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A review by kitnotmarlowe
The Celluloid Closet: Homosexuality in the Movies by Vito Russo
hopeful
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.5
i'm a huge fan of the celluloid closet documentary; it introduced me to some of my favourite classic movies. now, more than ever, we need film analysis and criticism like russo's; when people so poisoned by the trap of "good gay representation" and assimilation call the children's hour "bury your gays" or say that rebel without a cause queerbaits rather than codes. history is not our enemy, and the archaeology of need is still so so so necessary!
russo's clear-eyed observations make the theory easy to understand. the righteous fury and bitchiness of his voice is SO refreshing for me personally because i feel like in the 30ish years since this book has been published the mainstream discourse around queer people has shifted from "are queers human beings?" to "queers have to be nice to be considered human beings". unfortunately, russo also chooses to be blind to nuance--writing off the films of william friedkin wholesale, and relying to heavy on the logic of "(x) would be Bad if the same thing were said or done to a black person, so why is it ok to say or do (x) to a gay person," without acknowledging that people...can be both. still, it's important to read everything in context and i do think this should be mandatory reading for anyone wanting to talk about queerness in film.
selfishly, i wish the revised edition had come out a year later because i desperately want to know what russo thought of my beloved maurice (1987) !! also wish we could know what he would think about some more recent queer films...i'm specifically thinking of the insane psychosexual melodrama of the power of the dog or the unromantic power plays of the favourite or even some of the truly inane the-bar-is-on-the-floor-if-something's-gay-audiences-will-devour-it drivel that netflix puts out. excellent filmography at the back! i was really stressed trying to add everything i wanted to watch to my letterboxd watchlist before realizing i could just consult the end matter.
russo's clear-eyed observations make the theory easy to understand. the righteous fury and bitchiness of his voice is SO refreshing for me personally because i feel like in the 30ish years since this book has been published the mainstream discourse around queer people has shifted from "are queers human beings?" to "queers have to be nice to be considered human beings". unfortunately, russo also chooses to be blind to nuance--writing off the films of william friedkin wholesale, and relying to heavy on the logic of "(x) would be Bad if the same thing were said or done to a black person, so why is it ok to say or do (x) to a gay person," without acknowledging that people...can be both. still, it's important to read everything in context and i do think this should be mandatory reading for anyone wanting to talk about queerness in film.
selfishly, i wish the revised edition had come out a year later because i desperately want to know what russo thought of my beloved maurice (1987) !! also wish we could know what he would think about some more recent queer films...i'm specifically thinking of the insane psychosexual melodrama of the power of the dog or the unromantic power plays of the favourite or even some of the truly inane the-bar-is-on-the-floor-if-something's-gay-audiences-will-devour-it drivel that netflix puts out. excellent filmography at the back! i was really stressed trying to add everything i wanted to watch to my letterboxd watchlist before realizing i could just consult the end matter.