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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 21, 2008)
52 lUStpUt NOVEMBER 21, 2008 Little City, Big Spirit For a burg of its relatively petite size and stature, Portland is a haven for queer cinéphiles of ail stripes by Christopher McQuain STEAM PORTLAND WHERE IVIE KJ LOVE IVIE IM! steam room whirlpool wrote my first film review for Just Out about 10 years ago; Todd I laynes glitter rock epic Velvet Goldmine was th subject. Little did I know th.it I won d continue to write on film for Just ( )ut inique in queer me- dia anywhere, I now realize better than 1 did then, for its personality, relevance, boldness and vi- sion rhis far down the line, or that 1 laynes him self would soon be calling rhe Rose City home. Long before I attempted my own foray into writing, however, 1 was a defiant filmgoer and Just ( hit reader (“defiant" because most movies, let alone semimonthly queer periodicals, were strictly contraband in my fundamentalist Christian home). Experience hid thus shown me time and again how remarkable a place Portland was to have grown up gay and cinephilic. 1 look back nowand realize how privileged I was to have initiated my first sexual and cultural experimentations in an environment that, surprisingly for a burg of its relatively petite size and stature, offered so much nourishment and opportunity tor someone like me. Objectively speaking, it’s clear that Portland is a haven for queer cinéphiles of all stripes, whether one looks at our preponderance of independent, queer-friendly film venues or our disproportionate concentration of internationally celebrated queer filmmaking talent, the richness of the city’s film scene is a self-evident delight, yet another bragging point when doing the boastful-Portlander thing for our friends and family from other, lesser cities. I lowever, in hopes of offering a more personal, close-up (and, I hasten to add, ultra-subjective) view from the place where my own experience as a young gay Portlander intersects with our fair city's long-standing hospitality toward its queer citizens and its movie lovers, 1 humbly offer these particularly vivid cinema-related snapshots. The year of Ms Own Private Idaho, both in rhe cinema world and in my own lite. The film is still widely discussed and acclaimed, but this evening. it’s an event, and my heart is racing. Pm 15, and an older friend whose support during my coming out has already been invaluable takes me to see Van Sant’s film on its opening night. It’s the first movie' I’ve ever seen. It’s playing at KOIN Cin emas, which at that rime occupied rhe same rari- fied position—arthouse central downtown—that Fox Tower does now, and the theater is sold out, the first rime I’ve ever seen such a crowd. We’re lucky to get seats, and we have to sir in the very front row, craning our necks to see, all of which only adds to rhe film’s mystique. The buzz and anticipation for Idaho has been building; 1 know from advance publicity that River Phoenix and Keanu Reeves play Port la nd-based male prostitutes and that local home electronics magnate (and late-night television ad star) Tom Peterson is in it. There are murmurs and cries of recognition as our characters’ dramas unfold in and around recognizable landmarks; raucous laughter greets one character’s put-down of Beaverton. Nothing, however, could have prepared me for the Campfire Scene. If you’ve seen the film, you’ll never forget it: While on a road trip and huddling over a fire they've built, Phoenix, as a vulnerable gay young man, bravely confesses his love for his friend Reeves, who is only as gay as it takes to piss off his rich father, rhe mayor. The offer is tenderly yet unmistakably rejected by rhe Reeves character. It is utterly heartbreaking. Pm moved to tears so quickly, it’s embarrassing. I lie awake all night making myself ache by replaying the exchange over and over in my head. (1 still tear up every time I see it.) Before 1 knew who video lounges weekly specials toys lubes aromas » STEAr/!POPTLANO.CaM rrs HOT HERE
