BY MARIE-JO PROULX
The evolution of LGBT film roles was the topic of this season's last installment of Out at CHS, the Chicago Historical Society series, sponsored with Center on Halsted, exploring the city's LGBT past. Following a presentation by film historian Ronald Gregg, Kimberly Peirce, director of Boys Don't Cry, commented on the current state of the movie and television industry in a conversation with Northwestern film scholar and author Michelle Citron. She also answered questions from the audience.
Gregg's introductory talk was supported with a number of clips, including one from what he declared was the first known piece of cinematography to feature a gay theme: The Gay Brothers directed by William K.L. Dickson in 1895. The experimental silent film based on a song about men at sea without women hints at same-sex intimacy in close quarters. Developments in psychology, sexology, and sociology over the last century make viewing the piece today a complex experience that goes beyond the apparent humorous display, Gregg said. He then went on to trace a chronological review of Hollywood performances that challenged traditional gender roles.
By 1922, as foul language, violence and sex were getting more explicit, the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America ( MPPDA ) was created. The new body's objective was to regulate film contents and, in some cases, ban references to themes it considered objectionable. To do this, it mandated William H. Hays to devise a set of guidelines. These became known as the Hays Code. In 1934, a stricter version of the Code ( requiring that film scripts be approved before production ) was introduced, and it remained in effect until after World War II. Homosexuality was one of the main targets of these censorship authorities.
Until Stonewall, homosexuality remained mostly hidden behind an elaborate set of sub-textual references. But in spite of prevailing moral judgments against overtly sexual content, the period leading up to the more liberated 1960s did provide a number of outlets for alternative gender representations and undercurrents of same-sex attraction. But, Gregg added, those films were very prone to stereotypes. Dysfunctional or criminal characters were also common. Hitchcock's Rope, and Chaplin's The Masquerader were among the examples he gave.
Drag was also a popular form of gender bending. Gregg cited 1943's This Is The Army featuring musical numbers with soldiers in drag as an illustration of this. He then noted that in films like Betty Boop and Palmy Days, immaculately dressed pansies displaying child-like manners were a generally accepted form of entertainment.
While romance or attraction between women was rarely depicted, films like Morocco with Marlene Dietrich and Queen Christina with Greta Garbo showcased strong women whose maverick behavior ran counter to established social roles. Gregg then played what is considered the first female coming-out scene on celluloid. Shirley MacLaine and Audrey Hepburn enacted it in 1961's The Children's Hour, which ended in MacLaine's character committing suicide. In fact, featured same-sex relationships would almost always lead to a sad or tragic ending. For the most part in those days, homosexual tendencies and behaviors were associated with self-loathing, dysfunction, or even criminality.
Later, the sexual revolution of the '70s and the onset of AIDS in the '80s all contributed to pushing gay themes to the surface. The contemporary LGBT landscape is where Gregg left off and Peirce picked up the topic.
Asked by Citron if she had received a lot of scripts after the surprise success of Boys Don't Cry, Peirce said that she had but most were not very good. 'There is a huge gulf between what is interesting and what is being produced,' she declared. Because her film generated $37 million ( from a $1.7 million production budget ) , she is now in demand as a director, but the projects she is offered often revolve around a set formula she finds stifling.
Peirce commented on the financial imperatives of Hollywood movies, especially the need for a new release to rank at or near the top of box office earnings the first weekend it is in theaters. According to her, such commercial requirements make for less creative stories and less complex narratives. 'The wider the audience, the less nuanced the result. Feature films are less bold than in the '90s. It's a very different market.'
To someone who wanted to know when Peirce thought the first film about same-sex marriage would hit the screens, she answered that issue movies like The Insider ( where Russell Crowe plays a whistle-blower in a tobacco company ) have been difficult to market because they are considered too serious. In fact, for all the critical acclaim it got, The Insider actually lost money.
The follow-up question was about seeing men kiss in a major motion picture. Peirce admitted that, in the current climate, the perceived moral majority is making it hard for studio executives to clear more explicit content, especially one dealing with LGBT issues.
Comparing film to television, Peirce said that the representation of gay people and themes seems more advanced on cable than in cinemas. 'There is something about television that is incredibly immediate,' she explained, adding that she hates reality TV. Asked specifically for her opinion of The L Word, she enthusiastically replied, 'It's amazing. The level of promiscuity, sex for sex, what they're getting away with is phenomenal.'
Peirce is working on two films: Silent Star and The Ice at the Bottom of the World. Both are expected to be released in 2006.
