For a long time, the queer voice has been an outsider’s voice, both outraged and outrageous, in literature and the arts, including film.
In the work of artists like Gore Vidal, Truman Capote, Allen Ginsberg, William Burroughs, Tennessee Williams, the repression of homosexuality–and sexuality in general–was symbolic of the many lies and hypocricy that society told its members and its members told themselves. (Mary McNamara, LAT, April 25, 2004).
My critical approach and choice of films are not complete or exhaustive, but admittedly and necessarily partial, and hopefully productive and helpful in shedding light on features that are both known, less known, or altogether unknonw.
Features:
My goal is to map the ideological, cultural, and filmic landscapes from which these features have emerged.
There’s a fine line between passionate about a film, sort of unconditional admiration, and being critical, that is being more distant, cold, and attentive to issues that are aesthetic, political, and ethical.
I try to combine both, offer a critically evaluative yet warmly receptive overview and perspective of 301 LGBTQ films.
My list is not meant to be a canon. Instead, I want to examine the forms of cultural significance with which the selected films are invested, and how those investments reflect what is expected of the medium?
