debenedi@yale-comix.UUCP (Robert DeBenedictis) (04/14/84)
I know it's really easy to criticise films in this genre. And this film is definitely in the cut and slash genre. I only mention it in this group because the film makes an incredibly mild pro-gay statement. Milder than most anti-gay statements that one usually comes across in mass culture products. The statement occurs towards the end of the movie. I won't say much. But basically, this guy is in the shower. He hears a noise and thinks it's his friend. He says something like "Howie, is that you?" Howie doesn't respond. He says something like "Hey, Howie, I dropped my soap. Wanna Bend Over and pick it up? <chuckle, chuckle>" I never have liked that joke. Never. In fact, I never really thought it was funny. Soon after the kid in the shower says this he gets what he deserves. I was glad. I thought it was interesting that the guy in the shower would say this to Howie. He said it because Howie wasn't responding. I got the impression that he said it as a 'last resort.' The implication being that, if you don't want to be mistaken for gay, you respond to statements like that. If you don't, you can get shit for being gay. No one wants that. Hence the kid in the shower knew that if it was Howie out there, he would respond to *that*. (or else appear uncomfortably silent) Hey, while were on the topic of mildly oppressive taunts I'd like to ask a strange question. What kinds of anti-gay socializing experiences did you go through as a kid in school? For Example: what did it mean when someone would shake your hand with their middle finger folded in. Do You Know What I Mean? I always found that VERY disturbing as a kid. It was like "what is this person doing, how am I supposed to react." Also, I vaguely new that it had something to do with being an outcast. I kinda knew that it didn't really matter how you responded but that the chief thing was that you weren't supposed to let it throw you off kilter. If it was the kind of thing that you had trouble dealing with, you were dead meat. It wasn't the kind of thing that your friends did to you. But then again, 3rd grade friends are pretty different from 12th grade relationships. Does Anyone Else Remember This? I get the impression that these are the kinds of things that I (being gay) would be MOST likely to repress. It's not a pleasant memory. I only mention it in the hopes that someone else out there will remember something even more disturbing so that I can go "Oh yeah, I guess I remember that. WOW, I haven't thought of that since I was a kid. And no wonder! It gives me the creeps even NOW, just to think about it." It makes me think of this story a friend told me. One year a somewhat popular kid in my friend's high school went around telling people he was gay. He got a few other people to say "Oh yeah! oh really? you know what, I'm gay too." At which point the somewhat popular kid would reveal that he was just out to make fools out of all the faggots. "Ha Ha! Sucker, you fell for it, now everyone's gonna know that you're gay." If I'd been in high school with that somewhat popular kid I would of spent every ounce of creative energy towards subtly degrading that guys quality of life. That guy would've been the one person whom I could've *truly* hated. Does all this stuff fall under the heading of Gay-Baiting? And while were on the topic, what IS gay-bait, huh? Is it a cop who hangs out in parks waiting to arrest 'loitering' gays? Is it a straight guy (yeah! uh, huh, right.) who goes to a gay bar to pick up some unsuspecting "queer" so that he can take him home and beat him up? WHAT IS IT? I apologize if this discussion increases the general paranoia of our closeted brethren. My intention is to elucidate, not to frighten. Anyway, I get the impression (I've been getting a LOT of impressions these past few minutes) that these are the kinds of questions that truly closeted people are just dying to ask, but of course, since they're truly closted, there's noone to ask. All you verbal netters: Don't leave me out in the field with this one -- Venture a reaction, at worst you'll be ignored. Another Trauma In The Playground from Robert DeBenedictis decvax!yale-comix!debenedi