Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Oh what a wonderful milestone in mainstream (homonormative) gay cinema with the release of the movie "Milk" based on the life and death of San Fran gay supervisor on the board of supervisors, Harvey Milk. Before I continue with my sarcasm, let me say this first: I HATE HARVEY MILK. I DON'T CARE.
And my hatred, and semi-apathy, is not because I have no interest in gay U.S. American history nor does it mean I have no respect for gay elders. It's only that I don't have any respect for a gay politician who deliberately refuted and distanced himself from the Gay Liberation Front and Gay Activists Alliance because association with these groups would have hindered his own political career. I recommend people read critical gay and queer historical texts before they get excited about "Milk" or the "legacy" of Harvey Milk. Try reading "Stonewall" by Martin Duberman for an easily accessible account of the narratives of important, grossly unrecognized gay, lesbian, and "gay transvestite" activists who shaped the politics of the post-stonewall gay activist era that Harvey was subsumed within. I will post a list of gay, lesbian, trans, and queer historical resources soon as to offer a bibliography of history worth exploring. Political office by one or any number of gay people does not equal liberation or equality. Remember that. Our political structure was and is a laughable, disgusting, ineffectual joke. So in response to Harvey, beyond the grave: FUCK YOU.
Anyways, "Milk" seems to round out a holy trinity of relatively big budget Hollywood films that continue to only give a shit about gay tragedy. It started with "Philadelphia" and a couple of years ago the second, and most awaited for, of the bunch was "Brokeback Mountain." This isn't to say there have only been three movies that center on gay or queer tragedies. One could argue that "Boys don't Cry" was a gay tragedy in the way it was produced and received. But I am not interested in verging on the erasure of the real Brandon Teena's trans identity which so many people have done by calling his story, simply and only, a "gay" story. Also, there have been tragic gay characters throughout the history of U.S. cinema; however, none have ever been as big budget, so well critically received, and made during, what I would like to call, the age of HRC like"Philadelphia," "Brokeback Mountain," and now "Milk."
I am not interested in gay representation that is mainly geared towards a heterosexual audience that already sees gay identity as tragic. This same audience can't even imagine, and does not celebrate or give a shit, about deviant queer identities that matter and that are continuously silenced and/or ignored. I think people should question why gay films that receive so much attention are always so tragic. I am not saying I long for Hollywood to represent me. But I will not celebrate their continuous production of gay tragic films that also never seem to have (out) gay actors playing these leading gay roles. Nor will I celebrate the continuous celebration and representation of Harvey Milk who continuously receives too much of the too little attention paid to queer people throughout U.S. history.
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3 comments:
what comes to mind: a safe queer is a dead queer.
To elaborate: I feel that mainstream film that tries to say something about American gay experience that isn't a tragedy, both goes against commonly held notions that a gay life is a tragic life, and also against a cinematic carthsis.
How uncomfortable would Brokeback mountain have been for a conservative mainstream if what's his-face-lived at the end? i think it would have hit a little to close to home to expose how much struggle it is to be gay in America.
No one wants to be remained of one's own implication at home in film, and gay tragedies fit right in with an uncritical look at American culture.
One bigot with a gun (or whatever) makes a blockbuster, a culture of bigotry we all participate in, not so much.
PS: I love your holy trinity of gay tragedies. That deserves a full post of its own.
brokeback mountain was a really good movie, and i can't believe you would trash it so much. i haven't seen milk yet but i'm sure its just as good except that heath ledger isn't in it. (SOB TEARS!)
At least it's not "I Now Pronounce you Chuck and Larry"?
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