Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 6, 1999)
P ortland ' s ONLY I ndepehocnt • H onîohnekial L isteher -S pohsoreo ( ommonitt R adio S tation The Beys ¡a the Beni play on... On the occasion of its 30 th anniversary, the classic gay film deserves another look 1)0.7 art of me is tempted to believe the type of Instead of the horror and disdain that so many debate over the last three decades con other gay men seem to have experienced as cerning the film The Boys in the Band is a they viewed the film, I watched in awe at the unique occurrence in the queer communi different types of gay men parading in front of ty. I’m not really sure why I would ever believe my eyes. (The film follows what happens dur that. The ultimate reality of our society is that ing a single evening when a group of nine gay our perceptions are shaped by our experiences men get together to celebrate a birthday and growing up. Based on how we perceive the are infiltrated by a supposedly straight friend of world, some of us believe the proverbial glass is the party’s host.) either half empty or half full. Given that the As a young African American male, I was film is one of my all-time favorite especially drawn to the fact that the film fea guilty pleasures, I do tend to think tured what seemed to me to be a fairly well- of it in a positive light. But of adjusted, well-educated, handsome black gay course there are those who let the man among the group. There didn’t seem to negative aspects of the film prevent me to be anything stereotypical about Bernard. them from seeing the writing itself Though one might argue whether Larry and as a milestone in American cinema. M uch of the controversy sur rounding the film resurfaced recently when a brand new print of the film was released nationally. Though it has since BY breezed through RUPERT Portland via the KINNARO Hollywood Theater, one still has the opportunity to rent it at larger video stores. Mart Crowley wrote the play This is his present. Today is Harolds birthday. The Boys in the Band in 1967— the summer when, he says, life “came crashing down” around his ears. He managed to get his play to Broadway producers Richard Barr and C linton Mart C ro w le y ’s Wilder, who in turn passed the work to another popular play i t 1 4 m I N I t it 1 3 4 N I wright who had written the ...is not d mused. Broadway sensation of 1963. V ■ A - -i.-;i*». y<-N . • *>•< • ' ; :•*' R *Y -'''1»" A >x : : : >x t ■ A (The theatrical sensation in question was Who’s Afraid of Vir NOW PLAYING L O E W S STATE 1 L O E W S TO W E R EA ST ginia Woolf ? and, not surprising ;. x: * » 4 *,<• • r» v i>}> $ . \ x »»<*< • ?*»? SC7S ly, the playwright, Edward Albee, became interested in Boys, which has since been— very understand Hank are the models of coupledom, the depic tion of them dealing with an issue that con ably—compared to Woolf.) cerns gay men even today—to boink or not to Eventually The Boys in the Band became boink outside the confines of a committed rela enough of a hit on Broadway that it was made tionship— is still impressive some 30 years later. into a film in 1970. It was directed by William Even as a teen I was able to look beyond Friedkin, a little-known director who followed the heavy handed direction by Friedkin to Boys with The French Connection, The Exorcist appreciate Crowley’s writing and his fairly com and Cruising, which also caused great contro plex cast of characters. I was too fascinated by versy in the queer community with its rancid the “boys” to think of them as unsympathetic, portrayal of the gay leather scene in New York. and too engrossed by the story line to find the There are three popular reactions t® The film depressing. One would have to be from Boys in the Band among many gay men. First, the ostrich school of reality to dismiss the film’s there is the overwhelming opinion th a t the negative aspects as an unrealistic portrayal of film is depressing and it shows gay men in an what does indeed occur in our community. unsympathetic light. Secondly, it supports neg Certainly, dirty linen doesn’t tend to be pretty, ative stereotypes. Lastly, the extent to which but within the context of this film much of it is the play airs the dirty laundry of "gay male cul honest. ture" makes even the most liberal amongst us The Boys in the Band is a kaleidoscope of gay squeamish. wit (by which I mean biting humor at the The way my perceptions of the film were expense of others), mystery and melodrama. formed by my experiences growing up involves I’ve been impressed with the number of young my seeing the film the year it was released— as men who have been able to see the historic I was in the midst of dealing with my identity value of such a film instead of viewing it as a as a young man who was attracted to other relic of days gone by. men. I must’ve been about 16, and I remember For those who have never seen it, I suggest the almost unexplainable desire 1 had to see this film, which I knew I wasn’t supposed to see you rent it. For those who have, I suggest you revisit it. It may not be pretty, but this band because of my age. I felt like an undercover nlavs some sobering tunes. agent who had to sneak into the theater. !.v . A Proudly Serving The Greater Portland Metro Area ombard W 503 / 286-1330 n m nnn nj E Located in Historic St. Johns 8 3 0 2 N. LOMBARD • PORTLAND, OREGON 9 7 2 0 3 mJLM ■— c At? A s u m m e r c o n c e r t s e r i e s to b e n e f i t t r o ut & o t h e r n a t i v e f i s h t h a t o n c e t h r i v e d in the c r e e k s , s t r e a m s a n d r i v e r s of the O r e g o n W i n e C o u n t r y v yX>A <-•« • FH POBTLAHD * 92.7 (OLUHIIA 6 OB 6 E » IOO .7 WILLAMETTE VALLET »V V i . f>,<: - a u g u s t 22 - - a u g u s t 28 - B0 DIDDLEY ANN & NANCY WILSON of HEART WITH HIS FULL BAND RUBBERNECK KEROSENE DREAM OTicM&ets g o i n g f a s t - c u t g u s t 2 g - J0NATHA BROOKE SARA HICKMAN WES CUNNINGHAM NICOLE CAMPBELL 4c - S fw e c ia l - J+ - * * AIL DAY SHOW * A L S O P E R F O R M I N G T H I S S U M M E R . THE WARREN BROTHERS • KELLY WILLIS a u g u s t F I . DAN SEALS • JONI HARMS aMMgust 4 All sho w s a re perform ed on our o w n n a tu ra l am p h ith e ate r at Sokol B lo sser W in ery. 5000 Sokol Blosser lan e , Dundee, Oregon (off highway 9 9 W ), in the heart of the wine country. For more information, visit our web site www sokolblosser com or coll 800-582 6668 Tickets at all Fred Meyer FASTIXX outlets or charge by phone 224-TIXX Tickets olso available at Sokol Blosser W inery & People's Records in McMinnville / \ Fred Meyer 'P G E J Nv ' v o KOINfi) S o k o l Bl osser l v o fo,- life d m arm