The Plot That Dare Not Speak Its Name

[mrsphyllistorgo]

One of my favorite documentaries is "The Celluloid Closet", a movie that deals with homosexuality in Hollywood movies in the days when you really couldn't make a film like "I Now Pronounce You Chuck And Larry." It's fascinating and really highlights the subtext of many movies, some famous, some not, that, if you knew what to look for, managed to be pretty obvious in what was going on, in their own coded way.

Well, that sort of thing wasn't just for the big boys--the cheapies did it too, and often a lot less subtlely, since they were "fast and forgotten" flicks that were there to stimulate all your baser interests--and I do mean stimulate!

Take the three poll choices. Girl in Lover's Lane is famous, on the boards and elsewhere, for the many, many, many bonding scenes between Bix and Danny. The fact that they end up together (!) at the end, although not presented romantically, naturally, is pretty "wow, they got away with THAT?" for the time.

Brain That Wouldn't Die is naturally mostly about the most incredible misogony you'll see onscreen until Hobgoblins, but there's a real interesting (if somewhat cliched and stereotypical) little subplot with Doris, the Embittered Scarred Model. When Bill tries to sweet talk her out of her apartment, Doris snaps she doesn't date, and she hates all men, after what one did to her once--"have you forgotten?" This could be read as the "man hating lesbian" who "hates" men (groan). Just the fact that it's there is interesting, but the fact that Doris experiences nothing that is going to change her mind about man-hating for the rest of the film is even more so! Usually in a movie like this she'd fall for Bill's Manliness within two minutes and be "cured" (double groan).

As for The Atomic Brain--well, come on. You don't gotta be Freud. Mrs. March is obsessed with youth and beauty, having been denied them in her own life, to the point where she's way beyond rationality. Her drooling appreciation of the female form would put Pepe La Pew to shame. It's passed off, of course, as her burning mad desire to become one of these leggy lovlies, but there's a bizarre vibe running under it--that Mrs. March has dreamed so hard, for so long, that EVERY impulse she has is focused on women, young women, having young women. Creepy, and, like I said, pretty subversive for the time.

So vote! Feel free to nominate your own selections, but be sure to back them up, like I did at such exhaustive length.


Um, you're ashing on my robe.

[Peakpasha]

I go with the Atomic Brain on this one. The crone ogling the naked girls is quite obvious, compared to the two other choices.

[inlovewithcrow]

Brilliant title for the thread, btw.

I went with Atomic Brain, too. Though I always thought that Mooney's resentment of Eddie Crane's new gal had more to it than meets the eye. That kind of jealousy is not just pals jealousy. I did it for you, Eddie....

[Blurryeye]

I was going to vote The Atomic Brain, but then while reading MPT's description of the scene in Brain that Wouldn't Die, I recalled that the woman says she has a girlfriend who's coming to pick her up soon, I believe shortly after the "I don't date MEN" speech (get it?). The other two movies don't actually present a homosexual relationship as explicitly as BTWD. Also, I think there was lesbian subtext in the mannish-looking dark-haired exotic dancer's jealousy of Bill's attention to the blonde dancer. I don't think it's that she wants him to herself, as the "cover story" is in the movie. 'Who's to tell me to blow if I don't want to,' indeed.

Although Girl in Lover's Lane had the highest number of scenes containing gay subtext to modern eyes, I'm not sure that the actors involved were aware of it (or were they?!), and it's just the way it played out upon viewing. Whether or not the filmmakers intended it is questionable to me. I guess I don't have much basis for that hunch, but I think it's more definitely intentional in BTWD and Atomic Brain. Fascinatingly subversive little films here.

Interesting observation, inlovewithcrow. I never thought about that angle, but it could certainly be the case. Mooney might be in love with Eddie in his own crazed, screwed up way. The way he looks at Eddie when he's performing. He's okay with Iris because Eddie doesn't really love Iris (I tell ya, shut up). But this new gal is a real threat. Intriguing... I'll have to think for awhile to come up with examples from other episodes.

[dph]

I'll got with Girl in Lover's Lane. It's so obvious that the brains even point it out! At one point Joel even says "And Bix once again saves Danny from a heterosexual experience."

[fathermushroom]

Seriously, I doubt any of these were intentional on any level. It's like saying all those Hercules movies were made for gay audiences (which many gay men claim to be true beyond all doubt). In Herc's case, I just think it was a case of beauty-in-the-eye-of-the-beholder, and in this thread I think it's sort of the same issue -- easy to see it this way in 2010. But I get the idea of the thread.

I like the idea of Mooney having a man-crush on Eddie Crane. It's not what the filmmaker intended, but for this thread it works for me.

No one's mentioned Winky's attraction to the Gay Night Life? Sheesh!

[Chuck]

In that underground wonder filled with camp homoerotica, The Incredibly Strange Creatures, I always thought Harold (Atlas King) had a thing for Jerry (Ray Dennis Steckler).

[continosbuckle]

Dec 28, 2010 10:15:27 GMT -5 fathermushroom said:

Seriously, I doubt any of these were intentional on any level. It's like saying all those Hercules movies were made for gay audiences (which many gay men claim to be true beyond all doubt).

If that's the case, it definitely applies to The Undersea Kingdom as well. If you see the entire serial, you'll see that in virtually every episode, (of which there were like 20) a shirtless Crash with his tight little bathing suit will be wrestling with another, similarly dressed man. There's also the infamous scene of him spread eagled out on the front of the "car", wearing, again, nothing but that tight little bathing suit.

I also wondered, watching that, whether Crash's flowing curly hair was regulation for a Naval officer at the time, or whether it was like Brad Pitt in Legends of the Fall, where it's non-reg because it gets some special folks in the audience going.

[kalidor2000]

One of the shorts I watched recently had me thinking, up to the 1/2 way point, that the brother and visiting friend were an item.

It was the one where the driving concept was "electricity and all it's conveniences".

[Mike Flugennock]

Dec 16, 2010 13:40:27 GMT -5 mrsphyllistorgo said:

...Take the three poll choices. Girl in Lover's Lane is famous, on the boards and elsewhere, for the many, many, many bonding scenes between Bix and Danny. The fact that they end up together (!) at the end, although not presented romantically, naturally, is pretty "wow, they got away with THAT?" for the time...

I haven't seen The Girl In Lover's Lane yet -- it's one of those episodes I didn't catch while MST3K was still on the air -- but I've seen the other two, and I ended up going with Doris in The Brain That Wouldn't Die. The rich old crone in The Atomic Brain is certainly obsessed with young, beautiful women, but that always struck me as simply extreme jealousy; I'm sure there's huge numbers of really old heterosexual women out there who are desperate to recover some of the looks they had when they were younger (how else do you explain aging ex-movie goddesses blowing so much cash on plastic surgery, tummy tucks and ass tucks?). Doris, however, with that man-hating rant, might as well have an electric sign hanging around her neck flashing ANGRY BITTER LESBIAN.

Of course, if given the choice, I'd cast a vote for 12 To The Moon, if only for the young Polish Jewish scientist and the old German scientist spooning in the escape capsule towards the end of the picture.

[floatinginspace82]

this might be a stretch but what about the pseudo evil scientist (who reminds me of Dr.Forrester)
from The Wild World of BatWoman ... he and his little pet/man seem to care alot about each other
but i could be just looking too much into it

[Poe33]

WOW - I haven't posted here in ages. Hope you are all well. Very funny- I am listening to a lecture by Terrence McKenna and he quoted the original quote of this thread's name. I had to post. I need to start hanging around here again!

[Mike Flugennock]

Dec 28, 2010 18:56:21 GMT -5 Chuck said:

In that underground wonder filled with camp homoerotica, The Incredibly Strange Creatures, I always thought Harold (Atlas King) had a thing for Jerry (Ray Dennis Steckler).

Huh... I don't know. Nothing suggests to me that Harold was attracted to Jerry, but I rather agreed with Nelson, in the riff where he comments that Steckler "may have had some issues with women" during that awful dance number with all the girls in the weird striped dresses. (btw, that was my favorite musical number in the whole movie -- rivalled only by "Shick Outta Shape" -- because of its sheer ineptitude and tackiness).

I've lost track of how many times I've watched that episode -- it instantly became a favorite of mine -- and nothing about it suggested camp homoerotica to me, only just plain camp. There's a lot of stuff in the musical numbers that might appeal to gay guys for the cheesy camp appeal -- like that damned striped-dresses dance number -- but nothing struck me as outwardly homoerotic. Mind you, I was laughing so hard at the riffing that it was hard to concentrate on stuff like analyzing the possibilities of camp homoerotic appeal.

I think that if anybody was gay in that movie, it had to be Madison; also, that blond guy in the dance team in the opening number absolutely had to be gay as hell.

[cityofvoltz]

I definitely noticed this with the model in the atomic brain. especially with Doris- The brain that wouldn't die, grandma and her staring up the younger women is quite creepy- i haden't watched girl in lovers lane enough to really catch it. and ICSWSLABMZ is just weird all around;)