The Gayt Movi That Aren’t Explicly Gay: 28 LGBTQ Cult Classics – IndieWire

Contents:

• MOVIE BLOG: 10 ESSENTIAL GAY CULT CLASSICS
• THE GAYT MOVI THAT AREN’T ACTUALLY GAY, OM ‘BARBIE’ AND ‘BURLQUE’ TO ‘VENOM’ AND ‘ROAD HOE’
• ‘THEY/THEM’ FILM REVIEW: SHARP SCRIPT GIV BE TO GAY-CONVERSN CAMP HORROR STORY
• INSI NYC’S SECRET CULT THAT ‘FORCED GAY PEOPLE TO NVERSN THERAPY’ & BRAWASHED HIGH-ACHIEVERS TO MANUAL LABOR
• THE GAY CULT (WHY I DON’T SUPPORT LGBT)
• GAY HISTORY: BUDDHAFIELD – A DARK STORY OF A GAY, SPEEDO WEARG GU, AND EXPLOATN!
• GAY CULT

MOVIE BLOG: 10 ESSENTIAL GAY CULT CLASSICS

The church, acrdg to s webse, believ “homosexualy is a s and an abomatn which God punish wh the ath penalty. Among those exampl are a parison of same-sex marriage to a marriage between “a man and his horse”; llg the “It Gets Better” project, an iative signed to help LGBTQ young people pe wh bullyg and margalizatn, “disgtg” and a “ncerted effort” to rec kids to the gay “liftyle”; and claimg that the “blood” of “young Mar” would be on the hands of lawmakers who voted to repeal the ary’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” Fay Rearch Council did not rpond to a requt for ment.

Another “anti-LGBTQ hate group” named the report is the Alliance Defendg Freedom, a nservative Christian legal group wh attorneys across the untry and a long track rerd of ligatg agast LGBTQ a lawsu that ma natnal headl last year, ADF reprented Jack Phillips, a Christian baker who refed to make a ke for a gay weddg, a narrow victory at the Supreme Court. ”Wtboro Baptist Church, known for s public protts that nsistently feature signs wh homophobic msag like “God Hat Fags, ” also appears on the SPLC’s list. Regardg homosexualy, “ is an abomatn, ” Phelps said SPLC stands by s “hate group” signatns and dismissed cricisms that the anizatn disproportnately foc on relig groups.

THE GAYT MOVI THAT AREN’T ACTUALLY GAY, OM ‘BARBIE’ AND ‘BURLQUE’ TO ‘VENOM’ AND ‘ROAD HOE’

Acrdg to Ta Fetner, a soclogy profsor at Canada’s McMaster Universy, anti-LGBTQ activists began anizatn “not too long after Stonewall, ” the 1969 uprisg at the Stonewall Inn, a New York Cy gay bar. “Along the same l that you see today, they put forward stereotyp and vilify, pecially gay men, as predators and predators of children, and e that to jtify the tactics of takg rights way om LGBTQ people, ” Fetner ced as an early example the activism of Ana Bryant Florida. The sger-turned-anti-gay-activist was behd the “Save Our Children” mpaign, which 1977 helped overturn a newly passed lol ordance Miami-Da County that prohibed discrimatn based on sexual orientatn employment, hog and public servic.

Reached a tippg pot for acceptance of homosexualy, acrdg to a Pew study, and by 2016, LGBTQ advot had solidified many civil rights gas, such as the legalizatn of same-sex are we seeg a surge? “I thk that anti-gay activism is swept up as part of this new social embrace of tolerance and right-wg attus of all kds, ” Fetner said. I've whtled down the list of my favore gay cult classics to jt the ten, which I tend to ver a wi range of bas.

Some movi didn't make the cut bee their appeal is arguably too limed (Kenh Anger's legendary short film Fireworks), and others bee their appeal extends well beyond the parameters of gay cultdom (David Lynch's Mulholland Drive). Not every movie the list is explicly GLBT that shows a romantic, same-sex relatnship, but tst me, every movie on this list (which is prented alphabetil orr) is totally gay. John Waters is arguably the preement gay director, and Female Trouble was reportedly his own favore film.

‘THEY/THEM’ FILM REVIEW: SHARP SCRIPT GIV BE TO GAY-CONVERSN CAMP HORROR STORY

No really, David Fcher's barnstormg adaptatn of (gay) thor Chuck Palahni's cult novel is teemg wh gay unrcurrents, for those tapped to s shall we say unique worldview. On the surface, there's nothg herently gay about this documentary peek to the cmblg tate of Big and Ltle Edie Bouvier, nt and to former First Lady Jacquele Kennedy. This movie may be to this list what the Gay '90s is to Mneapolis: an obligatory tourist stop.

Rob Epste's Osr-wng 1984 doc tak a clear look at the signifince of San Francis cy uncilman Harvey Milk's legacy as one of the pneerg openly gay policians. His plea for people to e out of the closet and show their loved on the te, human face of homosexualy still ronat. The rare group sometim weled gay men as brothers, but only so long as they upheld the polary r of the tradn they were practicg.

INSI NYC’S SECRET CULT THAT ‘FORCED GAY PEOPLE TO NVERSN THERAPY’ & BRAWASHED HIGH-ACHIEVERS TO MANUAL LABOR

Our Ftivals are rooted Aegean cycl and myths and are largely R, like those of other paths of Tradnal Wchcraft, n be sexually charged, and are cidly homoerotic.

No one is expected to do anythg non-nsensual; however, people unfortable wh nudy and homoerotic suatns may not be sued for this Tradn. Cast a few top-shelf gay ins there — your Bette Middlers, your Joan Crawfords, your Faye Dunaways playg Joan Crawford — and pecially have them reparteeg bchy l tearg each other to piec, and have an athetic that’s outre and unironilly mp, and you’ve got the wng-formula starter-pack for somethg licly fabulo and queer, even if not by tentnal sign.

But settg a precent for movi now nonized by gay culture that don’t technilly have any (non-d, anyway) gay characters were some of Hollywood’s most all-time legendary actrs: Bette Davis “All About Eve” ma “’s gog to be a bumpy ri” an idmatic quip, while Elizabeth Taylor then ma Bette Davis’ “what a dump” even more inic aga the openg le of “Who’s Aaid of Virgia Woolf, ” livered while gnawg down on a chicken wg. Ed Bianchi’s 1981 “The Fan, ” meanwhile, livered perhaps the greatt gift to gay film fans of a certa era stg Lren Ball as an agg actrs stgglg to hold onto her legacy while beg stalked by, what else but, a psychotic gay fan. Films like “9 to 5” and “Steel Magnolias” keep ptivatg bee their sts are all top-to-toe, inic-among-the-gays women who n duce tears and lghs and shout unfettably quotable l the same scene.

THE GAY CULT (WHY I DON’T SUPPORT LGBT)

There’s also, of urse, the trend many of the movi of men beg huiated and based — somethg the gay mal the dience love to partake — leavg our inic women wh all the chips the end and whom we n leave the theater rootg for. Below, IndieWire rounds up some of the bt cidly non-gay films that are actually gay after all — and gayer than many ntemporary movi proclaimg themselv as such actually are. “All About Eve” has long been analyzed through a queer lens, wh many terpretg Eve and the character of Addison DeWt (Gee Sanrs) as gay.

But even if you thk everyone the film is heterosexual, s gay appeal is unniable, wh an in like Davis the lead, geo stum, and all of the lightfully bchy snark between the magnificent actrs. Why ’s gay: Nicholas Ray’s cult classic plays out like a mented, closeted lbian love story.

GAY HISTORY: BUDDHAFIELD – A DARK STORY OF A GAY, SPEEDO WEARG GU, AND EXPLOATN!

Why ’s gay: Ameri’s arguably greatt director is normally regard as heteronormative (Wterns, war films, John Wayne, Amerin history), but his work is full of subtextual gay tert, rarely as much as here.

Why ’s gay: Beyond s possible cln bee of the bare-chted Holn — a 1950s Hollywood beefke, seen here ep to his reer — what is notable is a possible alternative terpretatn of two female characters.

The ridiculo Rosemary, sympathetilly portrayed, has overton of mon olr gay lt fantasi for younger men. From the tfight the powr room to the over-the-top dialogue to the jaw-droppg mil numbers and not one but two montag that serve as md-bogglg time psul of the ’60s, the film is so outrageo that spired generatns of gay viewers to scream, “Sparkle, Neely, sparkle! Why ’s gay: A wacky sexploatn film wh high mp productn valu and a killer theme song, Barbarella mt fight the evil Durand Durand (om which inic New Wave band Duran Duran took s name), while scg a shirtls Aryan angel and outlastg an evil sex mache.

GAY CULT

Why ’s gay: Endlsly quotable and drippg wh the fatigable spir of a stnch character, the tragic woman tak on a theatril magnificence wh Ltle Edie’s every twirl and outf change. What is: Although has been staged wh two men ( 2015 London), the straight uple’s suatn “Brief Enunter” — a drama of two married people (Celia Johnson, Trevor Howard) meetg by chance and their growg mutual affectn — works fe as a metaphor for barriers to gay romance.

Why ’s gay: More than the one-act Noel Coward play (the gay wrer expand the screenplay), this ni the possibily of realistic nsummatn, elevat the tratn impossible love, and als wh the sts of turng hont people to liars. Why ’s gay: Starrg a trifecta of hilarly talented legends, “9 to 5” slapstick, sexualy, and men’s huiatn to she a light on workplace harassment and discrimatn. Why ’s gay: Although “Mommie Deart” was negatively received at the time of s release, attracted a strong gay fanbase pretty much immediately, due to Dunaway’s performance, which was received by many as mp — most famoly, the inic “no wire hangers” scene.

Why ’s gay: What’s gayer than a movie wh Lren Ball beg stalked by a closeted mil buff than also that same movie segueg to an out-of-nowhere stage mil medley a la “Sg’ the Ra’s” entr’acte, featurg Ball speak-sgg onstage while beg lifted and twirled around by a pack of male dancers? Why ’s gay: Ridiculo, silly, and totally over the top, this sleight piece of slapstick would be totally fettable were not for Toml and Midler’s performanc. Why ’s gay: What’s gayer than women tryg to hold their sh together, while men repeatedly fail them?