homosexuality in experimental film:
A Journey to explicit sexuality on screen
![Picture](/uploads/1/8/0/6/18060971/1365803089.jpg)
James Franco, filming the upcoming film Interior. Leather Bar.
With the tendency of mainstream film to censor anything remotely queer (or use it as a joke or a cautionary tale), we are focusing on experimental films, their use of homosexuality, and the build-up to explicit gay sexuality on screen . With a few exceptions, all mainstream film from the very beginning had a tendency to avoid using gay characters. Early films used the 'sissy' character as a joke, he was able to flirt with men until 1934 when the Hays Code banned him in Hollywood films (along with other homosexual content) and labeled it as 'sexual deviance.' It is due to this that Hollywood film today still avoids using gay protagonists and gay imagery despite the 'code' ending in 1968. If it appears, it is generally something to be laughed at or the character is secondary and unimportant (The Celluloid Closet, DVD).
With censorship being such an issue in mainstream films (even in Europe), we are directing our topic toward experimental films. Using the term 'experimental' broadens our topic so we're free to include experimental aspects in mainstream film, avant-garde works, art-house, and film festival productions. It may seem like a large area to cover, but the fact is that there was not a lot of homosexual content in early films of any form and it is due to this we had to broaden our search.
It is not until after the Hays Code ended, and censorship was diminishing, that the homosexual content in film became more prominent; this is why we focus on film festival experimental content in later years. In a way it brings our subject full-circle. We start with mainstream experimentation and end in the same way. In compiling our information in this manner it shows both the willingness to experiment with homosexual imagery, as well as the publics growing acceptance of gay content in film.
With censorship being such an issue in mainstream films (even in Europe), we are directing our topic toward experimental films. Using the term 'experimental' broadens our topic so we're free to include experimental aspects in mainstream film, avant-garde works, art-house, and film festival productions. It may seem like a large area to cover, but the fact is that there was not a lot of homosexual content in early films of any form and it is due to this we had to broaden our search.
It is not until after the Hays Code ended, and censorship was diminishing, that the homosexual content in film became more prominent; this is why we focus on film festival experimental content in later years. In a way it brings our subject full-circle. We start with mainstream experimentation and end in the same way. In compiling our information in this manner it shows both the willingness to experiment with homosexual imagery, as well as the publics growing acceptance of gay content in film.
CITATION:
The Celluloid Closet. Dir. Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman. TriStar Pictures, 1995. DVD.
The Celluloid Closet. Dir. Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman. TriStar Pictures, 1995. DVD.