Lgbt movies from the 80s
5 best queer movies from the '80s to monitor during Pride Month
Because of social mores and Hollywood's Hays Code censorship guidelines in place until , gay characters essentially did not exist on film. Even when someone "seemed" like they could be queer, it was vague enough to easily refuse such an accusation. Homosexuality was not allowed to be depicted, so at most nothing went beyond subtext. When Montgomery Clift and John Ireland stroke each other's guns in 's "Red River," they're just two cowboys who really admire the other's prowess with a pistol.
As attitudes evolved and the power of the production code waned, this started to change in the s. Then, the s saw many films place queer stories front and center. No longer were LGBT characters simply coded as "gay" — they were actually gay. Instead of romances being merely alluded to as subtext, they became the onscreen text. Below are five influential queer movies from the '80s that shifted gay storytelling that you can watch during Pride Month.
'My Beautiful Laundrette' ()
LGBTQ Films in the Ithaca College Library
Vito Russo, author of The Celluloid Closet, said of the Eighties, the films usually are about homosexuality, not about people and their stories.”
- Another Land () DVD
- A spy reflects on his boarding school homosexuality and Marxism.
- Before Stonewall: the Making of a Gay and Lesbian Community () DVD
- Chronicles the social, political, and culturalhistory of lesbian and gay life.
- Burroughs: The Movie () DVD
- 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 () DVD
- Was the friendship at Oxford that started it all more than a friendship? An ITV/PBSmini-series.
- Caravaggio () DVD
- The Italian painter's life is tragically complicated when he becomes the lover of a male model and his girlfriend.
- The Color Purple () DVD
- Only after a balck lady forms intimate relationship with another womandoes she verb her strength and confidence.
- Desert Hearts () DVD
- Advocate # first lesbian film
Seven Queer 80s Films to Watch This Pride Month
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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 s is a decade that is not exactly known for being 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 life prevailed.
At the time, the world was transforming geographically as much as socially. (Thr
Best LGBTQ+ Movies of the 80s, Ranked
The s 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 being told, and new approaches were being explored as the lower budgets required smaller audiences to create 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 occasion period in both style 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