movie review

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Homosexuality often is a taboo subject. The Celluloid Closet shows a humorous, touching and informative documentary study of Hollywood’s treatment of homosexuality on screen, from the very early beginning of silent film with 湯瑪士 Edison’s Two Man Dancing to today’s Hollywood’s blockbuster 費城. The Celluloid Closet portrays the ever-changing role of gays, from the extreme homophobic to those who are warmly pro gay rights and all things in between. Well-known gay and straight persons offer their opinions and observations about homosexuality. When the title of this movie is translated into Chinese, it is just directly translated into 『homosexuality in motion picture』. The great myth maker, Hollywood, taught straight people how to think about homosexuals and homosexuals how to think about themselves. And in fact it is a pity that most introductions about this sensitive issue are negative. In the silent era the gay characters were used for comic effect. The 「sissies」 in the movies always made the other characters seem 「more manly or more womanly, by filling the space in between」. In those few movies that are candidly about gays, their lives almost always end with madness or death. There is a montage of gays dying that features Sandy Dennis as a lesbian in The Fox, crushed by a falling tree. We generally get the impression from these movies that gayness is a sign of terminal anguish and sin on account of the influence the mainstream mass media has on social values. I still remember when I first learned about homosexuals from my high school English teacher. He taught us that they have a simple heart and sensitive nerve, and that they are not monsters or devils. Moreover, he taught us to respect and not look down upon them. Perhaps because of how I was introduced to homosexuality, I treat this issue more objectively and impartially. As a result, I believe that the different 「truths」 we are taught can completely impact our views of the world.   舉報