Line #6 Film/TheCelluloidCloset


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6	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/celluloid_closet_5184.jpg]]
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8	Based on the book by Vito Russo, this 1995 {{Documentary}} explores the history of Hollywood's portrayal of gay characters through the ages.
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11	!!This film contains/discusses examples of the following tropes:
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13	* AdaptationDistillation: The documentary is a worthy adaptation of the Vito Russo book, managing to include and expand on many of the ideas from the book. The film also benefits from the new medium, being able to show scenes that Russo could only describe.
14	* AmbiguouslyGay: This was the most common kind of portrayal starting out in films, as people discuss. Usually they would just display some "camp" and otherwise stereotypical behaviors (almost always men, although some women too), with nothing explicit (what's now called "queer coding").
15	* BuryYourGays: Discussed at some length, culminating in a montage of homosexual character deaths in classic movies.
16	* ButNotTooGay: {{Discussed}}, especially in the case of ''{{Film/Philadelphia}}'', where Creator/TomHanks defends the use of this trope by explaining that they had to edit out more explicitly intimate scenes between the main couple because the studio [[ExecutiveMeddling refused to release it otherwise]].
17	* CampGay: The film shows many gay characters of the type, along with his less explicit brother, The Sissy. It's {{discussed}} in depth, with several talking heads having different opinions of the worth of such characters. (Harvey Fierstein likes them: "Visibility at all costs!" and admits he can't hate expressions of "sissies" on the screen since he himself is a "sissy".)
18	* CreepyCrossdresser: One scene from ''Film/FreebieAndTheBean'' is pointed out where a depraved crossdresser is murdered in cold blood, and how audiences in the theater ''cheered'' it loudly.[[note]]After a lengthy chase, the “transvestite” villain shoots Bean, seriously injuring him, and Freebie faces him in a final showdown in a bathroom at the baseball stadium. Freebie is beaten at first, knocked on the ground by the “transvestite” who interrupts his kicks and punches for a little preening time, but eventually Freebie manages to grab a gun and empties it into the transvestite’s chest. Audiences reportedly cheered at the death scene, not just happy for the villain’s demise but cheering “the death of the fag.” Notably, the shooting was deemed too violent for network reruns of the film, who removed several of the gunshots to reduce it down to just two. - [[https://shebloggedbynight.com/2012/queer-film-blogathon-freebie-and-the-bean-1974/ Queer Blog-a-Thon]][[/note]]
19	* DepravedHomosexual: A number of gay murderers (serial killers included) are showcased, with the view that gays shifted from being victims to victimizers as explicit portrayals were increased.
20	* GayngstInducedSuicide: It discusses the typical presentation of the homosexual: miserable, perverted, and prime for killing himself.
21	* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: One of the central themes of the movie is how creators got crap past the radar and introduced homoerotic and AmbiguouslyGay gay content past censors. One of the most jaw-dropping examples is Jane Russell's "Ain't There Anyone Here for Love" number from ''Film/GentlemenPreferBlondes'', a whole sequence in which muscular dudes wearing nothing but swim trunks dance and twirl and do backflips, while Russell's character sings about how she can't get any of them to pay her any attention. The homoeroticism couldn't be much more overt, but because none of the men actually touch each other, it got past 1953 Hays Code censors. Some clear [[WhereEverybodyKnowsYourFlame gay bars]] are depicted too, including drag king acts, but as nothing's explicit it went through censorship.
22	* HideYourLesbians: A number of movie characters are displayed that were heavily implied to be a gay or lesbian couple (sometimes even kissing or embracing passionately), yet never explicit nor resolved.
23	* LesbianVampire: ''Film/DraculasDaughter'' gets a detailed examination, as likely the first cinematic example, though it's only implied.
24	* NoBisexuals: The film never once mentions bisexuality, even while discussing Crassus from ''{{Film/Spartacus}}'' who (through a metaphor) indicates he's bisexual (as part of a deleted scene the commentators discuss). Brian and Max (''{{Film/Cabaret}}'') are also bisexual, given their relationship with Sally plus each other, but were just described as homosexual. Susie Bright, whose commentary is a part of the film and who's bisexual herself, never brings this up oddly enough.
25	* NWordPrivileges: It is mentioned how the N-word in film is usually only used between black characters or to set [[PoliticallyIncorrectVillain a character up as a villain]], but "faggot" is quite often used in a relaxed way by straight characters, often to deny being gay.
26	* QueerFlowers: An example from a 60's film is discussed, when along with some camp behavior a male character gets coded as gay by mentioning that he's placed violets in his kitchen (usually it's been used for lesbians, but it still fits).
27	* PsychoLesbian: It's shown that any women strongly implied to be or explicitly lesbians were almost invariably villains and bent on seducing/assaulting other female characters until the 1960s (not that it stopped then, but some more positive examples started to occur).
28	* SissyVillain: A lot of movie villains were portrayed as having camp and implied gay stereotypes, though not crossing into explicitly DepravedHomosexual territory before the 70s or so.

Context Film / TheCelluloidCloset