F&F Vol. 3 - MARTYRS - APR 2019
“A woman recently raped is told she has been penetrated to her very core […] Her very being, violated. Her soul defiled. This makes her a victim--and truly a sex object. For it says that her soul, her very essence, is in her cunt […] My soul is not in my cunt unless I put it there. While I was being raped, my soul was elsewhere. That man got nowhere near me. He was stuck in a hole. I was far away.”
“Milk obtained the office of City Supervisor, making him the first openly gay elected official in the history of the state of California and the most pro-LGBT politician in the entirety of the United States. Shortly after his swearing-in, Milk began his crusade to enrich the lives of gay citizens by breaking down barriers that were in place throughout society.”
“The tragedy of Liza Minelli’s Sally Bowles is not the same tragedy as the Sally Bowles of John Van Druten’s play I Am a Camera or Christopher Isherwood’s book Goodbye to Berlin, on which all other things are based, or even other versions of Cabaret. In all other versions of Isherwood’s story, Sally is a mediocre talent, delusional. In Fosse’s Cabaret, his Sally is a knowing firecracker, exploding with voice, crackling with kicks, and radiating with beauty. Can she see the Browncoats lining up outside? Does she care? That’ll always be the central question of every version of Cabaret -- to what degree is Sally ignorant or just deliberately evasive of the rise of Fascism? -- but that Liza’s Sally really could be a movie star makes her sad and desperate in another way. “
“Karen never intended to die because of her illness, or at least I can’t imagine she did. Just as Todd Haynes has imagined a version of Karen, based on the reality of what he read and saw of this fascinating woman, I myself imagine a version of Karen. I see myself in that Karen, that girl who was so terrified of being called fat, of being considered unattractive, of not being able to maintain a certain image, of carrying standards for myself that nobody else actually expected me to carry.”
“One line from the book that didn’t translate to the screenplay can sum up Erika’s confession to Walter: ‘the first thing a proprietor learns, and painfully at that, is: trust is fine, but control is better.’ Erika trusts Walter with her desire, cedes her control, and ultimately loses both.”
“Both men, bodies broken and bloody, begin to merge. Metal wires from The Salaryman’s body bind The Guy’s limbs as The Salaryman begins to absorb him. Still, in one last desperate attempt, The Guy’s neck and head elongate into a metallic, semen-shaped beast, bursting from The Salaryman’s torso before circling back and smashing head-first into The Salaryman’s head. Metal consumes them both, and in a burst of light, they become one.”
“Many have said that Mineo's known sexuality was responsible for his inability to find work after the 1950s. He auditioned for many high-profile feature films but was often turned down. Mineo, in the Hadleigh interview, blamed not his sexuality, but his Italian teen idol good looks for his career decline. Mineo had a vulnerable, boyish face, even into his 30s. He looked kissable and innocent. Mineo felt that he was not pilloried because of his bisexuality, but because directors didn't want to hire actors with teen idol good looks to play adult characters.”
by Vincent Bec
“Under a layer of giggles and cake, the Maries’ thoughts are burdened with existentialism. They are determined to live a spoiled life through pranks, theift, and promiscuity. However, their playful antics and wasteful lifestyle lead to a lack of identity and eventually their own demise. Despite the film’s own condemnation of the Maries they have become anti-heroes […] Their flaws may be numerous and pronounced, but in the context of a patriarchal society their actions stand for more than their own selfishness.”
“The now commonly known process of ‘gay conversion’ starts early in religious circles, even before admission to the now properly demonized official programs, and anyone living a closeted lifestyle is pushed further into the quiet, lonely darkness very quickly. Even this pre-experience experience tells these individuals (who, at that time, are, like I was, closeted even to their own selves) that they will never be able to be themselves, and that in order to survive, they must ‘kill’ a part of their identity, a part whose necessity and significance they have not even been permitted to measure.”
“His Giant co-star Elizabeth Taylor said he was gay. His friend Martin Landau said he was not. His Rebel Without A Cause director Nicholas Ray said he was gay. His acting peer Liz Sheridan wrote a whole book on their supposed romance, while also throwing in the caveat he was having an affair with a man. He had been linked to actresses Pier Angeli and Ursula Andress […] Dean is claimed by all, tugged back and forth between two sexuality binaries while perhaps, more accurately, belonging somewhere in the middle.”
“You watch something enough times and with enough repetition your brain is going to start to unconsciously take in the little things it sees […] Which leads us to a toxic culture where people see queer relationships as intrinsically doomed.”
“Gwen, Brandon, and Ganda chose not to conform to an external heteronormative rule, but to listen to an internal call. […] Trans people's right to safety should not depend on cis people's ability to understand their gender.”
“But, as he faces his untimely demise, it’s clear that something has shifted in Neil Howie. There is fear and dread, but also a heightened awareness, perhaps catalyzed by all of the sensual acts he has witnessed on Summerisle. At the hour of his death, his desperate cries are full of heat and emotion, and his sense of decorum is shattered. Lord Summerisle mentions that, because of Howie's religious devotion and beliefs, he will receive ‘a rare gift these days: a martyr's death.’”
“Lux greets the boys, smoking a cigarette, telling them to wait for the other sisters while she goes to start the car. Turns out The Lisbon Sisters had a different kind of escape in mind. The boys begin to explore the house, only to discover Bonnie hanging from the rafters. The girls had decided to find the freedom in death they had been denied in their short, tragic lives.”
“Hollywood has a long history of sexualizing everything, and the Son of God is no exception. Besides making him as conventionally attractive as possible, movies have also fetishized Christ. Some films explore the possibility of him having a sexual side, while others fixate on his purity.”
“Nick jabs at Douglas’s figure, saying, ‘Looking trim,’ only for Douglas to twist the knife in Nick’s direction by saying, ‘You too.’ Nick, suffering from AIDS, becomes literally untouchable to many prejudiced others. The cruel irony is that Nick lacks the time to let others get comfortable with his illness.”