Bisexual Characters in Film

From Ana's to Zee

Wayne M Bryant

• Editorial: Routledge
• Año: 2013
• ISBN:
  9781317971290
• Edición: 1
• Categoría: Arte
• Categoría: Arte generale

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.

Chapter 1
Who Is Bisexual?

Of course, people do go both ways.

–The Scarecrow in the movie, The Wizard of Oz

Questioning characters in film about whether they are bisexual or not is as productive as asking historical figures the same question; neither is available for comment. Were they available, there is no guarantee they would give a straight answer. Or perhaps the answer would be more "straight" than truthful. All we have to go on is the historical evidence; in this case, the film itself and anything the director, actor, or script writer may have said. Given that, we are often unable to make a determination beyond a reasonable doubt.

Opinions about bisexuality represent wide and varied beliefs. Using the broadest interpretation of the term—people who have had at least some sexual attraction to both males and females—nearly half of all American males (46 percent) would be considered bisexual according to Kinsey Institute statistics published in 1948. People rated as one through five on the Kinsey scale might be considered bisexual, whereas those who rated zero are exclusively heterosexual and six are exclusively homosexual.

Some people will use the narrowest interpretation to insist that there are no bisexual people: "bisexuals" are merely people in the process of coming out as homosexual. In his book, Homosexuality: Disease or Way of Life?, Edmund Berger voices this point of view. He states, "Bisexuality—a state that has no existence beyond the word itself—is an out-and-out fraud, involuntarily maintained by some naive homosexuals, and voluntarily perpetrated by some who are not so naive."

Scientific evidence disputes Berger's claim, however, and suggests the opposite may be true. In 1985, Dr. Fritz Klein published research based on his Klein Sexual Orientation Grid. Rather than a single Kinsey digit, subjects using the Grid are asked to place them-selves on each of twenty-one seven-digit scales. The scales indicate each subject's past, present, and ideal rating for sexual attraction, sexual behavior, sexual fantasies, emotional preference, social preference, self identification, and lifestyle. This results in a multidimensional grid of behavior over time. Klein's research demonstrated that there is "a significant trend in the direction of the bisexual norm with the heterosexuals moving toward a more homosexual orientation over their lifetimes, and homosexuals moving away from a homosexual orientation."

Even among bisexuals, there is no consensus about who "qualifies" as bisexual. There is general agreement among researchers that the majority of bisexuals do not have an equal attraction to females and males. However, those bisexuals who do feel an equal attraction often feel that they are attracted to men and women in different ways. Heated debates rage over why people have a particular sexual orientation and why it may change over time. A quick reading of a few essays from the landmark anthology, Bi Any Other Name will illustrate a diversity of feelings, experiences, and lifestyles among bisexuals.

The general belief among bisexuals is that anyone who has an attraction to males and females can be considered bisexual, whether or not they are currently engaged in relationships with both. Many bisexuals are engaged in monogamous relationships while others are celibate. Therefore, it requires more than just physical evidence of sexual relations during any period of life to determine whether or not an individual is truly bisexual. Research by Dr. Ron Fox shows that many people who have physical attractions or even regular sexual encounters with both females and males still identify them selves as gay, lesbian, or straight. In some cases, this is because the subject has had no particular emotional attractions to partners of one sex. For others, the reason is pressure from their social support network to retain a particular identification.

Similarities and Differences of Real and Celluloid Bisexuals

If one were to view film characters as real rather than fictional, it would be obvious that there exists a larger population of bisexuals than is evidenced in the films. Because a film is just a small slice of a fictional character's life, we are usually given little information about their history. For example, were Ester and Anna lovers in Ingmar Bergman's The Silence (1963) before we join the action? Bergman teases us with this possibility, but in the end is silent about the answer. Similarly, there is no telling what will become of any given character after the film's end, un less they die on screen. As it happens, death is the fate of an inordinate number of bisexual, lesbian, and gay film characters. The Celluloid Closet by Vito Russo lists an interesting "Necrology" with dozens of gay, lesbian, and bisexual characters who were killed off in Hollywood films.

Some film characters may be attracted to both males and females, but do not let us know during the time frame of the film. Perhaps they are not yet aware themselves. Given the number of characters who discover their bisexuality during the course of a film, is it reasonable to assume that others might discover it in some as-yet-unmade sequel? If Stallone had made as many sequels to Tango and Cash as he did to Rocky, we might have quite a different picture of the "Italian Stallion." Just as monogamous bisexuals are less obvious in real life, a bisexual film character in a monogamous relationship is overlooked unless overt reference is made to the fact. There have not yet been any narrative film characters wearing the overlapping blue and pink triangles—the symbol of the bisexual movement.

A film must be read in the context of the period and country in which it was made. Modem Hollywood films, such as Henry and June (1990), can be quite explicit about bisexuality. However, films made during the days of the Motion Picture Production Code, such as Gilda (1946), were strictly regulated. Therefore, references had to be much more subtle. German films, such as Madchen in Uniform, were acceptable in 1931 Germany (though censored in the United States). Such a film could cost the director and actors their lives less than five years later under Nazi rule.

Just as gay, lesbian, and bisexual people are forced underground when their government starts burning books and people, so are their celluloid counterparts. The characters exist during such times, but they are much more difficult to detect. They must be clever and subtle to avoid the police (read: censors), but if you know the "code words" you can still find them.

In the 1990 documentary, Dry Kisses Only (directed by Jane Cottis and Kaucylia Brooke), a number of films are cited in which, despite being produced in the days of the Motion Picture Production Code (The Code), lesbian and/or bisexual characters can be spotted by "reading between the lines." None of these roles were allowed to be explicitly developed or even strongly suggested, however. Under The Code, homosexuality could be portrayed only as negative stereotypes, warped personalities, or silly comic characters used to underscore the macho qualities of the leading (always white) male. Two women could never kiss each other more passionately than a quick peck, and men had better save their lips for the opposite sex.

There are a number of recurring character types in film that are difficult to categorize as bisexual or not bisexual. The reason they defy classification is that we do not fully understand their motivations or inclinations. Because the film is merely a slice of a character's life, it generally reveals only a portion of the character's personality. Even if the character is well-developed in the script, we may not know, with certainty, whether or not he or she is truly bisexual because the character may not be sure either.

One example of such an ambiguous character is the married bisexual. Old stereotypes would have us believe that all such people are actually closeted homosexuals who marry to avoid detection. If not closeted, they must be confused, and will eventually realize that they are indeed homosexual. There are certainly some married people who fall into one or the other of these categories. However, to state that this is true for all married people who are attracted to members of the same sex is simply to deny that bisexuality could possibly exist as a legitimate sexual orientation. This stereotype denies the idea that a person could choose to acknowledge his or her bisexuality over the long term and still have a successful marriage. In fact, married couples with one or both partners being bisexual exist in significant numbers. Many of these are quite successful long-term relationships.

This attitude toward married bisexuals is deeply ingrained in the movie industry, both in the United States and abroad. One is hard-pressed to find a single instance on film of a bisexual woman who is happily married. The implication, rather, is that women turn to other women for love because their husbands abuse them. Conversely, the stereotypical married bisexual male in film is treated as a closeted homosexual who married simply for the sake of appearance. Such films do not allow the possibility that bisexual men marry because they are attracted to women. We will return to these stereotypes later in the book.

Another negative type of bisexual character is the one who sleeps with people of the same sex in order to gain something from them. In most cases, we do not know whether that character would be attracted to someone of their own sex under normal circumstances. In The Conformist (1971), does Anna seduce Julia only to save her husband's life? Probably. Would she-does she-sleep with other women? Perhaps. We cannot know for sure.

In the Japanese film Afternoon Breezes, would Natsuko have slept with a man had it not given her a better chance at becoming lovers with her roommate? Based on the evidence, probably not. On the other hand, if we had known her better, maybe we would find that this is not so incongruous for her after all. It was certainly her first time with a man, but that is not unusual for a young working woman in Japan in the late 1970s. What is unusual is her open attraction to another woman during that period.

Is Elizabeth Taylor's character in X, Y, and Zee (1972) bisexual or did she sleep with Susannah York only to save her marriage? We are left to decide for ourselves. In Doña Herlinda and Her Son (1986), would the son ever sleep with women if his mother were not pushing him and threatening to withhold her love? The implication of the film is that he would not, but who knows?

Michael York's Karl, in Something for Everyone, seems to be using his bisexuality to make his way to the top and fulfill his dream of living in a real castle. Is he having sex with both men and women only to achieve his goals . . . or would he choose to do so in any event? If he is not bisexual, to which sex is he attracted? Considering the evidence, it is impossible to tell.

A third type of ambiguous film character is the hustler. Would one consider a man bisexual who sleeps with men professionally, but prefers women in his personal life? Maybe, but probably not. In most of these cases, however, we do not have all the information necessary to make an informed judgment. Examples of otherwise straight hustlers appear in Mala Noche (1985) as young Roberto and Midnight Cowboy (1969), with Jon Voight as the homophobic Joe Buck. In Paul Morrissey's Flesh and its sequel Trash (1970), Joe Dallesandro plays a hustler who seems to enjoy both men and women.

There are numerous instances of characters who turn to members of their own sex due to long incarceration and the opportunity to be sexual with someone who may care about them and their situation. The first such film was probably the German Geschlecht in Fesseln (Sex in Bondage), made in 1928. In it, the male lover of a gay convict shakes down Dieterle, a married fellow prisoner, over an affair the two had in prison. In Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985), Valentin, the revolutionary who has a female lover waiting for his release, eventually turns his attentions to his cellmate Molina, a flamboyant queen. Men are as affectionate as they can manage under difficult circumstances in Jean Genet's French masterpiece, Un Chant D'Amour (1947). Tender images of hands reaching through cell windows, flowers being passed, and cigarette smoke shared through a straw fuel the homoerotic feel of this film, set in an otherwise brutal environment.

The boarding school is another form of enforced single-sex living. The most famous of all early lesbian films is Mädchen in Uniform (1931). In this film, several of the girls are lovingly involved with each other, and one girl with her teacher. Early in the film, however, the school girls are seen gazing longingly at pictures of men. Jacqueline Audrey's Olivia (1951) depicts passion between students in a French girls' school. Thérèse and Isabelle (1968) is yet another girls' school film in which at least one of the young lovers has an interest in men, as well. Many European countries have produced one or more of these films. You Are Not Alone (1982) is Denmark's contribution. In it, a bisexual boy named Bo teaches the headmaster's son the joys of sex. Similar scenes of "homosexuality by necessity" occur in English school films such as Another Country (1984), in which Guy Bennett, who is homosexual, is sexually involved with classmates who are probably not.

An interesting question about bisexuality is posed by Robert Altaian's 1982 film, Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean. Karen Black plays a transsexual who shows up at the twentieth anniversary reunion of her small town's James Dean fan club, much to the confusion of her old friends. As a young man, she had slept with women and even fathered a son. As a grown transsexual woman, she slept with a number of men. However, to the best of our knowledge, this character, having been sexual with both men and women, always did so with members of the opposite sex.

Similarly, in the film Orlando (1993), the title character lives the beginning of his life as a man who is attracted to women, then becomes a woman herself. Once she has made the transformation, she is apparently only attracted to men and therefore remains heterosexual.

Another curious film is Eric de Kuyper's Pink Ulysses (1990). A sort of cult retelling of Homer's Odyssey, this film is aimed at gay male audiences and projects a distinctly gay aura. The main character Ulysses, based on the evidence available, is heterosexual. In fact, there is little obvious homosexuality anywhere in the film. What gives this film its gay overtones is the treatment of Ulysses and his crew, the insertion of film clips of operas, and camp sight jokes throughout the film. Ulysses and his crew are cast as gorgeous musclemen straight out of the physique films of the 1950s. The scene of his crew lashing the beautifully oiled Ulysses to the mast is so homoerotic that it steals the show.

Those writers and directors who subscribe to the myth that lesbians need only to sleep with the right man to realize what they have been missing are another source of questionable bisexual characters. Characters based on this ignorant cliché include Pussy Galore in Goldfinger, the title character from Emmanuelle, and Ellen in The Fox.

Chapter 2
In the Beginning

When I think of those who will come after . . . I feel as if I were taking part in the preparations for a feast, the joys of which I shall not share.

— Dag Hammarskjöld

If one were to examine the early history of the motion picture without a sense of the historical changes in language and culture, there would seem something very queer indeed about William Kennedy Laurie Dickson. Dickson was only nineteen when he wrote a letter to Thomas Edison from his home in England asking for a job. Edison turned him down, but Dickson sailed to the United States anyway and presented himself to the famous inventor. After a brief interview, an impressed Edison told him, "Well, since you have come, you'd better get to work."

Over the next five years, they worked together on various projects. In 1886, Edison assigned Dickson the job of combining Edison's phonograph with "a practical zoetropic moving figure ...