A few years back I invited a bunch of friends over to watch "Boys In The Band" including three or four who were in their early 20s who had never seen it (which had been the impetous for my having them over to see it). They didn't know anything about the criticisms and controversy over the film in the gay community (that some felt it was an inaccurate, homophobic, self-loathing, self-hating piece of propaganda etc. etc...). Well, they all absolutely loved it, found it to be a frighteningly accurate depiction of the dynamics often found in groups of gay men (including their own little group) and felt like it could have been written yesterday. When I explained the various controversies surrounding the film, they didn't agree at all, finding the film to be very realistic and true to their own lives (except for the "grinning corpse" line at the end, which we all agreed was a bit much).
Here was a bunch of 20-somethings, who had been out and proud since junior high (one came out to his family when he was 12), who had grown up in New York and never felt the need to be closeted, knew nothing about feeling shame or self-loathing or anything negative about their sexuality and yet, they firmly identified with the pre-Stonewall characters of "Boys In The Band" and found that the campiness, the cattiness, and the casual cruelty resonated with them as something they recognized in themselves, their circle of friends and in the community in general. Mind you, I think they identified much more with Act One than with Act Two, but nevertheless they found the entire film overall to still be worthwhile.
"What a story........ everything but the bloodhounds snappin' at her rear end." -- Birdie
[http://margochanning.broadwayworld.com/]
"The Devil Be Hittin' Me" -- Whitney
Updated On: 10/6/04 at 03:15 PM
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