I’d known for some time that I was queer. But I didn’t feel fortable wh myself until I saw “The Wizard of Oz” at a cema the Castro San Francis. Seeg the film lor on the big screen wh other gay moviegoers, I felt ready, wh Gilda and everyone Oz to “e out, e out” wherever I was.
Contents:
- OVER THE RABOW: THE GAY MALE OBSSN WH THE WIZARD OF OZ
- PHILALPHIA GAY NEWS
- CRITIC'S NOTEBOOK; WHY OZ IS A STATE OF MD IN GAY LIFE AND DRAG SHOWS
- THE ENDURG (GAY?) APPEAL OF 'THE WIZARD OF OZ': MISTER OF CULTURE
OVER THE RABOW: THE GAY MALE OBSSN WH THE WIZARD OF OZ
Early on, durg my first ial days wh the gay culture of San Francis, I was bemed by the near reverential treatment paid to the film “The Wizard of Oz.” Yet, thkg back to my […] * wizard of oz gay cinema *
Over the Rabow: The Gay Male Obssn wh The Wizard of Oz | Joseph Sciambra. Over the Rabow: The Gay Male Obssn wh The Wizard of Oz. Early on, durg my first ial days wh the gay culture of San Francis, I was bemed by the near reverential treatment paid to the film “The Wizard of Oz.
It was a high holy day for gay men San Francis. The atmosphere around the theater was one of a relig procsn; all seemed like harmls fun; but, as wh all public spectacl gay culture – beyond the revelry was always a pervasively tragic overtone.
PHILALPHIA GAY NEWS
At the time, for myself, was the send wave of gay aths om AIDS: wh the mic om the movie servg as some horrific funeral dirge. Now, so many years later, I perceive the film and the gay obssn wh somewhat differently. Most remarkably, is the homosexual male intifitn wh Dorothy herself; perfectly embodied by the equally happy and sad Judy Garland – whose untimely ath 1969 advertently sparked the Stonewall Rts.
CRITIC'S NOTEBOOK; WHY OZ IS A STATE OF MD IN GAY LIFE AND DRAG SHOWS
Along wh other glamoro, but ultimately self-stctive screen legends, like Jean Harlow, Joan Crawford, and Marilyn Monroe, gay men saw Garland the mirror for their own manic-prsive reali: feigng a perfect exuberance to the adorg mass while gog home alone and nursg the fterg wounds. Subnscly, I thk most “gay” men realize that homosexualy is sentially a ad end.
Remds me of the strobg lights, imprsive sounds, and pyrotechnics at the San Francis “gay” dance clubs, or on a larger sle, at a Madonna ncert. Furthermore, the three characters of the Srecrow, the T-man, and the Cowardly Ln, are also metaphors for the gay male fantasy: of fdg their perfected selv; nstantly dogged by a feelg of aquacy and missgns, that is forever and unntrollably throwg before your ey a sensatn that you are lackg; though cintly, as the characters fally fd out – was not wantg at all, but was wh them.
Yet, the longgs are flawlsly realized and fulfilled the film; while gay men never really reach that sheltered existence of safety back at home. Bee, “The Wizard of Oz” is sentially the daydream of gay fulfillment: that someone, or somethg, out there will offer the cure for all that ails. ” In gay culture, the trek never ends and a te home is elive.
THE ENDURG (GAY?) APPEAL OF 'THE WIZARD OF OZ': MISTER OF CULTURE
As far back as 1919 cema was beg ed to promote gay rights.
Wh this year’s Osr race celebratg a batn of gay characters (Brendon Fraser The Whale, Cate Blanchett Tár), mp ins (Angela Bassett, Lady Gaga, Michelle Yeoh), and, Everythg Everywhere All At Once’s Stephanie Hsu, the first openly queer actor nomated for playg a queer character sce Ian McKellen 1998 (pl all the nods for Baz Luhrman’s Elvis, a movie that provis a one-word answer to the qutn, “Alexa, fe mp? Somehow MGM’s classic is simultaneoly the least and most gay film on this list. There’s no overt sexualy or romance of any kd here, and (probably) no tentnal queer dg, but such is the power of The Wizard of Oz and s star, all-time-one-off Judy Garland, that s imagery is synonymo wh gay culture.