#Film History

[esperderek]

Hbomberguy did a pretty good job pointing out how Somerton has tried to take up the air of modern queer creators, stealing the works they made to little or no money or exposure, and using them to bolster his own fame. It's a truly reprehensible act.

But I feel like it's also important to briefly touch on what he stole from the past.

The Celluloid Closet is a backbone text on queerness and cinema. Like, if you're at all interested in the subject, please read the book, and watch the doc. Yes, the language will be outdated. It was written in 1981 and the doc published in 1995. Language evolves. I was fortunate enough to both read the book and see the documentary in the early 2000s, when I attended university.

It was written by Vito Russo, who held a Masters in film and a desire to fight for queer rights after witnessing the Stonewell riots. The Celluloid Closet was first a live lecture presentation, then a book. He would try to get the book made into a documentary in the early years, and after he died, others picked up that torch to carry on his work and to pay respect to the man.

Vito Russo was also one of the co-founders of GLAAD. He was a co-founder of ACT UP. You may have, if you've watched documentaries or seen news stories about the AIDS crisis, seen parts of his speech, Why We Fight. He protested, advocated, and educated even as people he knew and loved died, and he himself was dying.

As Hbomberguy notes in his doc, he would go on to pass in 1990. This was a man who fought his ass off, even while dying, for a better tomorrow and better representation.

The fact that Somerton stole his work is beyond insulting to the queer history, and queer film history, that he purports to give a shit about.

[lackadaisycal-art]

Puttin on the riiiiiiiitz 🧟‍♂️

[brunhielda]

OMG- my sister was complaining of this!

We were on a very long car trip, that occasionally meant swapping drivers so another person could nap, and the only thing we could agree on for music that would keep the driver awake but wasn’t super annoying for backseat napper was “Disney Radio on SiriusXM.”

We sang to classics, laughed at the newer stuff while someone (me- *cough cough*) explained where the hell it was from, and generally had a good time.

The Cantina Bar Theme from Star Wars came on. My sister was so irritated.

“It’s not their music! They are just claiming it because they own the company! That music is Lucas music!”

She was also mad that it listed THE great “John Williams” as “J. Williams and orchestra.”

There was room on that screen to put his whole name and the name of the orchestra, people! They chose not to.

Anyways, that happened a few more times with other pieces of music, and it became a running joke. “It’s another one! That one isn’t yours Disney! You can’t claim that one!”

Like- we were making a joke about them “claiming” things just because they played the famous music on their radio station. But apparently they are going full gaslight now. How fun for them. 🙃

Great moments in corporate synergy: Disney released their Super Bowl ad imagining what the world would be like without Iconic Disney Moments and it included a single Disney animated film. Frozen obviously. Otherwise it's entirely films made by companies they bought and one live action remake. "Remember when Disney brought you Star Wars" and it's the original and no. Bc they very much did not bring us that one

[nazrigar]

Dinovember 2024: Children of the Lizard King

For Dinovember, a tribute to the one, and only, Tyrannosaurus rex.

A creature whose impact on pop culture is SO prevalent, it's basically an ambassador species to the field of Paleontology.

From King Kong, to The Land before Time, to Jurassic Park, to Prehistoric Planet, there has been SO many interpretations of the dinosaur, and creatures that took influence FROM Tyrannosaurus rex, I could have filled the entire page with more, but I had to stop at 65 so that the flow and composition of the piece would work.

See if your favorite T.rex or T.rex inspired critter is here!

And of course, a special shout out to @tyrantisterror , whose big green fella up top helped inspire me to continue doing art!

[spirk-trek]

Star Trek Set Tour 12/?: (More) Miscellaneous Corridors

[efemmera-archive]

Early Lesbian Film: A female bandit (Asta Nielsen), protects a young woman from a fellow bandit, then kisses her in Zapata's Gang (1914), Dir. Urban Gad

[valentinsylve]

A 7+ minute clip of this wacky comedy is readily available online, but the whole thing (13 minutes?) was released on a compilation disc by Kino Classics. It used to be streaming on Criterion, but I don't see it there now, unfortunately. The part I saw at the archive site linked below was funny and the cinematography is clever. It's too bad the clip is incomplete - the denouement is probably hilarious. The film is not entirely free of stereotypes (no, 20th Century Egyptians were not running around looking like King Tut), but the engaging portrayal of lovers and schemers (and a mad scientist!) makes this film a must-see peek at Black cinematic history.

Mercy, the Mummy Mumbled (R.G. Phillips, 1918)

[garlandedspirits]

some rare and gorgeous mugshots photos of Conrad Veidt as Cesare the Somnambulist in the Cabinet of Dr. Caligari which I sadly don't know the original source or context for

[bobbyhasstardust]

often imitated, never surpassed

Original Creator: Laverre on TikTok

[whereserpentswalk]

Just saw a "feminist" video essay (by someone who just happens to only talk about feminism in relation to cishet white able bodied women) say that the Hays Code was good for women because it "prevented them from sexualizing women by preventing onscreen depictions of sex". Never before has a video said something that made me vocalize my disgust of it's takes, but this did it.

I didn't think I would have to say this but if you defend the Hays code you are horrible and not in any way progressive. And if you don't know what it is please look it up because it's probably the most important piece of history when it comes to all media analysis in the western world.

[the-bar-sinister]

One of the scariest parts of the Hays code was its implicit lesson that the law is completely inescapable, and that no criminal is worthy of sympathy, nor will avoid punishment forever.

This is a deliberately terrifying and demoralizing message when there are always going to be laws which are unjust, and doubly so when you are a member of a class of people whose very existence is criminalized. As for instance, queer people were at the time.

It's censorship which denies the possibility of escape, and denies the possibility of unjust authority.

[luvinaeverdene]

Battleship Potemkin (1925) Directed by Sergei Eisenstein

[fleursfairies]

i think its really funny when people say that it's unrealistic for will AND mike AND robin AND vickie to all be gay in the 80s cuz clearly they have never even looked back to the past. people in the 1900s were gay as hell! and heres some examples

james dean (1931-1955) bisexual !

marlon brando (1924-2004) bisexual !

rock hudson (1925-1985) very gay

leslie gore (1946-2015) lesbian

dusty springfield (1939-1999) lesbian

norma tanega (1939-2019) lesbian

(dusty springfield and norma tanega dated)

elton john (1947-present) gay

freddie mercury (1946-1991) gay

george michael (1963-2016) gay

david bowie (1947-2016) bi

crazy that david and elton were born the same year and george and david passed the same year

john lennon (1940-1980) bi im pretty sure unless yoko was lying for some reason

joan jett (1958-present) bi but google ai wants to argue with me about it

janis joplin (1943-1970) bi

whitney houston (1963-2012) bi?? maybe

debbie harry (blondie) (1945-present) bi (or ex bi LMAO)

billie holiday (1915-1959) bi

im lovin all the bi people

andy fraser (free) (1952-2015) gay

i do NOT like boy george at all but unfortunately hes an iconic gay artist and i have to add him (1961-present) gay 🙄

ray and dave davies from the kinks (1944+1947-present) ima just say that theyre both bisexual cuz its a bit confusing

art garfunkel (1941-present) bi. i just found this out like last year but ive always known in my soul. simon and garfunkel are like frog and toad or bert and ernie. you just know.

4/5 members of the b-52's are queer

little richard (1932-2020) gay

mick jagger (1943-present) bi? probably? idk but please go watch the mick jagger david bowie dancing in the street music video its the gayest thing ive ever seen

pete townshend (the who) (1945-present) pansexual

chuck panozzo (styx) (1948-present) gay

lou reed (velvet underground) (1942-2013) prooobably bi but google is giving me super confusing answers that are different since the last time i checked

morrissey 🙄 (this smiths) (1959-present) im diagnosing him as pan cuz all google says is "humansexual"

pete burns (dead or alive) (1959-2016) queer

jane wiedlin (the gogos) (1959-present) bi

june millington and alice de buhr of the band fanny are gay and nickey barclay is bi. (alice is one of my biggest drummer inspirations and i totally forgot she was gay)

neil tennant (pet shop boys) gay

marianne faithfull, katharine hepburn, ian mckellen, divine, rupaul, andy warhol, frankie goes to hollywood, soft cell probably, tab hunter, stephen fry, anthony perkins, cristopher walken, sal mineo, sister rosetta tharpe, billie joe armstrong, drew barrymore, jodie foster, fiona shaw, angelina jolie, etc

i have more but im tired

but these are just some people that are confirmed queer. i could go ooon and ooon and ooon about "not gay" people doing gay ass things

if you're going to make silly statements about the past please actually do a bit of research

not to mention the lesbians and the same sex kiss in the 1927 movie wings

[english-history-trip]

A rare look at an unedited photograph of Queen Alexandra in her later years, alongside a retouched photo from the same shoot. As the queen aged, she began to insist on her image remaining youthful to the public, possibly to avoid unflattering comparisons with her husband's younger mistresses.

Alexandra had always been image-conscious, suffering from deafness and a limp due to a bout of scarlet fever. To hide a scar on her neck, she took to wearing elaborate choker necklaces and high-collared dresses, which became the fashion for over fifty years.

[spirk-trek]

Arlene Martel as T'Pring, S2E1 of Star Trek, 1967