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A review by yung_sch0lar
The Celluloid Closet: Homosexuality in the Movies by Vito Russo
4.0
I have a lot of not-fully-formed thoughts about this book but mostly, I feel deeply indebted to the tremendous amount of work and ground covered by Vito Russo in this book and in his (sadly, shortened) lifetime.
Something that did bother me, and especially because it tends to happen even now with white gay/queer people making arguments against homophobia in mainstream culture, is the constant pitting of race against sexuality — i.e., the constant "it wouldn't be okay to say this about black people but it's okay to say it about gay people..." What if I told you that some people are black AND gay? And experience these identities and the oppressions that come with them at the same exact time? And cannot be meted out so cleanly? Also, it isn't true! Even in many of the examples Russo cites, these same publications and films DO say and promote harmful and racist ideologies, and with impunity. What's interesting is that I believe Russo made these arguments out of a sense of solidarity, but for a black queer reader, it alienated me from many of the arguments in the text. And I felt that there wasn't a very robust consideration of alternative (in this case, I specifically mean non-white) cinemas. What if some of the subversion that Russo was looking for was actually in independent non-white cinema? What if there were a more nuanced understanding of how race, gender, and sexuality play out on screen in ways that are not always analogous and require more balance, more nuance, and more depth? Require us to not make assumptions based on a presumed default whiteness?
Ultimately, no book on a subject like this can be comprehensive. There is a lot that is still radical and revolutionary about Celluloid Closet and a lot that needs revision and to be updated. Which I believe Russo knew and understood. If only he had had more time. If only we had had more of his time. I think there's a whole world of thinking and writing about cinema that could have been possible.
Something that did bother me, and especially because it tends to happen even now with white gay/queer people making arguments against homophobia in mainstream culture, is the constant pitting of race against sexuality — i.e., the constant "it wouldn't be okay to say this about black people but it's okay to say it about gay people..." What if I told you that some people are black AND gay? And experience these identities and the oppressions that come with them at the same exact time? And cannot be meted out so cleanly? Also, it isn't true! Even in many of the examples Russo cites, these same publications and films DO say and promote harmful and racist ideologies, and with impunity. What's interesting is that I believe Russo made these arguments out of a sense of solidarity, but for a black queer reader, it alienated me from many of the arguments in the text. And I felt that there wasn't a very robust consideration of alternative (in this case, I specifically mean non-white) cinemas. What if some of the subversion that Russo was looking for was actually in independent non-white cinema? What if there were a more nuanced understanding of how race, gender, and sexuality play out on screen in ways that are not always analogous and require more balance, more nuance, and more depth? Require us to not make assumptions based on a presumed default whiteness?
Ultimately, no book on a subject like this can be comprehensive. There is a lot that is still radical and revolutionary about Celluloid Closet and a lot that needs revision and to be updated. Which I believe Russo knew and understood. If only he had had more time. If only we had had more of his time. I think there's a whole world of thinking and writing about cinema that could have been possible.