Over the Rainbow: - Wrestling With Angels
Over the Rainbow: - Wrestling With Angels
Over the Rainbow: - Wrestling With Angels
You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles
YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.
Movies<br />
Released in 1975, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, an openly and wantonly gay film, had long<br />
standing runs in <strong>the</strong>aters, usually playing at midnight showings. Still playing in <strong>the</strong>aters 30<br />
years later, it features Dr. Frank-N-Furter, <strong>the</strong> “sweet transvestite from Transsexual,<br />
Transylvania.” It became an influence among high school and college age young people in<br />
introducing <strong>the</strong>m to homosexual <strong>the</strong>mes. <strong>With</strong> <strong>the</strong> exception of Rocky Horror and The Boys in<br />
<strong>the</strong> Band (1970), movies rarely included gay-related content before <strong>the</strong> 1980’s, or if <strong>the</strong>y did it<br />
was a negative depiction. Gay film-making exploded in <strong>the</strong> 1980’s. In 2008, <strong>the</strong> staff at<br />
AfterElton.com invited <strong>the</strong>ir readers to send in titles of gay films that <strong>the</strong>y considered ‘great’.<br />
They received a total of 570 different movies (AfterElton.com, 2008). Mainstream gay <strong>the</strong>med<br />
movies included An Early Frost (early 1980’s), , Our Sons (early 1990’s), Philadelphia (1993),<br />
Priest (1994), Broke Back Mountain (2005), and recently released, Harvey Milk (Somelikeitscott.<br />
2010).<br />
Media in The New Millenium<br />
Media reporters and commentators who supported gay and lesbian concerns were<br />
outspoken in support. ABC News reporter and talk show host Barbara Walters received an<br />
award from <strong>the</strong> Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation in April of 2002. Walters<br />
replied, “We have done a great many programs about gays and lesbians. We hope that we’ve<br />
opened some eyes – and if <strong>the</strong>y’re not open, we just don’t care anymore” (Citizen, 2002).<br />
In <strong>the</strong> summer of 2003 Queer Eye For <strong>the</strong> Straight Guy debuted on TV and became a smash<br />
hit. Michael Alvear, a nationally syndicated columnist and genius behind ‘Queer Guy’ explained<br />
<strong>the</strong> success of <strong>the</strong> show saying, “It employs benign stereotypes – that gay men are fashion<br />
hounds – to undercut malignant ones – that <strong>the</strong>y’re predators.” Howard Buford, CEO of Prime<br />
Access, an advertising agency that caters to <strong>the</strong> gay market, explained, “So many people have<br />
come out of <strong>the</strong> closet …large numbers of Americans personally know someone who is gay or<br />
lesbian, and this makes a difference” (Stoeltje, 2003).<br />
Gays continued to influence <strong>the</strong> culture behind <strong>the</strong> scenes. Gay writers worked behind <strong>the</strong><br />
scenes to produce popular TV shows that provocatively defined straight relationships. Marc<br />
Cherry and Ryan Murphy respectively were responsible for <strong>the</strong> creation of <strong>the</strong> TV award<br />
winning shows Desperate Housewives and Nip/Tuck. Gay screenwriter Alan Ball was<br />
responsible for HBO’s Six Feet Under. Sex and <strong>the</strong> City was created by Darren Star and later run<br />
by Michael Patrick King, both gay (Poniewozik,2005).<br />
<strong>Over</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Rainbow</strong>: The Gay Battle for Social Reorganization of America. 2010<br />
Dr. M. L. Coppock<br />
30 | P a g e