08/07/2022 - Gaël Lépgle sps a difacted and atmospheric three-part tale about the solu experienced by gay youngsters durg the long, slow days spent muni ep the provc
Contents:
- SMALL-TOWN GAY DU CAN'T STOP HOOKG UP WH A NOT-SO-MYSTER MASKED MAN
- SMALL TOWN BOY A GAY METROPOLIS KDLE EDN
SMALL-TOWN GAY DU CAN'T STOP HOOKG UP WH A NOT-SO-MYSTER MASKED MAN
“They were gog to pot out the sential problems and opprsns volved beg gay at that time, which was you were que likely to get beaten up somewhere," says vio director Bernard Rose. * small town boy gay *
But on the other end of the spectm was Bronski Beat’s much grimmer pictn of a suburban teen’s gay-bashg and subsequent ostracizatn om his disapprovg fay, “Smalltown Boy. ”The stark and narrative vio, scribed by Rose as an “un-glamoro” “silent movie” ( featur no flashy performance footage, dance sequenc, or neon fashns like many other MTV vios of the era), picts the tular character, played by the new wave tr’s openly gay ontman Jimmy Somerville, clumsily and unsuccsfully makg a pass at a handsome jock at a lol swimmg pool; this unfortunately leads to him beg vic attacked an alley by the jock’s homophobic iends. I thk 's a very mon experience for people, and I thk even go beyond the gay issue: people who jt are rejected and thrown out like that, ” says Rose.
SMALL TOWN BOY A GAY METROPOLIS KDLE EDN
* small town boy gay *
They were gog to pot out the sential problems and opprsns volved beg gay at that time, which was you were que likely to get beaten up somewhere, or thrown out by fay. ”Jimmy Somerville fac a homophobic gang Bronski Beat's "Smalltown Boy" vio.
“There were a lot of artists [ the ‘80s] who were gay but not open about , like Boy Gee, Gee Michael, Freddie Mercury, Elton John — the people we now thk have always been out, but they were not out 1984. Frankie Go to Hollywood were really the first on who me out and said, ‘Well, yeah, we're gay. ”Somerville wasn’t a profsnal actor (and neher was the man who nvcgly played the vio’s stern-faced policeman, London Rerds’ openly gay executive Col Bell), but his nuanced performance was so grippg bee, as Rose explas , “The story was very close to him.
(Photo: London Rerds)Rose also ma the cisn to not actually show Somerville’s gay-bashg, maly to nform to children’s TV standards Bra (and th get the airplay that the famo “Relax” had unrstandably been nied). ”Rose says the “Smalltown Boy” was warmly received, and he rells 1984 beg a progrsive year for gay culture, as evinced by the succs of both Bronski Beat and Frankie Go to Hollywood.