The Celluloid Closet: What is Still True Today

The Celluloid Closet opened my eyes not only to the complicated history of LGBTQ+ representation in film, but how the lack or kinds of representation affected society overall, in particular, people who identified as lesbian, homsexual, bisexual, transgender, etcetera. Many of the speakers in the film, ranging from screenwriters to actors to producers, pulled from their own experience in how they felt about and reacted with movies, providing the audience with memorable quotes and analysis of LGBTQ+  representation.

In one of the opening lines of the documentary, the narrator (Lily Tomlin) says the following:

“Hollywood, the great maker of myths, taught straight people what to think about gay people, and gay people, what to think about themselves. No one escaped its influence.”

(The Celluloid Closet 03:10-03:25).

As one of the first lines spoken, it sets the tone of the documentary. While there are some positive aspects the film covers, it mostly talks about the struggles to represent LGBTQ+ people, whether they are lacking from the films overall, misrepresented, or mistreated. This idea is still very much relevant today; while Hollywood representation has improved in terms of providing (some) more original, less stereotypical representation for the gay community, the films I grew up with heavily dictated what I perceived and expected of gay people.

For example, Damian in Mean Girls is portrayed as a stereotypical gay male that is only best friends with girls, funny, theatrical, and gossipy. In the movie, he is used as a comical piece, one of the complaints that speakers in the documentary have about gay representation. His flamboyance and catty remarks seem to be all that makes up his character; his best friend, Janis, often comments on his gayness, most notably “almost too gay to function” (Mean Girls 2004).

Damian has very memorable quotes and scenes rooted in comedy, but honestly, that’s about it. And, for the most part, it’s all he’s remembered for. I think people growing up watching this movie kind of expected every homosexual male to be like this: funny and flamboyant. As such an iconic film to my generation, I believe this overgeneralization of homosexual males’ personality still perpetuates people’s perceived notions of gay men today.

A second quote that also caught my attention was from the openly gay British director John Schlesinger. He states that:

“Americans are perhaps more scared of their sexuality; they’re prepared to show violence of all kinds, but when it comes to sexuality, I think America is very self-righteous, and tries to bury it as if it didn’t exist, which is silly.”

(The Celluloid Closet 1:20:00-1:20:15).

Yet, Marvel, despite how much fans point out about the two, is willing to show all sorts of violence, but not their possible bisexual identites. These two manly warriors, fighting brutally and killing on screen, could be undermined by their possible sexuality, so violence is used to mask it, or “bury” it as Schlesinger says. This can be one interpretation. However, some say that their relationship is more of a comradery and bromance between the two that was common during their time period (1930/40s), especially for brothers in arms. 

There are many more aspects that the speakers in this documentary touch on. These two quotes were ones that stuck out to me the most, as I have personally experienced and noticed the situations and effects discussed.

Works Cited

The Celluloid Closet. Directed by Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman, Sony Pictures Classics, 1995.

Mean Girls. Directed by Mark Waters, performances by Cary White, Mary J. Fort, Lindsay Lohan, Rachel McAdams, Tim Meadows, Amy Poehler, Ana Gasteyer, Lacey Chabert, Lizzy Caplan, Daniel Franzese, Neil Flynn, Jonathan Bennett, Amanda Seyfried, and Rosalind Wiseman. Paramount Pictures , 2004.