Gay 80s movies
Posted by Brennan Klein Posted on Jun - 16 - 20220 Comments
We’re halfway through Pride month, which means we’re also halfway through the Kickstarter campaign for Hauntology, the homosexual horror anthology film from writer-director Parker Brennon that our very own Loot Jarosinski is producing! While the film was already fully funded within the first week, it’s now looking to meet its first stretch goal, so check it out below if you want to donate!
Click here to donate to the Hauntology Kickstarter!
Parker’s film is looking to enter the new canon of queer horror films, a subgenre that highlights and celebrates the gender non-conforming experience within the milieu of the macabre. However, the history of gender non-conforming horror doesn’t begin in the 2010s. Horror has had queer characters, creators, and themes since the very beginning, only they haven’t always been what one might call flawless representation. In this list, I want to feature 5 films from the 1980s that are surprisingly queer and fascinating in their treatment of the topic, even though there are elements that are clearly – and in some cases startlingly – problematic.
When it comes to representa
LGBTQ Films in the Ithaca College Library
Vito Russo, composer of The Celluloid Closet, said of the Eighties, the films usually are about homosexuality, not about people and their stories.”
- Another Region (1984) DVD 10206
- A informant reflects on his boarding school homosexuality and Marxism.
- Before Stonewall: the Making of a Gay and Dyke Community (1985) DVD 5503
- Chronicles the social, political, and culturalhistory of lesbian and gay life.
- Burroughs: The Production (1983) DVD 10714
- An intimate portrait of beat generation author William S. Burroughs that does not timid away from his "often-tortured relationship to his homosexuality."
- Brideshead Revisited (1981) DVD 251
- Was the friendship at Oxford that started it all more than a friendship? An ITV/PBSmini-series.
- Caravaggio (1986) DVD 5099
- The Italian painter's animation is tragically complicated when he becomes the companion of a male model and his girlfriend.
- The Dye Purple (1985) DVD 4276
- Only after a balck female forms intimate relationship with another womandoes she detect her strength and confidence.
- Desert Hearts (1985) DVD 10400
- Advocate #8.The first lesbian movie in which both women enjoy a happy en
Best LGBTQ+ Movies of the 80s, Ranked
The 1980s were an exciting time for cinema. Independent studios were rising in number and prominence, so movies were being made on a smaller budget. This meant that a greater range of stories was existence told, and new approaches were being explored as the lower budgets required smaller audiences to build back the investment. Now that it was less necessary for movies to appeal to the broadest possible audience, these independent studios were taking chances on LGBTQ+ narratives more than ever. As a result, the 80s are home to some of the most iconic movies the community has to offer.
Beyond just queer cinema, the aesthetics of the 80s make for delightful and charming filmmaking. There’s a playfulness to the movies of this hour period in both way and story that leads to campy and entertaining movies, but not ones that are lacking in sincerity and heart. John Waters’ Hairspray is a perfect example of the balance struck between truly subversive choices that are even shocking at times but are still not at the expense of the movie being watchable. This is just one of the best Gay movies from the 80s, which are ranked below.
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Seven Queer 80s Films to Watch This Pride Month
Design & LivingAnOther List
Louis Staples shares seven highlights from Queer 80s: Cinema on the Brink of Global Change, a series of ground-breaking films screening as part of the Barbican’s Pride season this summer
TextLouis Staples
The 1980s is a decade that is not exactly known for entity a positive time for LGBTQ+ people. The Aids crisis devastated queer communities and unleashed a terrible wave of homophobia in the media and politics, but also in everyday life. Gay men were particularly stigmatised and grant down by those in power, even as laws prohibiting gay sex were gradually relaxed.
But during these difficult times, the 80s were a decade where queer filmmakers across the world told stories in new and interesting ways. The Barbican’s Pride season this summer,Queer 80s: Cinema on the Brink of Global Change, explores a decade when, against the odds, LGBTQ+ representation in film thrived and bold depictions of queer existence prevailed.
At the time, the world was transforming geographically as much as socially. (Three of the films in the Barbican’s programme originate from countries that no longer exist.) As g
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