Another Gay Movie: An oral history

Contents:

• KEN HAS ALWAYS BEEN BARBIE’S GAY BT FRIEND—NOT HER BOYIEND
• TURNS OUT, BARBIELAND ISN'T AS GAY AS S QUEER FANS HAD HOPED
• THE GAYT MOVI THAT AREN’T ACTUALLY GAY, OM ‘BARBIE’ AND ‘BURLQUE’ TO ‘VENOM’ AND ‘ROAD HOE’
• LISTEN: THE 25 BT (AND GAYT) ORIGAL SONGS OM MOVI
• 25 OF THE GAYT STRAIGHT MOVI EVER MA
• “RH” IS TROYE SIVAN AT HIS GAYT, SWEATIT, AND MOST INTIMATE. HE TELLS VOGUE ALL ABOUT HIS NEW SGLE AND UPG ALBUM
• THE 10 MOST GAY-FRIENDLY COUNTRI FOR GAY AND LGBT NOMADS
• "I'M GOG TO GIVE THEM THE GAYT MOVIE EVER MA": AN ORAL HISTORY OF ANOTHER GAY MOVIE
• THE 10 GAYEST STAT IN AMERI FOR 2020

KEN HAS ALWAYS BEEN BARBIE’S GAY BT FRIEND—NOT HER BOYIEND

) And Kate McKnon, playg a so-lled Weird Barbie who experienced an extreme haircut and makeover at the hands of an experimental child, never actually answers the qutn anybody would have upon seeg her gay-ass haircut and knowg the actor’s sexualy. The film won’t say , but a post-creds punchle about Ken’s handwrg, plete wh hearts and stars surroundg his name, tells what we need to heavily implied nature of Ken’s gayns Toy Story 3 harkens back to Hollywood’s tradnal gay bt iend-type characters.

In the Hays Co era, explic referenc to homosexualy weren’t allowed, so characters like Van Buren (Frankl Pangborn) 1937’s Easy Livg, Kip (David Wayne) 1949’s Adam’s Rib, or Addison (Gee Sanrs) 1950’s All About Eve stead were imbued wh effemate characteristics, offerg a glimpse outsi of heteronormativy whout explicly beg of the characters were the same—some were tty, others sweet. As a rult, gay men bought the doll drov, and spe Mattel ultimately rellg the doll and wipg away any trace of Earrg Magic Ken, was near-impossible to see Ken as anythg but the glor homosexual he was born to be om then on.

While there is no way to “drs gay, ” there are several dolls that seem to suggt otherwise, such as:Fashnista Ken #193, who looks very exced to tell you about his new obssn, Troye Sivan;Travel Ken Doll, who has a satchel perfect for bathho and a purple overnight bag that lerally proclaims he’s “extra;”Ken Looks Doll, servg “I’m gonna give you a makeover”-type realns while sportg black pleather pants;This Ken, who wears the least heterosexual double nim I have a feelg the new Barbie movie will put the work to nvce that Ken is a hetero du who lov nothg life more than Barbie herself, the wrg’s already on the wall: Ken is, and always will be, Barbie’s gay bt obssg!

TURNS OUT, BARBIELAND ISN'T AS GAY AS S QUEER FANS HAD HOPED

Many also flagged the teased scene which Barbie, now the real world, exchang a longg look wh Ameri Ferrera’s Gloria character; though, the relatnship between the two turns out to be a tribute to motherhood and the tradnal, nuclear before the film’s release, Robbie all but squashed the mors that some or any of the Barbi and Kens would be gay, tellg the Brish LGBTQ magaze Attu: The dolls don’t “actually have sexual orientatns.

”As far as the queer-d trailers and promotnal clips for the new “Barbie” film, Rand poted to a phenomenon known as “gay wdow advertisg, ” or the practice of advertisers gturg to queer dienc a way that will go over the heads of those who would disapprove.

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

But fish strong, as the nflict over Richie’s bathhoe project grows and Mx has to nsir whether ’s too risky for the magaze to speak to gay men, or even gay moments like this, the historil fictn feels not entirely historil. “The key issue that Bud Light tapped to was the fact that they didn’t unrstand their re dience and know enough about them,” Hodson, a gay man, told CNN about the ntroversy that began when the Anhser-Bch beer brand sent fluencer Dylan Mulvaney a n of beer. Gay Water might not have the ep pockets pared to s petors, like Whe Claw, but “even at small sle, pani of many siz are havg succs makg spir-based seltzers and premixed cktails,” Bryan Roth, an analyst for Feel Goods Company and edor of the alhol beverage newsletter, Sightl+, told CNN.

“There’s lots of space the spir-based seltzer tegory which Gay Water n play, pecially if the brand n offer a cultural or emotnal nnectn that will feel more excg than the prospect of another peapple-flavored vodka seltzer om natnal or ternatnal rporatns,” Roth said. 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.

LISTEN: THE 25 BT (AND GAYT) ORIGAL SONGS OM MOVI

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. 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.

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.

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: 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.

25 OF THE GAYT STRAIGHT MOVI EVER MA

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: Those who had already read queer cu “Top Gun” three years earlier saw some the story of Dalton (Patrick Swayze, his first major film after “Dirty Dancg”), as a “oler” imported to a Missouri small-town bar om New York to impose orr.

” But what really ph to the gay film non is Ga Gershon’s hammy performance as bisexual star dancer Cristal, and the love/hate chemistry she builds wh Berkley, which arguably sgle-handly lifts the film om so bad ’s good to jt pla good.

“RH” IS TROYE SIVAN AT HIS GAYT, SWEATIT, AND MOST INTIMATE. HE TELLS VOGUE ALL ABOUT HIS NEW SGLE AND UPG ALBUM

Even wh all that, he remas most famo for lurg Col Clive’s Frankenste out of movie is so gay spired 1998's Gods and Monsters, a super queer bpic of s director, Jam Whale, played by Ian McKellen, who me out publicly to stream: Peack, TubiRebec reprented a unique blendg of sensibili: new to Hollywood, Aled Hchck didn’t yet have the clout that he would quickly ga, and so was forced to work wh powerful producer David O. The effete and sassy “roommat”—played by Farley Granger (who me out late life) and John Dall (who is wily believed to have been gay, though he never me out publicly)—hold a party at which the body of their murr victim has been ncealed.

Screenwrer Arthur Lrents, who was gay, was an expert at dodgg the rtrictns of the Hays orr to sneak subtext that was jt subtextual enough, a trick Hchck likewise excelled tly lost on 1940s dienc that the characters were more than iends?

THE 10 MOST GAY-FRIENDLY COUNTRI FOR GAY AND LGBT NOMADS

Where to stream: Digal rentalThe more recent Hntg of Hill Hoe Netflix seri, also based on the Shirley Jackson novel, ma the subtext text, but the gay vib between chic and sassy Theo (Claire Bloom) and reprsed, moy Eleanor (Julie Harris) radiate through the early ‘60s origal. The movie muddl s msage; we’re not necsarily meant to cheer for gay Satan climactic rampage, but plenty of viewers to stream: Digal rentalThe subtext here through so strongly that n hardly even be nsired subtext, but back 1985, plenty of straight dienc still missed . ” Late director Tony Stt pped to g books of gay beefke photography as his primary reference for how to photograph the movie’s man meat—which probably explas the proliferatn of slightly porny to stream: Paramount+There’s a lot gog on here, and I’m not sure how much of was tentnal (out director Joel Schumacher, later of Batman & Rob, wasn’t known for subtlety).

Even before he spoke about explicly terviews, however, queer fans got ; at the very least, Stu is obvly way to to stream: Showtime, FuboStart wh the generally mp sensibili of gay director Joel Schumacher (who once claimed to have had sex wh tens of thoands of men durg his life; not that queer cred is a functn of mathematics, but damn), and throw a batsu wh pronounced nippl, a massive dpiece, and eper-than-strictly-necsary ass cleavage, and you’ve got a recipe for the gayt superhero epic ever.

"I'M GOG TO GIVE THEM THE GAYT MOVIE EVER MA": AN ORAL HISTORY OF ANOTHER GAY MOVIE

And that’s all before Gee Clooney’s Batman adopts a nearly grown man only ne years his to stream: HBO MaxThere’s a pot at which hyper-masculy starts to look an awful lot like homoeroticism, and you have to wonr how many sweaty, shirtls men you n lerally toss together a space that exclus women entirely before starts to look like a gay club. The wise old drag-queen-as-mentor is an age-old trope of explicly gay movi, and, though his wardrobe is limed, Ian McKellen’s Gandalf, wh his luxuriant hair and mid-trilogy glow-up, fs the role to stream: Prime Vio, HBO Max300 practilly screams “no homo!

We’re meant to see the queer-dg the heavily ma-up and bejeweled Persians (Snyr has been explic terviews about his tentn to make the Persians srier to his tend male dience by makg them gayer), but that feels like a movie missg s own pot, while also wildly overtimatg the heterosexualy of the ancient to stream: TubiThe story of four young men (oddly old for high schoolers) who are scend om wch and have to fight some kd of evil or plot don’t really matter, and the movie’s not very good. Ined, his ovre reads like a gay g-of-age story: there are the nods to boyhood and g out the trilogy of Blue Neighborhood mic vios; reflectns on the nocence of early sexual experienc “Seventeen” and “Bloom”; he pots to the body-image challeng of existg as a gay man “STUD”; to heartbreak “The Good Si” and the ache for love of “Angel Baby”; and now the wds of liberatn, sexual eedom, and nfince “Rh.

THE 10 GAYEST STAT IN AMERI FOR 2020

Judgg by “Rh, ” wh s betifully grty Gordon von Steer-directed mic vio (cludg an already Twter-viral keg stand and Sivan dancg around a jockstrap), he may very well be up celebrate the release of “Rh, ” and the announcement of his third stud album, Vogue spoke to Sivan about gayns, partyg, queer muny, and the importance of mic vios.