Odette, played by Omella Muti, wants,
really, to marry him, sc walks a fine line. She
seems to respond, knowingly or unknowingly,
to his need for punishment She, publicly and
privately, entices him, spurns him, comforts
and taunts him, sometimes by not knowing
what to do, sometimes by knowing exactly
what to do.
He suspects her of lesbian liaisons with her
friend, Mme. Verdurins. She denies it He says
it wouldn’t make any difference, why not own
up to it She makes up a story (an awkward
one), and he doesn't believe her.
Swann has been warned if he marries
Odette, she will not be received by his friends.
His friends have heard stories of her meeting
rich women in the brothels.
He goes to a brothel and talks to a young
(very) prostitute from Odette's home town.
His suspicions are confirmed. The sad-eyed
Odette started her lucrative career by being
sold by her mother to a wealthy Englishman.
She has had memorable lesbian encounters
and appears to be continuing to do so, both
for profit with noblewomen, and also for fun
with her friend, the progressive, vulgar Mme.
Verdurins. She is having affairs with other
men also, possibly even his best friend,
Baron Charlus.
Meanwhile, he’s still paying her. He discreet
ly leaves two large bank notes in the cash box
on her mantelpiece (the same amount he
gives the little prostitute at the whorehouse
for information and rather routine service).
He chases after Odette in a most aggres
sive manner that evening, having to track her
down at a dinner party after the opera. He
barges in on the party, hosted by those
“trash,” the Verdurins. She is in the company
of another man, a Viscount, one of Swann’s
rivals. Odette leaues with the Viscount after
the party. At Odette's apartment later that
night, Swann gives her an opulent jewel-and-
pearl bauble, and promises to pay her way on
a trip to Egypt, with the Viscount and the
Verdurins.
The irony here is that Swann, who thinks
he aspires to be genteel, must wish in some
way to deliver a large raspberry to the same
society he works so hard to impress, he could
not have done a better job of choosing the
wrong woman for his station. Then follows
another irony—Odette is as well known, and
respected in her trade, as he. The very people
who refuse to receive Odette socially make
up her clientele. In fact, Odette has slept with
more influential, rich people than Swann can
ever hope to meet.
Volker Schlondorff, who did such a good
job directing The Tin D m m , directs here.
Schlondorff has again produced a film that
captures the substance of the literary work
from which it is derived.
Films such as Sw ann In Love. Passage to
India, and television mini-series such as
Brideshead Revisited are, I believe, a direct
backlash of the car crash and firebomb patch-
works we’ve been getting so regularly. There
was no TV. There was only live entertainment
One looked for lovers who could be com
pared to works of art Films like this portray
times in which things often seemed “nicer.”
People had more time to enjoy life. The clo
thing and the trappings were so lusciously
decadent I went home really dissatisfied with
my own squalid little existence.
M U SIC
Educating America:
Can the Dyketones
get away with it?
by Rosanne King
They use the tunes of the '50s and’60s,
they use strong characterization, they use
choreography, they use music and theatre.
The Dyketones are educating America.
The six-member group leaves Portland
April 15 for a west coast tour, culminating
with an appearance at the Gay Day parade in
San Francisco June 30. As they have the past
two summers, the Dyketones will play a ten-
week stint in Provincetown. They are tenta
tively booked in "most New England states"
and into the midwest.
Then they may begin educating Europe.
The lessons are delightful. Each Dyketone
has two strong characters — one butch, one
femme. Chukki Linguini’s counterpart is
Cha-Cha Linguini. Stark Terror is Annette
Spoonajello. Mona Lott doubles as Joy
Morbidson. Under Patti O ’Fumiture’s chic
facade hides Slick Licks. Kitty Litter is also
known as Katt Litter. Donna and Donny
Delgado are one in the same. According to
Chukki, the characterizations are done for a
reason.
“You couldn’t just be gay and androgy
nous in the ’50s,” she said. The roles the band
members assume depict the butch and
femme roles that had to be adopted for survi
val during that time.
The music makes people listen, according
to the group's members. They insist on high
musical quality and good theatre, but people
But Sw an In Love proved a romantic and
amusing interlude, artistic, passionate, philo
sophical. Where does passion fit in the social
strata? One does what one can afford, and
talks about it to everyone, pretending not to
talk about it to anyone. Isn’t it ironic that the
same people who have money and can (and
do) pay for sex are the same ones who
socially scorn those who sell it to them?
And the sad-eyed ones, who seem to know
so much more than the rest of us. They see
right through the meaningless pompousness,
counting their money, smiling their sad-eyed
smiles.
can't turn their backs on the tunes. Every era
seems to know the '50s."
Provincetown, a gay tourist resort on the
East Coast, proved to be a good place to get
people to listen. Chukki said the audience
differs every night and includes many straight
people.
"If they stay for the show — and most do —
they get their first positive experience with
gay culture presented in a music and com
edy format.”
Response in Provincetown and elsewhere
has been good. Band members said there is
always homophobia and that flyers do get
tom up and thrown at them. When someone
gets up to leave a performance, though,
“they know they're a minority." Many people
bring their friends to see the act.
This year, the Dyketones will have a 10-
tune souvenir tape available on tour. They cut
the tape at Grassroots Recording Studio last
month.
"We re a musical happening," Kitty said.
When the Dyketones first performed on
New Year's Eve 1977, they didn’t expect to be
a happening.
“It was basically a joke — can we get away
with this? We didn’t know what to expect. We
didn't expect such a positive response."
Beginning with eight members, the band
and its music has changed.
Patti said there's a lot more choreography
involved and there is now a storyline to the
performance.
"It’s almost like watching a musical," she
said.
The group plays more '50s and '60s and
Motown material than it once did, uses more
vocals and a capella and puts more emphasis
on harmonies. Characterizations have
become important enough to warrant work
shops for band members.
Change will continue. According to
Chukki, "We re in a real transition stage right
now. Compromise and change will keep us
going.”
Stark Terror suggests a rumble between
the Butches and the Femmes.
Terror recently relocated to Portland from
Washington, D.C., and Mona Lott moved
from San Francisco to become a Dyketone.
Kitty Litter became a Dyketone after attend
ing a dyke prom in Pittsburgh which she calls
"a dream come true."
The Dyketones’ performances seem to
elicit that response from many. Chukki tells a
story about the band’s first summer tour in
Provincetown. At the end of their perform
ance, the band runs off the stage and talks to
the crowd as they leave. An older, gray-haired
woman approached the band with tears run
ning down her cheeks.
"This is the first time in my life that I've
been able to dance to my own music with my
girlfriend,” she told them.
“We want to take it to the limit as far as the
entertainment scene in the U.S. — and any
where else," Chukki said, and band members
agree.
"We re going to be on M TV' Patti said.
For now. a Portland dyke band is touring
nationwide and may be performing overseas.
They've subtitled their act "The Education of
America."
According to Chukki, “That's the dream
that fosters all of this."
ANSEL ADAMS
April 4 thru May 10
Mon-Sat 11-5:30
Photographic Image Haller;
Northern Italian Cuisine
M o n .-S a t., 5 :3 0 -1 0 :3 0 p .m .
£
pg
^
-S
«3
O
2 8 3 2 SE B e lm o n t
P o rtla n d , O re g o n
238-1464
Call for reservations.
J u *t Ou», April 1985
cg
IS
£
*
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Visit and browse through images
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