Was the Send Nightmare On Elm Street About Gay Rights? - Puzzle Box Horror

Contents:

• WHO KNEW NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET 2 WAS THE GAYT FILM OF THE 80S?
• THE NIGHTMARE BEHD THE GAYT HORROR FILM EVER MA
• WAS THE SEND NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET ABOUT GAY RIGHTS?

WHO KNEW NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET 2 WAS THE GAYT FILM OF THE 80S?

One publitn went as far as to dub A Nightmare on Elm Street 2 "the gayt horror film ever. " Director Jack Sholr and wrer David Chask both nied the film's subtext, and Mark Patton (who was the closet at the time), worried that the suatns of the film beg overtly gay would lead to him beg typest, as he wasn't the typil Hollywood leadg male.

THE NIGHTMARE BEHD THE GAYT HORROR FILM EVER MA

Some of the clu a scene where Jse enunters his ach at a gay bar, a scene where said ach is whipped to ath by towels while naked the showers, a scene wh Jse and his bt iend Grady (Rler) where Jse approach him bed, and a scene where Jse attempts to make out wh his girliend at a party before fleeg panic. Beyond that, the film's release 1985 was at the height of the AIDS epimic the Uned Stat, which ed a lot of stigma surroundg gay men and subsequent gay panic was on the rise. Chask reportedly mented that Patton and his performance were to blame, as there was no tentnal gay ntent the film.

This ed animosy between Chask and Patton over the years, as Patton went on rerd sayg that Chask lled his performance "too gay. Chask has sce said the subtext was always tentnal and he had wrten the script to ment on the AIDS crisis, gay panic, and the angst young men experience if they stggled wh their sexualy. Makg the lead of A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge volved a gay (pedophilia-ish?

) gay love story wh Jse only add to the “sry, ” says the film’s wrer David Chask.

WAS THE SEND NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET ABOUT GAY RIGHTS?

But who knew makg actor Mark Patton — who is gay — the first male scream queen, who Freddy lted after, would fly over everybody’s heads? In the four-hour documentary Never Sleep Aga: The Elm Street Legacy, Chask explas that, yeah, those weren’t jt homosexual unrton. Not even when New Le print Bob Shaye stood as a bartenr at a gay bar.

Image Courty Shudr Sce s release 1985, A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge has bee a homoerotic in queer cema. Instead of another “fal girl” like Heather Langenkamp’s Nancy, the protagonist of Freddy’s Revenge is teenage male Jse (a ntrally genred name), played by (then closeted) gay actor Mark Patton. Nothg Jse do is heteronormative, right down to the way he dance-cleans his night, Jse sleepwalks to a BDSM bar (not lled “gay” but the clientele and bartenr are clearly d as such) and enunters his sadistic gym teacher (Marshall Bell) leather who orrs him back to the gym to n as punishment for orrg a beer while unrage.

The portrayal of the gym teacher is the classic “gay man as predator” trope. He begs Grady to watch him sleep and wake him up if he se anythg strange, but of urse, Grady don’t believe him, and as soon as he turns out the light, Freddy emerg om Jse’s body and kills Grady (allegory for Jse’s homosexual sire for Grady emergg as Freddy, but that sire mt be stroyed) returns to Lisa and out to her about everythg he has done, but nnot ntrol his fear which is Freddy’s fuel, and emerg as Freddy once aga to torment and kill all of the hedonistic teenagers at the pool party. Freddy disappears to the boiler room where Fred Keger the pedophile and child killer (homosexual as predator much?