Bisexual Characters in Film (Haworth Gay & Lesbian Studies) - Softcover

Dececco, John

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1560238941 ISBN 13: 9781560238942

Publisher: Routledge, 1997

Synopsis

How far have we progressed from the days when showing a film such as Jack Smith’s Flaming Creatures landed the cinema’s programmer, projectionist, and ticket taker in jail? What are some of the hidden clues modern audiences are overlooking in older films that suggest a character’s bisexuality? Which famous actors, actresses, directors, and screenwriters were attracted to people of both sexes? In Bisexual Characters in Film, the first book to focus on the role of bisexual characters in film, you’ll find answers to these questions and many more as you explore, analyze, and celebrate 80 years of bisexual movie characters (and the people who have created them) from around the world. A lively, entertaining, and informative commentary, this book examines the treatment of bisexual film characters and shows you how that treatment has been affected by societal forces such as censorship, politics, religious prejudices, homophobia, and sexual stereotypes.

Bisexual Characters in Film looks at the contribution of bisexual people (and others who have had lovers of varying sexes) to the body of work available on film today. These include the directors, writers, actors, composers, and designers whose sexual orientation has informed their work. An analysis of the Motion Picture Production Code and its devastating effect on bisexual and homosexual screen images forms an important part of the book. You learn how, specifically, it eradicated gay, lesbian, and bisexual characters from Hollywood films as well as the role of bisexual, lesbian, and gay filmmakers in finally defeating it. Other questions you’ll find answers to include:

• Who, or what, is a bisexual?
• How were bisexual characters represented in silent film, before the forces of censorship banned them from the screen?
• What bisexual myths and stereotypes are portrayed on film?
• What is the role of “camp” in bisexual film?
  
  Bisexual Characters in Film is a unique resource for researchers; librarians; film festival planners; the queer media; professors and students of lesbian, gay, and bisexual studies; bisexual activists; and general bisexual, gay, lesbian, and transgendered readers. It provides a much-needed view of bisexual representations in a major segment of our popular culture.

About this title

From Library Journal:

This work serves as a who's who of the genre, although a truly thought-provoking critique still must be written. A boardmember of the Bisexual Resource Center in Boston, Bryant examines more than 200 international films with a groundbreaking focus. As Bryant points out in his preface, almost nothing has been written specifically about bisexuality in movies. However, most of Bryant's selections have been discussed elsewhere, and Bryant's survey does not offer the deep critical analysis found in such lesbian and gay film monographs as Vito Russo's seminal The Celluloid Closet (LJ 6/1/81) and Chris Straayer's Deviant Eyes, Deviant Bodies (LJ 1/15/97). Still, its unique approach recommends this work for academic queer studies and film collections.?Anthony J. Adam, Prairie View A&M Univ. Lib., Houston, Tex.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Routledge
• Publication date: 1997
• ISBN 10: 1560238941
• ISBN 13: 9781560238942
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 200