you up, emotionally and intellectually.
what art has done is not just wake-up Straight Folks, but empower LGBT ones.
make no mistake, queer art has saved lives.
know that families were saved by thing like this….
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mOEnjQY_jCk
Bauhaus
@AtticusBennett:
“art is transformative. novels, tv, film, visual art, dance: they cut right to the core of the human experience and they open you up, emotionally and intellectually.”
Thank you for articulating so beautifully how art transforms lives. Beauty is extremely important in my life, and not just physical beauty. Music, literature, nature, my surroundings and environment, decency, and all that you mentioned. Your light burns bright!
Chris Mommaerts
No
JAW
There was nothing queer about those pictures… They were about Gay men
David Edward Hollis
I miss River
Cagnazzo82
Brokeback Mountain made queer cinema popular with the soccer mom Oprah crowd.
That’s when I started to notice a shift in attitudes. This was back in 2005.
enfilmigult
Really good video; I was expecting just a condensed version of ‘The Celluloid Closet’ (several of the same clip used there are used here) but it has its own points to make. Excellent work.
I do wonder how much films were a reflection of attitudes rather than a catalyst…but then, I guess the Hays Code answers that question. If they didn’t think there was an influence they wouldn’t have tried to prevent one.
Bob LaBlah
I was disappointed not to see longer clips from the 1950 prison movie Caged. That was a good one. Hope Emmerson stole the show and was robbed of her best supporting role Oscar.
I wish he had included Michael York in Something for Everyone (1970) with Angela Lansbury. He connived his way thru a family and ended up rich and in control.
Rhoda Mackenzie
Maybe a little but it’s the court cases that did it. and, all of us who were persecuted all our lives but marched anyway.
edtaylorky
When I was a child, growing up in the middle of nowhere (pre-internet), movies with LGBT characters reminded me I was human when nothing and no one else would.
broadshoulder
I noticed the change in attitudes in Britain in the late eighties ie Maurice, My beautiful launderette getting good ratings..
Eldred
I have no Idea, but I’ll tell you what;
My Own Private Idaho is one of my favorite movies. I watched it as a clueless teen and it helped open my world up.
lougenessis
Jack, I swear
Chris
@AtticusBennett: Nice clip. It reminds us that words can, and do, hurt.
At its best, art challenges us and our preconceptions. Hence, it often angers us. Though it’s an expression of our culture and of our shared values; it also leads us to look at those places where our values are lacking and where we are falling short. ….. That so many gay folk are in the arts, in the cinema specifically, means that cinema could not help but be informed by the sensibilities and value of gay folk of the times. So of course, cinema had a role; we might quibble about how large or small that role was; but it was part of that larger whole.
ChgoReason
I believe marriage equality was made possible by strong activism by the good people at LGBTQ centers across America. But, at a more mainstream level I think it was the popular television program, Modern Family, that helped tell the story that gay guys are alright, and could be part of a normal, regular family.