Queer Images: A History of Gay and Lesbian Film in America
From Thomas Edison's first cinematic experiments to contemporary Hollywood blockbusters, Queer Images chronicles the representation of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and queer sexualities over one hundred years of American film. The most up-to-date and comprehensive book of its kind, it explores not only the ever-changing images of queer characters onscreen, but also the work of queer filmmakers and the cultural histories of queer audiences. Queer Images surveys a wide variety of films, individuals,...
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Queer Images chronicles representations of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and queer sexualities over one hundred years of American film. The most up-to-date and comprehensive book of its kind, it explores the ever-changing images of queer characters onscreen as well as the work of queer filmmakers and the cultural histories of queer audiences—from the works of discreetly homosexual filmmakers during Hollywood's Golden Age and classical Hollywood's attempt to purge _sex perversion_ from films, to queer exploitation and physique films, cinematic responses to AIDS, and how contemporary Hollywood deals with queer issues. An essential volume for film buffs and anyone interested in sexuality and culture. Library Journal Media professors Benshoff (Univ. of North Texas; Monsters in the Closet: Homosexuality and the Horror Film) and Griffin (Southern Methodist Univ.; Tinker Belles and Evil Queens: The Walt Disney Company from the Inside Out) set out to create the definitive guide to queer issues in American cinema, and they have succeeded admirably. Using an erudite yet easily readable approach, they explore homosexuality in the movies, starting mostly with the talking era and moving up to the present. With detached precision, they underscore the clandestine presence of homosexuals in movies and how gays in Hollywood were able to "work in" characters whom audiences could sense were gay. Other issues addressed include homosexual stereotypes in early Hollywood cinema (most, it is adeptly pointed out, were negative), Tinsel Town's puritanical roots, queer exploitation, physique films, AIDS issues, and (particularly) the evolving image of gays in cinema. What's refreshing about this work is that it's not a one-sided criticism but a guide through the more progressive development of the presentation of gays in movies; readers are left with hope for the future. Highly recommended for general, gay and lesbian, and especially film collections.-Michael Tierno, New York Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.
Introduction : what is queer film history?1Ch. 1From pansies to predators : queer characters in early American cinema19Ch. 2Discreet charms : queer filmmakers in classical Hollywood41Ch. 3"Those wonderful people out there in the dark" : queer audiences and classical Hollywood cinema63Ch. 4Fear and loathing in postwar Hollywood85Ch. 5Exploitation or art? : queer films beyond Hollywood107Ch. 6Hollywood and the sexual revolution129Ch. 7Producing pride : queers make movies153Ch. 8Out of the closet and into the art house177Ch. 9A matter of life and death : AIDS, activism, film, and video201Ch. 10Hollywood is burning : new queer cinema219Ch. 11Queer eye for the straight Hollywood executive247Ch. 12Queer independent film at the turn of the millennium267
\ CHOICEReplaces Vito Russo's The Celluloid Closet as the authoritative text on this subject. Writing in an engaging, literate style, Benshoff and Griffin brilliantly interweave film theory and queer theory with a history of the U.S. film industry, a complicated task. The authors display remarkable, almost archival knowledge of gay representation in classic Hollywood film and the contributions of queer artists to these films. Including an invaluable bibliography, this volume is now the standard for those interested in gay and lesbian film in the U.S. Essential.\ \ \ \ \ ChoiceReplaces Vito Russo's The Celluloid Closet as the authoritative text on this subject. Writing in an engaging, literate style, Benshoff and Griffin brilliantly interweave film theory and queer theory with a history of the U.S. film industry, a complicated task. The authors display remarkable, almost archival knowledge of gay representation in classic Hollywood film and the contributions of queer artists to these films. Including an invaluable bibliography, this volume is now the standard for those interested in gay and lesbian film in the U.S. Essential.\ \ \ Library JournalMedia professors Benshoff (Univ. of North Texas; Monsters in the Closet: Homosexuality and the Horror Film) and Griffin (Southern Methodist Univ.; Tinker Belles and Evil Queens: The Walt Disney Company from the Inside Out) set out to create the definitive guide to queer issues in American cinema, and they have succeeded admirably. Using an erudite yet easily readable approach, they explore homosexuality in the movies, starting mostly with the talking era and moving up to the present. With detached precision, they underscore the clandestine presence of homosexuals in movies and how gays in Hollywood were able to "work in" characters whom audiences could sense were gay. Other issues addressed include homosexual stereotypes in early Hollywood cinema (most, it is adeptly pointed out, were negative), Tinsel Town's puritanical roots, queer exploitation, physique films, AIDS issues, and (particularly) the evolving image of gays in cinema. What's refreshing about this work is that it's not a one-sided criticism but a guide through the more progressive development of the presentation of gays in movies; readers are left with hope for the future. Highly recommended for general, gay and lesbian, and especially film collections.-Michael Tierno, New York Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.\ \
