The Gayt Movi That Aren’t Explicly Gay: 28 LGBTQ Cult Classics – IndieWire

Contents:

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

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

Billie Holiday), Symone (RuPl’s Drag Race), Guillermo Diaz (Law & Orr: Organized Crime) and Guy Branum (tTV’s The Game Show) to star Bros, which will make history as the first romantic edy om a major stud about two gay men, and the first stud film featurg an entirely LGBTQ+ prcipal st, wh queer actors takg on queer rol, as well as all heterosexual characters. The latter will make history of his own as the first openly gay man to -wre and star his own stud film. Bros is billed as a smart, swoony and heartfelt edy about two two gay men—played by Eichber and Macfarlane—maybe, possibly, probably, stumblg towards love.

“And while Bros may be the first of s kd several ways, my real hope is that is only the first of many opportuni for openly LGBTQ+ ensembl to she and show the world all we are pable of as actors, beyond jt beg the wacky sikick, token queer or a straight movie star’s ‘gay bt iend.

If “Barbie” tells anythg, ’s that a movie don’t have to be gay to be, well, gay.

So what mak a movie gay if isn’t explicly?

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. 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.

Films like “9 to 5” and “Steel Magnolias” keep ptivatg bee their sts are all top-to-toe, inic-among-the-gays women who n duce tears and lghs and shout unfettably quotable l the same scene. 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. Below, IndieWire rounds up some of the bt cidly non-gay films that are actually gay after all — and gayer than many ntemporary movi proclaimg themselv as such actually are.

Why ’s gay: Bette Davis, we (the queer muny) love you. “All About Eve” has long been analyzed through a queer lens, wh many terpretg Eve and the character of Addison DeWt (Gee Sanrs) as gay. But even if you thk everyone the film is heterosexual, s gay appeal is unniable, wh an in like Davis the lead, geo stum, and all of the lightfully bchy snark between the magnificent actrs.

Why ’s gay: Nicholas Ray’s cult classic plays out like a mented, closeted lbian love story. Why ’s gay: Ameri’s arguably greatt director is normally regard as heteronormative (Wterns, war films, John Wayne, Amerin history), but his work is full of subtextual gay tert, rarely as much as here. Why ’s gay: Beyond s possible cln bee of the bare-chted Holn — a 1950s Hollywood beefke, seen here ep to his reer — what is notable is a possible alternative terpretatn of two female characters.

The ridiculo Rosemary, sympathetilly portrayed, has overton of mon olr gay lt fantasi for younger men. Why ’s gay: Mame Dennis Burnsi is, que simply, mother. Why ’s gay: What mak gay?