LECTURE SEVEN

Terms

Deviance The question of deviance is one which rests on definition. Deviation, statistically means away from the norm, but can be above or below, and has now value associated. A person with a high or low IQ for example would deviate from the norm.

Generally speaking the term carries negative connotations with it and is generally applied in sexual behavior to any sex act that is (a) not heterosexual and (b) in many case not geared toward procreation. As a result oral, anal, homosexual acts along with bestiality, necrophilia, S/M and such may be labeled deviant.

While some lightening up on these behaviors has occurred, gay sex is no longer illegal in many places, other behaviors are unacceptable (such as “water sports” “fisting” etc.) While some people are willing to accept almost anything most draw the line at sex acts which are actually forced or done with people who are unable to know what the implications of the act are. Hence both forcible and statutory rape are generally not acceptable. On the other hand, rape scenarios are often debated.

Terminology

General term refers to males rather than both sexes:

Homophobic is a term which should mean “fear of homosexuals” but has come to mean “anti-gay” allowing the idea of fear to occur with the word – i.e. people who are anti-gay are necessarily “afraid” of them and actually afraid they might be gay. Some people have maintained that this position is held largely by gays who tend to believe that really “everyone is gay” and they just want to hide it, although there is no explanation offered as to why if everyone is gay anyone would care if someone else was!

Homosocial is a term used to describe a situation where men want to socialize with other men and not particularly with women.. This often is said about cultures where men and women’s roles are quite distinct. Some people in a Freudian way, want to use this as evidence of repressed homosexuality.

Britain law did not deal with Lesbians because Queen Victoria could not believe women would do such things so it couldn’t be in the legal statute.

Homosexuality was criminal for a long time in America but times have relaxed although there is still a certain amount of problem legally over the issue.

In film, earliest depictions are rather loose and showing affection between men seemed more possible.

Early depictions of gays tend to be meant to be comic with men behaving like women.. Cross dressing implies same sex interest. Interestingly enough it was OK for women to dress as men, but not so much for men to dress as women. This may have more to do with status differences rather than anything sexual. Women dressing like men are imitating the dress of the more powerful, while men dressing as women imitate the dress of the less powerful, hence the rationale must be for sex rather than power. Such situations however, give women more leeway in behavior than men have

Men who are hair dressers, fashion designers, interior decorators, dancers are often played in rather feminine ways associating these jobs with homosexuality (which in fact many be the case). In Two for the Seesaw, a woman is accused of having an affair with another man and she screams “I told you, he is a dancer!”

Later homosexuality is often associated with danger and is threatening (again the idea that this might be prone to causing such feelings to erupt in others). As a result, gay and lesbian characters are generally killed off in the film. Examples are Mrs. Danvers (Judith Anderson) in Rebecca, Jill Banford (Sandy Dennis) in the Fox, Martha Dobie (Shirley MacLaine) in The Children’s Hour, John “Plato” Crawford (Sal Mineo) in Rebel Without a Cause.

Death and sex are often united in films. Sex, especially illicit sex leads to death

This applied only to characters who appear to be gay or at least effeminate or what is sometimes called “faggots”. There are however some gays who practice this form of “gayness” (i.e. an exaggerated effeminate set of behaviors called “swish”) which they call “faggotry” and feel the term is quite proper. This leads to the interesting question of who gets to define what term is to be used and whether it is or is not derogatory.

There are a number of films in which very male characters suddenly do things which are at least in Freudian terms, indicative of some homosexuality. John Ireland and Montgomery Clift play with each others guns in Red River, while the self defined bisexual Gore Vidal (one of the three uncredited authors of the screen play of Ben Hur says that he had no idea what to do with the characters of Ben Hur and Messala who were friends years ago, then meet one another again and then hate each other for 3 hours. Not knowing how to handle three hours of hate, the screen writer decided that the two had been lovers earlier, and now they come back together again.. The director said not to tell Heston who probably wouldn’t be able to handle it, but Boyd was told and gives all these “glances” throughout the scene with Heston when they meet up. One question that can be raised is “What’s the point?” Does it mean if a writer runs out of ideas on how to handle a part of the story they just introduce a gay element? For what? Although the censors missed a lot of this, it probably was in part what upset them. It once was the case that people asked stars if they would do a nude scene and the answer was “If it were essential to the plot and tastefully done”. If the same standard is applied, what could we say about these films?

Another question that can be asked is whether or not the government under Joe McCarthy would later take the position that "pro-communist" material was being slipped into the films. in effect, in the same way. People like Brooklyn College's Alan Ginsberg were pro child pornography and a memebr of MANBLA an organization devoted to it. How would we feel if pro child pornography statements were being slipped into films? What about pro terrorist materials?

On the other hand, there are clearly films which discuss specifically situations that involve people who are gay or lesbian and the effects that this has on their lives. The first openly gay film is generally thought to be Boys in the Band. The author himself admits that the characters are “bitchy” and “self depreciating”, but it is the way he remembers himself and those characters being at that time.

Films like The Children’s Hour and Victim deal with the results of homosexuality being attributed to certain people and the effect this has on their lives (generally negative). Some later films get around to the point that some gays are not upset about their sexual orientation, and that it isn’t a problem to them. The problems are caused by societies reactions to them. One film which moves in that direction quite clearly is Gods and Monsters, a semi biographical film about director James Whale whose homosexuality was well known. He died under mysterious circumstances which some thought was caused by his dealing with a gay hustler, or maybe even suicide over his being gay. The film however shows Whale (Ian McKellan) as being ill and wanting to die and trying to provoke his gardener (Brendan Fraser) a former Marine, into killing him by making sexual advance towards him, believing that a “macho Marine” would have no option but to kill him off. Thus, while Whale still comes across as having some unpleasantness about him in trying to provoke the attack, his desire to die is caused by an illness, not his homosexuality.

Notes on Victim