Homophobic? Maybe. But at least Midnight Cowboy showed me gay men on screen | Ryan Gilbey | The Guardian

is midnight cowboy a gay film

In this exclive excerpt, the thor of Sexplosn! From Andy Warhol to A Clockwork Orange: How a Generatn of Pop Rebels Broke All the Taboos tells how Midnight Cowboy's party sequence and a gunshot om Valerie Solanas helped make Joe Dallandro a gay in.

Contents:

HOMOPHOBIC? MAYBE. BUT AT LEAST MIDNIGHT COWBOY SHOWED ME GAY MEN ON SCREEN

The ntroversial bt-picture wner wh Dt Hoffman and Jon Voight arrived at a ght moment not jt the evolutn of filmmakg, but the stggle for visibily of gay liv. An excerpt of a five new book. * is midnight cowboy a gay film *

” So is wh Midnight Cowboy, one of the classics of the short-lived New Hollywood era and the only X-rated film ever to w an Amy Award for bt long-standg myth is that the Motn Picture Associatn of Ameri’s pdish ratgs board, repelled by Midnight Cowboy’s scen of fellat, sodomy, homosexualy, and sadomasochism, slapped an X on the film before s release May 1969.

MIDNIGHT COWBOY, ANDY WARHOL, GAY HTLERS, AND ONE LBIAN FEMIST

Growg up, I hankered after imag of other gay men, however they were treated, wr film cric Ryan Gilbey * is midnight cowboy a gay film *

Fortunately, the tth is a better st of characters clus one of the film dtry’s preement power brokers, who got squeamish over the sex scen and generally rnchy subject matter of the movie; a gay film director who was still the closet even while he sought to make a movie that alt openly and ankly wh sexualy, straight and gay; a polilly nnected former ai to Print Lyndon Johnson who tried to steer the motn picture dtry around the shoals of ntroversy; and a clever psychoanalyst wh a passn for power who provid the phony ratnale that allowed the stud head to do exactly what he wanted to story tak place at a pivotal moment Amerin cultural and polil history, when homosexualy was still wily viewed as a ntag disease and a dire threat to Amerin youth, while filmmakers were stgglg for more eedom to tell adult the storm ro Midnight this is a Hollywood story, let’s start wh the man wh the most money and power. ” Adultery, premaral sex, homosexualy, and abortn for any reason were not allowed, nor was anythg else that might “lower the moral standards of those who see . Hollywood was even more squeamish when me to homosexualy.

Still, jt as other adult them started to seep to mastream Amerin films, homosexualy took s first baby steps out of the closet, but only films that picted gay people as praved, unhappy, and self-stctive. The films should have rried a surgeon general’s warng: Homosexualy, like cigarette smokg, n be hazardo to one’s first Valenti toyed wh the ia of killg the Productn Co outright and replacg wh a simple utnary label: “For Mature Audienc. His bs plan turns out to be fatally flawed—the only ctomers who show any tert Joe’s sexual prows are a handful of gay men, while he himself be fair game for a seri of predators who quickly relieve him of his small stash of sh.

One of those on his feet appldg was Arthur soon had send was early sprg 1969, and New York was enterg a new era of revolutnary change the way many creative people thought about and picted homosexualy.

*BEAR-MAGAZINE.COM* IS MIDNIGHT COWBOY A GAY FILM

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class="RponsiveImageContaer-eybHBd fptoWY rponsive-image__image" src="></picture></span></div></div></div></div><div class="GridWrapper-cAzTTK eRggVV grid grid-margs grid-ems-0 SplScreenContentHearGrid-kFpOdh fLkIyA"><div class="GridItem-buujkM kHPPIF grid--em"><div class="CaptnWrapper-jSZdqE iTuhkZ ptn SplScreenContentHearCaptn-iOfEOv ckLUKG"><span class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ CaptnText-bHjzlu iUEiRd hWyo iXWezO ptn__text">Dt Hoffman and Jon Voight play a Tim Square odd uple the film.</span><span class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ CaptnCred-ejegDm iUEiRd iicloT jbIJNS ptn__cred">Photograph om MPTV Imag</span></div></div></div></hear></div><div data-attribute-verso-pattern="article-body" class="ArticlePageContentBackGround-cNiFNN kbAoLA article-body__ntent"><div class="ActnBarWrapperContent-lasBkU cAHp"><div class="ActnBarWrapperComponent-cjwxLS bEeSLb"><div data-attr-viewport-monor="" class="ActnBarWrapper-dhxmQh kNjTbQ viewport-monor-anchor"><button id="bookmark" 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fill="none" xmlns="><tle>Save this story</tle><path class="in-bookmark-fill" d="M20 23.9508L12.5 19.7312L5 23.9508V2.95081H14V3.93211H6V22.1845L12.5 18.5536L19 22.1845V8.83866H20V23.9508Z"></path><path class="in-bookmark-fill" d="M23 3H20V0H19V3H16V4H19V7H20V4H23V3Z"></path></svg></span><span class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ ActnBarButtonText-bYXYuh iUEiRd bkefvo gkccfO">Save this story</span></button></div></div></div><div class="LightboxWrapper-dxsWBV hhylRt"><div class="ArticlePageChunksContent-etcMtP bwyLBj"><div data-ttid="ArticlePageChunks" class="ArticlePageChunks-fLyCVG Uozmo"><div class="GridWrapper-cAzTTK kHBDeH grid grid-margs grid-ems-2 ArticlePageChunksGrid-hfxa bjczjj grid-layout--adrail narrow wi-adrail"><div class="GridItem-buujkM stRKV grid--em grid-layout__ntent"><div class="BodyWrapper-kufPGa bDyAMU body body__ntaer article__body" data-journey-hook="client-ntent" data-ttid="BodyWrapper"><div class="body__ner-ntaer"><figure data-ttid="IameEmbed" class="IameEmbedWrapper-sc-dRedg cjyRVU iame-embed"><div data-ttid="IameEmbedContaer" class="IameEmbedContaer-hptgUZ fXVBaX"><div class="IameEmbedAspectRatWrapper-hFVJps BKpgQ"><iame class="IameEmbedContent-cMdiev csnuAY IameEmbedContent lazyload" height="90" width="100%" sandbox="allow-scripts allow-same-orig allow-popups" tle="Embedd Frame" data-src=" allowfullscreen="" allow="toplay *; encrypted-media *; clipboard-wre; toplay; fullscreen; picture--picture"></iame></div></div></figure><p class="has-dropp has-dropp__lead-standard-headg paywall">In December, 1963, <em>Life</em> published a special issue on “The Movi.” The Uned Stat, the magaze asserted, had fallen behd the rt of the world. Hollywood was too timid, too worried about the natnal “image.” Meanwhile, Swedish, Japane, Italian, and French filmmakers were makg movi that people talked about. “While the whole film world has been buzzg wh new excement,” the magaze nclud, “Hollywood has felt like Charlie Chapl standg outsi the lnaire’s door—wistful and forsaken.”</p><p class="paywall">Exactly four years later, which, feature-film productn time, is virtually overnight, <em>Time</em>, the sister publitn of <em>Life</em>, ran a ver story on “The New Cema.” “The most important fact about the screen 1967,” announced, “is that Hollywood has at long last bee part of what the French film journal <em>Cahiers du Cema</em> lls ‘the fur sprgtime of world cema.’ ” How this happened, how Hollywood sudnly went om losg lns on bloated spectacl like “Muty on the Bounty” (1962) and “Cleopatra” (1963) to producg smart, talked-about pictur like “The Graduate” (1967) and “Bonnie and Cly” (1967)—how Old Hollywood beme the New Hollywood—is a popular subject for movie historians.</p><div><div class="ConsumerMarketgUnThemedWrapper-iUTMTf jssHut nsumer-marketg-un nsumer-marketg-un--article-mid-ntent" role="prentatn" aria-hidn="te"><div class="nsumer-marketg-un__slot nsumer-marketg-un__slot--article-mid-ntent nsumer-marketg-un__slot---ntent"></div><div class="journey-un"></div></div></div><p class="paywall">One film that’s often left out of the story is “Midnight Cowboy.” When was released, May, 1969, “Midnight Cowboy” seemed as h, as startlg, and as “mt-see” as “The Graduate.” But is not mentned once Robert Sklar’s “<a data-offer-url=" class="external-lk" data-event-click="{"element":"ExternalLk","outgogURL":"" href=" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Movie-Ma Ameri: A Cultural History of Amerin Movi</a>.” It up a few tim, but only passg, Peter Biskd’s “<a data-offer-url=" class="external-lk" data-event-click="{"element":"ExternalLk","outgogURL":"" href=" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Easy Rirs, Ragg Bulls: How the Sex-Dgs-and-Rock-’n’-Roll Generatn Saved Hollywood</a>” and Mark Harris’s “<a data-offer-url=" class="external-lk" data-event-click="{"element":"ExternalLk","outgogURL":"" href=" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Pictur at a Revolutn: Five Movi and the Birth of the New Hollywood</a>.”</p><p class="paywall">Glenn Frankel’s new book, “<a data-offer-url=" class="external-lk" data-event-click="{"element":"ExternalLk","outgogURL":"" href=" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Shootg ‘Midnight Cowboy’: Art, Sex, Lonels, Liberatn, and the Makg of a Dark Classic</a>” (Farrar, Strs & Giroux), aims to change all that. “More than fifty years later,” Frankel believ, “<em>Midnight Cowboy</em> remas a bleak and troublg work of novelistic and cematic ventn, floatg far above most other books and films of s era.” Frankel’s book is genero wh ntext, but is, sentially, the bgraphy of a movie. He has also wrten books on “The Searchers” and “High Noon.” The have the same tert that bgraphi of famo people do: they show the “what if”s and the “but for”s hidg the backstory of the fished product.</p><p class="paywall">Many more movi don’t get ma than get ma: there is so much that has to go right, and so much that n go wrong. Movie productn requir the llaboratn of creative people workg unr nstant prsure to ntrol sts and turn a prof. Wh dozens of egos the game and lns of dollars on the table, is evable that thgs won’t go entirely as planned.</p><p class="paywall">So is not too surprisg to learn that the director of “Midnight Cowboy,” John Schlger, had difficulty gettg stud fancg, which wasn’t helped by the fact that his prev movie, “Far om the Maddg Crowd,” wh Julie Christie, had bombed. Or that he ially nsired the novel that the film is based on to be unreadable. Or that he did not want to st eher of the actors who beme the movie’s stars: Dt Hoffman, as the Tim Square lowlife Ri (Ratso) Rizzo, and Jon Voight, as Joe Buck, the Texas nocent who to New York seekg to make his fortune servicg rich women and ends up takg re of Ratso.</p><div data-attr-viewport-monor="le-recirc" class="le-recirc-wrapper le-recirc-observer-target-1 viewport-monor-anchor"></div><p class="paywall">Robert Redford (who had also hoped to get the role Hoffman played “The Graduate”) and Warren Beatty both lobbied to get the part of Joe Buck. Someone at M-G-M, which cled to produce the picture, suggted Elvis Prley, and the role was offered to Michael Sarraz, but the al fell through, when the stud that he was unr ntract to asked for more money. The name of the stg director rponsible for gettg Hoffman and Voight onto the project, Marn Dougherty, was left off the creds.</p><p class="paywall">What most people remember om the movie, after Hoffman’s and Voight’s performanc, is Harry Nilsson sgg “Everybody’s Talk’.” Frankel says that Nilsson actually disliked the song, and had rerd on one of his albums only as a favor to his producer. What might have been: Leonard Cohen pched “Bird on the Wire” by sgg to Schlger over the phone, and Bob Dylan wrote a song for the movie, probably “Lay Lady Lay,” but didn’t make the cut, bee he submted too late. Another thg everyone remembers, a le eternally implanted every New Yorker’s head, “<em>I’m walk’ here!</em>,” is not the screenplay. Hoffman ad-libbed .</p><p class="paywall">The screenwrer hired to adapt the novel, Waldo Salt, was another gamble. He had been blacklisted, and for eleven years he seldom wrote unr his own name. He was fifty-two years old and had not worked on a notable Hollywood movie sce the neteen-forti.</p><p class="paywall">The film’s edor was Hugh Robertson. Schlger didn’t get along wh him; the producer, Jerry Hellman, lled him “a tastrophe.” Robertson, for his part, was ntemptuo of what Schlger had shot. He thought was ignorant, a tourist’s ia of New York Cy. (Schlger was English.) Eventually, Schlger brought a film edor he had worked wh before, Jim Clark, to fix the ms he thought Robertson was makg of his movie.</p><div class="Contaer-bkChBi byNLHx"></div><p class="paywall">“<a href=">The Graduate</a>” had ma Hoffman a matée idol. Female fans mobbed him. But he felt that people thought he was jt playg himself that picture, and he badly wanted the part of Ratso orr to show off his range as an actor—even though Mike Nichols, his director on “The Graduate,” warned him that would his reer. Hoffman got top billg, but he was annoyed when he realized that Voight was the movie’s center of tert. He plaed that Schlger had cut a scene he was pecially proud of. He was a no-show at promotnal events. The producer nied him pots.</p></div></div></div><div class="GridItem-buujkM fVLMby grid--em grid-layout__asi"><asi class="PersistentAsiWrapper-VGrR daRVRt persistent-asi" style="posn:absolute;top:to;height:to" data-ttid="PersistentAsiWrapper"><div class="StickyBoxWrapper-jfYB jxBcTH sticky-box"><div class="StickyBoxPrimary-dzWDWL cdhYoN sticky-box__primary"><div class="AdWrapper-dQtivb fZrssQ ad ad--rail"><div class="ad__slot ad__slot--rail" data-no-id="s2qv5b"></div></div><div class="ConsumerMarketgUnThemedWrapper-iUTMTf jssHut nsumer-marketg-un nsumer-marketg-un--display-rail" role="prentatn" aria-hidn="te"><div class="nsumer-marketg-un__slot nsumer-marketg-un__slot--display-rail"></div><div class="journey-un"></div></div></div><div class="StickyBoxPlaceholr-grPmrg dxAvXx"></div></div></asi></div></div><div class="RowWrapper-UmqTg HEhan full-bleed-ad row-mid-ntent-ad"><div class="StickyMidContentAdWrapper-fSBzwl drzyIa ad-stickymidntent"><div class="AdWrapper-dQtivb fZrssQ ad ad--mid-ntent should-hold-space"><div class="ad__slot ad__slot--mid-ntent" data-no-id="jyed"></div></div></div></div><div class="GridWrapper-cAzTTK kHBDeH grid grid-margs grid-ems-2 ArticlePageChunksGrid-hfxa bjczjj grid-layout--adrail narrow wi-adrail"><div class="GridItem-buujkM stRKV grid--em grid-layout__ntent"><div class="BodyWrapper-kufPGa bDyAMU body body__ntaer article__body" data-journey-hook="client-ntent" data-ttid="BodyWrapper"><div class="body__ner-ntaer"><p class="paywall">And yet all worked out. “Midnight Cowboy” ma almost forty-five ln dollars on a budget of unr four ln. It won Amy Awards for Bt Picture and Bt Director. Hugh Robertson was nomated for film edg, and Waldo Salt won for bt adapted screenplay. “Everybody’s Talk’ ” ma Harry Nilsson famo, went to No. 6 on <em>Billboard</em>, and sold a ln rerds. And the movie did not Dt Hoffman’s reer. He and Voight both received Amy Award nomatns for Bt Actor. The Osr, however, went to John Wayne, who lled “Midnight Cowboy” “a story about two fags.”</p><p class="paywall">Of urse, “Midnight Cowboy” is not a story about “two fags.” But, somehow, very quickly beme associated wh a new era of ankns about homosexualy, an associatn enhanced by the fact, pletely unrelated, that the Stonewall rts, which nventnally mark the start of the gay-liberatn movement, broke out a month after “Midnight Cowboy” opened.</p><p class="paywall">Frankel thks that the associatn is important. He se the movie the ntext of “the rise of openly gay wrers and gay liberatn.” And Mark Harris, the ler not for the Crern DVD, says that “Midnight Cowboy” is, “if not a gay movie, a movie that at least helped to make the notn of a gay movie possible.” They’re right, but ’s a tricky se to make.</p><p class="has-dropp has-dropp__lead-standard-headg paywall">It’s te that “Midnight Cowboy” is the story of two men who velop an affectnate relatnship unr tryg circumstanc, but so is “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid,” which me out the same year and was s prcipal rival for Bt Picture. You n read an element of homoeroticism to buddy pictur like the, which the women are often treated as expendable accsori. But no one imag that such films give dienc a more enlightened way to thk about homosexualy.</p><p class="paywall">Frankel believ ’s important that Schlger was gay. But, as he nces, this was not mon knowledge. Schlger did not e out publicly until the neteen-neti, and he said that he did not nsir “Midnight Cowboy” a “gay” picture. His next movie, “Sunday Bloody Sunday” (1971), had a sympathetic gay character, played by Peter Fch. But there is no one like that “Midnight Cowboy.”</p><div data-attr-viewport-monor="le-recirc" class="le-recirc-wrapper le-recirc-observer-target-2 viewport-monor-anchor"></div><p class="paywall">Joe and Ratso are shown to have ltle sympathy for homosexuals, and they e John Wayne’s F-word often. Acrdg to Schlger’s bgrapher, William Mann, Hoffman thought his character should also e the N-word, but Schlger was horrified and refed to let him. Still, he was fe wh homophobic slurs. Many years later, he claimed that the e of the word by the characters was “a sign of overprottatn,” but this seems a jtifitn hdsight.</p><p class="paywall">There are few gay characters wh speakg rol the movie. One is a sad-sack teen-ager, played by Bob Balaban, who go down on an obvly grossed out Joe a Tim Square movie hoe and afterward nfs he has no money to pay him. Another is a self-hatg middle-aged man (Barnard Hugh) who tak Joe to his hotel room and gets beaten up, which exc him.</p><p class="paywall">Women characters are given much more screen time; almost all of them are played as sexually vorac. A party sequence supposed to remble scen at <a href=">Andy Warhol</a>’s Factory (and filmed the same month, June, 1968, that Warhol was shot) volv to a trippy montage of louche-lookg characters dog louche-lookg thgs (and a lot of dgs). The sexualy is clearly meant to be repellent.</p><p class="paywall">This is te to the novel—whose thor, Jam Leo Herlihy, was also gay, but who did not want people to thk of his book, which was published 1965, as gay fictn. There is no suggtn the book that Joe and Ratso are gay self-niers. The major fluence on Herlihy’s fictn was Sherwood Anrson, who lled the characters his most famo work, the llectn of lked stori “Wburg, Oh,” “grotqu.” That is how Herlihy saw the world. “It seems to me that the fundamental experience of beg alive on this pla is a gothic and grotque experience,” he said, an terview that Frankel quot. “It’s really a ighteng place. None of feels that he’s entirely normal.”</p><p class="paywall">This is the world view Schlger and Salt set out to pture. Wh the exceptn of the story’s Don Quixote/Candi character, Joe Buck, everyone “Midnight Cowboy” is creepy. When <a href=">Ple Kael</a> (who hated Schlger’s work) plaed that “the satire is offensively accurate,” she was maybe lookg at the movie through the wrong end of the telpe. Of urse ’s not accurate. This is how life looks om the bottom of the barrel.</p><p class="has-dropp has-dropp__lead-standard-headg paywall">Whatever effect “Midnight Cowboy” might have had on attus toward homosexualy, one thg had a negative effect on was attus toward New York Cy. The movie was shot on lotn, Texas and New York. (Schlger had origally tend to make black-and-whe—another big “but for.”) The cematographer was a serendipo disvery, too. He was a twenty-ne-year-old Pole named Adam Holenr, remend by Roman Polanski. It was his first feature film. To the annoyance of the veteran crew, Holenr sisted on shootg as much of the movie as he uld natural light. The rult is a kd of grty realism that we don’t see films like “Bonnie and Cly” and “The Graduate.” In 1969, this was still a powerful cematic experience. It ma Tim Square look like a scene om Dante’s Inferno.</p><p class="paywall">This seems to be what Robertson found objectnable Schlger’s directn. But New York 1968, the year the movie was shot, was not all Fun Cy. As Frankel remds , seemed to many people to be dyg. Crime tripled between 1960 and 1970. In 1968, there was a teachers’ strike, a sanatn workers’ strike, and a strike by fuel liverers and oil-burner servicemen. And the cy was eply bt; 1975, almost went bankpt. The symbolic center of urban y was Tim Square—“the Worm the Apple,” as Dick Netzer, a fancial adviser to several of the cy’s mayors, lled .</p><p class="paywall">Tim Square began to enjoy a reputatn as a bohemian enclave a or two after was named (for the newspaper), 1904. That was where the Beats—Allen Gsberg, Jack Kerouac, William Burroughs, Herbert Huncke—hung out the neteen-forti. In the neteen-fifti, when the movie theatr stayed open late and admissn was cheap, people would go there to s through multiple screengs. Broadway was still thrivg.</p><p class="paywall">By 1960, though, the area was unmistakable cle. “<em class="small">Life on W. 42d st.: A Study Dey</em>” was the headle on a <em>Tim</em> story that year. (The paper had moved to Forty-third Street between Seventh and Eighth Avenu 1913, but kept a close, and ually disapprovg, eye on the neighborhood.) Major upsle tablishments began disappearg. The Paramount Theatre closed 1964, the Hotel Astor 1966. The next year, the old Metropolan Opera Hoe was molished, a secratn that for some New Yorkers was equivalent to the moln of the origal Penn Statn, which began 1963.</p><div data-attr-viewport-monor="le-recirc" class="le-recirc-wrapper le-recirc-observer-target-3 viewport-monor-anchor"></div><p class="paywall">“By the early sixti, Tim Square had bee New York’s pal of male prostutn,” Jam Trb says his history of Tim Square, “<a data-offer-url=" class="external-lk" data-event-click="{"element":"ExternalLk","outgogURL":"" href=" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">The Devil’s Playground</a>” (2004). The area filled up wh peep ho, massage parlors, and pornographic bookstor, all acpanied by a rise crime. The most notor parts were toward Seventh and Eighth Avenu, but even Bryant Park was crowd wh htlers and dg alers. People avoid walkg down those blocks, day or night. (A Save the Theatr mpaign started the neteen-seventi and eventually rcued several Broadway theatr om beg razed. The Disneyfitn of the Tim Square area did not really get unr way until the neteen-neti.)</p><p class="paywall">What happened? The cle of Forty-send Street had somethg to do wh chang the movie dtry (fewer feature films were beg released, bee of petn om televisn, and movie ho shut) and Broadway theatre (there was a slump box-office receipts, which closed theatr). But Trb thks a ccial factor was the relaxatn of legal rtrictns on pornography and sex work.</p><p class="paywall">Obsceny has always been (and, technilly, remas) unprotected by the First Amendment. But, a seri of Supreme Court cisns startg 1959 wh Kgsley Pictur v. Regents—a dispute over a French film adaptatn of “Lady Chatterley’s Lover” that had been banned New York State—the fn of obsceny began narrowg. It beme more and more difficult to prove urt that thgs like pornography or nu dancg should be supprsed.</p><p class="paywall">There were raids and there was police harassment, but they did not drive away the grd ho, peepshows, and pornographic bookshops or their patrons. The latu provid by the obsceny cisns, along wh the social currents they aligned wh, helped win the spe of legally protected, or officially ignored, behavr. The rts outsi the Stonewall Inn, a Wt Village bar, were the rult of a route exercise police harassment. To the astonishment of the ps, this time the patrons fought back. They mt have felt that they now had history on their si.</p><p class="has-dropp has-dropp__lead-standard-headg paywall">That is only half the story, though. The other half is what happened the culture dtri. In 1963, when <em>Life</em> lamented Hollywood’s timidy and excsive ncern for the natnal image, was really referrg to the Productn Co, the highly rtrictive l, datg back to the neteen-thirti, that erned what Hollywood movi uld show. The Supreme Court cisn Kgsley, followed by cisns Grove Prs v. Gerste, which permted the publitn of “Tropic of Cancer,” and Jabellis v. Oh, another movie se, ma clear that the Co was an albatross for the dtry. The movi were losg dience. They were beg unhip.</p><p class="paywall">So when Jack Valenti beme the print of the Motn Picture Associatn of Ameri, 1966, practilly the first em on his agenda was replacg the Co. This was formally acplished 1968, when the M.P.A.A. adopted the ratgs system. No stud would have released “Midnight Cowboy” five years earlier. For s, the Co had effectively banned even the e of the word “homosexual.” Schlger and Hellman were bettg that by the time their movie was slated for release the l would have changed.</p><p class="paywall">And they bet right. So did Mike Nichols and Arthur Penn, the director of “Bonnie and Cly.” And this is why, as the turtle said after was attacked by a gang of snails, all happened so fast. Moviemakers uld see as well as <em>Life</em> uld that the ndns for a new kd of Hollywood movie were on the horizon. When the moment arrived, they were ready.</p><p class="paywall">“Midnight Cowboy” is often ced as the only X-rated movie to w Bt Picture at the Amy Awards. To the extent that this impli that the M.P.A.A. still risted certa subject matter 1969, the statement is misleadg. The real story, which has been known at least sce Stephen Farber published “The Movie Ratg Game,” 1972, is that the board assigned the film an R (which is almost certaly what would get today), but Arthur Krim, the head of Uned Artists, which produced the film, had changed to an X. Krim worried that young moviegoers might get the wrong ia about sex. That was the attu <em>Life</em> was referrg to.</p><p class="paywall">From a bs pot of view, this was a dumb move on the stud’s part. The X ratg rced the number of theatr willg to exhib the picture—although, om the start, people led up to see . After the Amy Awards, Uned Artists asked the ratgs board to review the movie aga, and was assigned an R—aga. More theatr were able to show .</p><div data-attr-viewport-monor="le-recirc" class="le-recirc-wrapper le-recirc-observer-target-4 viewport-monor-anchor"></div><p class="paywall">In other words, the chang the movie bs and the legal environment for artistic exprsn that led to the cle of Tim Square also led to the rise of the New Hollywood. As Frankel and Harris suggt, once Hollywood saw the succs of “Midnight Cowboy,” a movie that treated homosexualy ankly, even if as a sordid pursu, you uld more easily sell a movie that treated homosexualy as another way of beg normal. Whatever John Schlger tend to do, he helped to open up a new cultural space. ♦</p></div></div></div><div class="GridItem-buujkM fVLMby grid--em grid-layout__asi"><div class="StickyBoxWrapper-jfYB jxBcTH sticky-box"><div class="StickyBoxPrimary-dzWDWL cdhYoN sticky-box__primary"><div class="AdWrapper-dQtivb fZrssQ ad ad--rail"><div class="ad__slot ad__slot--rail" data-no-id="3egi4m"></div></div><div class="ConsumerMarketgUnThemedWrapper-iUTMTf jssHut nsumer-marketg-un nsumer-marketg-un--display-rail" role="prentatn" aria-hidn="te"><div class="nsumer-marketg-un__slot nsumer-marketg-un__slot--display-rail"></div><div class="journey-un"></div></div></div><div class="StickyBoxPlaceholr-grPmrg dxAvXx"></div></div></div></div></div><div class="GridWrapper-cAzTTK kHBDeH grid grid-margs grid-ems-2 PaywallInleBarrierWhWrapperGrid-fyrGfS kLQIUk grid-layout--adrail narrow wi-adrail"><div class="GridItem-buujkM stRKV grid--em grid-layout__ntent"><div class="body body__le-barrier article__body"><div class="ntaer ntaer--body"><div class="ntaer--body-ner"><asi class="PaywallInleBarrierWrapper-iBnuqk lfXXa-D" data-ttid="PaywallInleBarrierWrapper"><div class="ConsumerMarketgUnThemedWrapper-iUTMTf jssHut nsumer-marketg-un nsumer-marketg-un--paywall-le-barrier" role="prentatn" aria-live="pole" aria-hidn="te"><div class="nsumer-marketg-un__slot nsumer-marketg-un__slot--paywall-le-barrier"></div><div class="journey-un"></div></div></asi></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><div class="GridWrapper-cAzTTK kHBDeH grid grid-margs grid-ems-2 ContentWrapperGrid-fvkmBv brYtrA grid-layout--adrail narrow wi-adrail"><div class="GridItem-buujkM stRKV grid--em grid-layout__ntent"><div class="body body__ntaer"><div class="ntaer ntaer--body"><div class="ntaer--body-ner"></div></div></div></div></div></div></article><div class="ContentFooterWrapper-jVNdRG dTJkpP ArticlePageContentFooterGrid-ccsXYy eMZRHU article-body__footer"><div class="GridWrapper-cAzTTK kHBDeH grid grid-margs grid-ems-2 grid-layout--adrail narrow wi-adrail"><div class="GridItem-buujkM stRKV grid--em grid-layout__ntent"><footer class="ContentFooterMagazeDisclaimer-gzKAqo iZIuUU" data-ttid="MagazeDisclaimerWrapper">Published the prt edn of the <a href="/magaze/2021/04/12" data-reactroot="">April 12, 2021</a>, issue, wh the headle “Fun Cy.”</footer></div></div><div class="RowWrapper-UmqTg HEhan"><div class="GridWrapper-cAzTTK kHBDeH grid grid-margs grid-ems-2 grid-layout--adrail narrow wi-adrail"><div class="GridItem-buujkM stRKV grid--em grid-layout__ntent"></div></div></div><div class="RowWrapper-UmqTg HEhan"><div class="GridWrapper-cAzTTK kHBDeH grid grid-margs grid-ems-2 grid-layout--adrail narrow wi-adrail"><div class="GridItem-buujkM stRKV grid--em grid-layout__ntent"><div class="ContributorsWrapper-eNpWFu GWFsc ntributors" data-ttid="Contributors"><div class="ContributorBWrapper-bnVHbt gMon"><div class="ContributorBAvatar-bIGTqf eMWbvj"><a href="/ntributors/louis-menand"><span class="SpanWrapper-umhxW jvZaPI rponsive-asset"><picture class="RponsiveImagePicture-cWuUZO dUOtEa rponsive-image"><source media="(max-width: 767px)" srcSet=" 120w, 240w" siz="100vw"/><source media="(m-width: 768px)" srcSet=" 120w, 240w" siz="100vw"/><img alt="" class="RponsiveImageContaer-eybHBd fptoWY rponsive-image__image" src="></picture></span></a></div><div class="ContributorBContent-ubQdr jZTSSi"><div class="ContributorBHear-ledood XOIEx"></div><div class="ContributorBB-fBolsO giFhKz"><a href="/ntributors/louis-menand">Louis Menand</a> is a staff wrer at The New Yorker. His most recent book is “<a href=">The Free World: Art and Thought the Cold War</a>.”</div><div class="ContributorBFooter-brqDlv ezUmSv"></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><div class="RowWrapper-UmqTg HEhan"><div class="GridWrapper-cAzTTK kHBDeH grid grid-margs grid-ems-2 grid-layout--adrail narrow wi-adrail"><div class="GridItem-buujkM stRKV grid--em grid-layout__ntent"><div data-ttid="TagCloudWrapper" class="TagCloudWrapper-gGgndx ctyZyK ContentFooterTagCloud-krQmRG ZLGh"><span class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ TagCloudSectnHear-cOforY iUEiRd bPyAoD kQQRmu">More:</span><a href="/tag/movi" class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ BaseLk-eNWuiM TagCloudLk-kvjZFu iUEiRd ggMZaT gFob hIhJOI"><span class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ TagCloudName-eAUnLd iUEiRd gwIVBQ bUkXwu">Movi</span></a><a href="/tag/books" class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ BaseLk-eNWuiM TagCloudLk-kvjZFu iUEiRd ggMZaT gFob hIhJOI"><span class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ TagCloudName-eAUnLd iUEiRd gwIVBQ bUkXwu">Books</span></a><a href="/tag/films" class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ BaseLk-eNWuiM TagCloudLk-kvjZFu iUEiRd ggMZaT gFob hIhJOI"><span class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ TagCloudName-eAUnLd iUEiRd gwIVBQ bUkXwu">Films</span></a><a href="/tag/dt-hoffman" class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ BaseLk-eNWuiM TagCloudLk-kvjZFu iUEiRd ggMZaT gFob hIhJOI"><span class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ TagCloudName-eAUnLd iUEiRd gwIVBQ bUkXwu">Dt Hoffman</span></a><a href="/tag/film-history" class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ BaseLk-eNWuiM TagCloudLk-kvjZFu iUEiRd ggMZaT gFob hIhJOI"><span class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ TagCloudName-eAUnLd iUEiRd gwIVBQ bUkXwu">Film History</span></a><a href="/tag/gay-rights" class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ BaseLk-eNWuiM TagCloudLk-kvjZFu iUEiRd ggMZaT gFob hIhJOI"><span class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ TagCloudName-eAUnLd iUEiRd gwIVBQ bUkXwu">Gay Rights</span></a></div></div></div></div><div data-ttid="ContentFooterBottom" class="ContentFooterBottom-jwWZfC kcbyiW"><div class="ContentFooterNewsletterContentWrapper-bmjtna kixtae"><div class="GridWrapper-cAzTTK kHBDeH grid grid-margs grid-ems-2 grid-layout--adrail narrow wi-adrail"><div class="GridItem-buujkM stRKV grid--em grid-layout__ntent"><div data-ttid="NewsletterSubscribeFormWrapper" class="NewsletterSubscribeFormWrapper-fCqqkN jKSBhE newsletter-subscribe-form ContentFooterNewsletterForm-hKeYwa liPqcf"><div data-ttid="NewsletterSubscribeFormHedDekWrapper" class="NewsletterSubscribeFormHedDekWrapper-fpMElW eglIBL"><h3 class="NewsletterSubscribeFormDangeroHed-kRwWjt kbxOa-D newsletter-subscribe-form__hed ContentFooterNewsletterForm-hKeYwa liPqcf">Books & Fictn</h3><div class="NewsletterSubscribeFormDek-kXonvc cKOhTM newsletter-subscribe-form__k">Short stori and poems, pl thor terviews, profil, and tal om the world of lerature.</div></div><div data-ttid="NewsletterSubscribeFormInputsWrapper" class="NewsletterSubscribeFormInputsWrapper-keARJE hVWbzr"><form class="form-wh-validatn NewsletterSubscribeFormValidatn-iCYa-Dt dweEln" id="newsletter" name="newsletter" novalidate="" method="POST"><span class="TextFieldWrapper-Pzdqp hNhevp text-field" data-ttid="TextFieldWrapper__email"><label class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ TextFieldLabel-klrYvg iUEiRd stdEm fvoOvz text-field__label text-field__label--sgle-le" for="newsletter-text-field-email" data-ttid="TextFieldLabel__email"><div class="TextFieldLabelText-cvvxBl eeDYTb">E-mail addrs</div><div class="TextFieldInputContaer-jcMPhb oFrOs"><put type="email" aria-scribedby="privacy-text" aria-valid="false" id="newsletter-text-field-email" required="" name="email" placeholr="E-mail addrs" class="BaseInput-fAzTdK TextFieldControlInput-eFUxkf eGzzTT laFPCK text-field__ntrol text-field__ntrol--put" data-ttid="TextFieldInput__email"/></div></label><button class="BaseButton-bLlsy ButtonWrapper-xCepQ bqVKKv dwpimO button button--utily TextFieldButton-csBrgY edxbrw" data-event-click="{"element":"Button"}" data-ttid="Button" type="subm"><span class="ButtonLabel-cjAuJN hzwRuG button__label">Sign up</span></button></span><div id="privacy-text" tabx="-1" class="NewsletterSubscribeFormDisclaimer-bTVtiV bsgLJZ"><span><p>By signg up, you agree to our <a href=" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">User Agreement</a> and <a href=" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Privacy Policy & Cookie Statement</a>. 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summary-em__image-lk summary-em-trackg__image-lk" href=" aria-hidn="te" tabx="-1" data-ponent-type="recirc-river" data-recirc-id="em-image-1" data-recirc-pattern="summary-em" target="_self"><span class="SpanWrapper-umhxW kGxnNB rponsive-asset SummaryItemRponsiveAsset-hjGIGg egpoQR summary-em__image"><div data-tt="aspect-rat-ntaer" class="AspectRatContaer-bJHpJz jMoLpX"><div class="aspect-rat--overlay-ntaer"><picture class="RponsiveImagePicture-cWuUZO dUOtEa SummaryItemRponsiveAsset-hjGIGg egpoQR summary-em__image rponsive-image"><noscript><source media="(max-width: 767px)" srcSet=" 120w, 240w, 320w, 640w" siz="100vw"/><source media="(m-width: 768px)" srcSet=" 120w, 240w, 320w" siz="100vw"/><img alt="The Barbie Movie That Was Barred om Theatr" class="RponsiveImageContaer-eybHBd fptoWY rponsive-image__image" src="></noscript></picture></div></div></span></a></div><div class="SummaryItemContent-eiDYMl bcywvc summary-em__ntent"><div class="RubricWrapper-dKmCNX kImuKS bric bric--disvery SummaryItemRubric-dguGKN fYiFyD summary-em__bric"><span class="RubricName-fVtemz cLxcNi">Cultural Comment</span></div><a class="SummaryItemHedLk-civM cZPaWG summary-em-trackg__hed-lk summary-em__hed-lk" data-ponent-type="recirc-river" data-recirc-id="em-hed-1" data-recirc-pattern="summary-em" href=" target="_self"><div class="SummaryItemHedBase-hiFYpQ iIjKeM summary-em__hed" data-ttid="SummaryItemHed">The Barbie Movie That Was Barred om Theatr</div></a><div class="SummaryItemAssetContaer-gwhFFH VOyg summary-em__asset-ntaer"><a class="SummaryItemImageLk-dshqxb USLvL summary-em__image-lk summary-em-trackg__image-lk" href=" aria-hidn="te" tabx="-1" data-ponent-type="recirc-river" data-recirc-id="em-image-1" data-recirc-pattern="summary-em" target="_self"><span class="SpanWrapper-umhxW kGxnNB rponsive-asset SummaryItemRponsiveAsset-hjGIGg egpoQR summary-em__image"><div data-tt="aspect-rat-ntaer" class="AspectRatContaer-bJHpJz jMoLpX"><div class="aspect-rat--overlay-ntaer"><picture 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Front Row</span></div><a class="SummaryItemHedLk-civM cZPaWG summary-em-trackg__hed-lk summary-em__hed-lk" data-ponent-type="recirc-river" data-recirc-id="em-hed-2" data-recirc-pattern="summary-em" href=" target="_self"><div class="SummaryItemHedBase-hiFYpQ iIjKeM summary-em__hed" data-ttid="SummaryItemHed">“Oppenheimer” Is Ultimately a History Channel Movie wh Fancy Edg</div></a><div class="SummaryItemAssetContaer-gwhFFH VOyg summary-em__asset-ntaer"><a class="SummaryItemImageLk-dshqxb USLvL summary-em__image-lk summary-em-trackg__image-lk" href=" aria-hidn="te" tabx="-1" data-ponent-type="recirc-river" data-recirc-id="em-image-2" data-recirc-pattern="summary-em" target="_self"><span class="SpanWrapper-umhxW kGxnNB rponsive-asset SummaryItemRponsiveAsset-hjGIGg egpoQR summary-em__image"><div data-tt="aspect-rat-ntaer" class="AspectRatContaer-bJHpJz jMoLpX"><div class="aspect-rat--overlay-ntaer"><picture class="RponsiveImagePicture-cWuUZO dUOtEa SummaryItemRponsiveAsset-hjGIGg egpoQR 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