Week 2 CMoney - Queer Film

After our first class, I have been watching movies in the Gay and Lesbian category on Netflix constantly, and each one has taught me so much. There really is a large representation of queer in the film industry. While there is of course TV shows such as The L Word and Will and Grace that cast a very homonormative picture of the community, many full-length films are making up for it with branching into the realm of the other, or queer. Don't get me wrong, I love Will and Grace, but Will and Jack are not representative of any gay men I know.

I started with more well known movie Boys Don't Cry, the Brandon Teena story. While I knew of Brandon Teena, I didn't know nearly as much as I thought I did. After watching the film I researched the story, and while there are a few inaccuracies in the film, I feel it gets quite a compelling message across. Hilary Swank makes quite the good looking boy if you ask me, and having such a high profile cast really gave this story the attention it needed. Boys Don't Cry Trailer

The Christine Jorgensen Story was particularly interesting. I feel this was quite the topic to be filming in 1970, and I wondered all the way through it how exactly those actors felt about the topic of transsexuality. The film is the story of the first transsexual to receive sexual reassignment surgery. I won't ruin the film for any who have not seen it, but it is quite enlightening. An interesting connection between this film and our reading from Foucault, the surgeon goes on a bit of a rant about Americans being so childish when it comes to the topic of sex. Americans are okay with other types of invasive topics, but through in testicles and no one has anything else to say. I thought this spoke precisely to the opening chapter of the Foucault piece we are reading. I find it such a strange phenomenon that sex was once so casual, but managed to be bastardized into the scary and sinful thing we have today. The Christine Jorgensen Story Trailer

Venus Boyz is a documentary about female masculinity and New York drag king culture. This is a topic I would love to explore further, but geographically Atlanta. Being interested in the drag scene myself, this topic is fascinating. I know I have referenced it a few times, but the quotes from Butler in the Queer Theory text on performing gender are so right. The women featured in this film are not men, and know they are not men, but they often dress as if they are men. A woman is definitely not what she wears, and the drag king culture speaks directly to this. Venus Boyz Trailer

Red Without Blue was a very touching film that I believe you guys watched in class this past week. I couldn't help but think of the Sedgwick piece we read the entire time I was watching this film. It really is a struggle between nature and nurture when it comes to studying gender and sexuality. Their mother had no idea how to respond to Claire, and instead made selfish comments throughout the film that it was somehow a blow at her. This resentment from the parent can be a big cause in the increased rates of youth suicides. Finding oneself, and sometimes changing to fit oneself, is a tough step and anyone's life. Parents should love their children under any circumstances.

The Sex Monster was very different from any of the other films, it was simply art for arts sake. I'll try not to ruin the plot, but essentially the husband wants to switch things up, but in the process creates a "sex monster." I found it completely hilarious at times, but so applicable to American culture. What this film considered the acts of a monster, was really just an expression of suppressed sexuality. I found this movie particularly queer simply through the means in which the monster was created, and the condemnation the monster received. A civilized society could never accept such acts, was the message I received. The Sex Monster Trailer

Party Monster is another more mainstream movie starring Macaulay Culkin and Seth Green. While the acting is terrible, it gets the story across. Based on a true story, Culkin's character is the epitome of queer. His sexuality, or identity even, is never clearly defined, and he would not have had it any other way. His character lives as Foucault describes the times in which sex was not taboo and sinful, but rather casual, playful, and art. He uses sex to acquire anything and everything he desires, neglecting the norms of society. This movie is certainly worth watching. Party Monster Trailer

Paris is Burning is a classic drag documentary, I won't say much because I believe we are watching it later in the class, but it is fabulous. Although I studied African American culture some in my undergraduate studies of Africa and African Diaspora, I had never even heard of the balls of New York. I can only imagine how the film participants must feel when they are performing in a community all their own. Queer, being the other, forces new communities to emerge, such as the many found in this film. Such a classic.

There are many others, but these are just the ones I happened to watch this week. Cinema is big part of our culture, and having these films with what can be seen as queer topics available, I think makes the idea of queer a little more accessible to the general public. While movies can be grand and grossing exaggerative, they are much more widely and publicly experienced than books, and therefore have a better chance of  exposing of topics such as queer.