Cruising was released in 1982 and came under understandably heavy criticism for its negative and potentially damaging portrayal of homosexuals. The story focuses around a serial killer, who is targeting gay men at his (dead) father's behest, by prowling the S&M leather bar and club scene for victims. The actual murders are quite graphic and sexually charged, and although the film only represents a small subculture, the underlying message that comes across is that all homosexuals are recklessly promiscuous, their behaviour will end in misery and death, and that any 'normal' person coming into contact with them will be corrupted (as happens with the Al Pacino character).
Whatever the director William Friedkin's intention was is debatable and although I still find the film somewhat reprehensible, watching it again recently shows that much of the power it once had has faded. The community it sought to represent has evolved, particularly post-AIDS, and there is a whole new generation of gays that are not so easy to pigeon-hole and vilify.
There is a scene in the film that takes place in a sleazy video booth between the killer and a victim, and what stands out is the impressive cinematography, replete with a subliminal editing style reminiscent of the dream sequence in Friedkin's The Exorcist from 1973. I captured various stills from the video booth scene and reordered them into a sixty second looped sequence, the result has an unsettling rhythm that becomes both mesmerising and powerful. I'm using this as inspiration for a short film I'll be working on in the future and possibly linking into Second Life.
I really like what you've done with the video loop; as disturbing as the underlying message of that movie is, the imagery/colors are also quite beautiful and definitely mesmerizing. I look forward to seeing what else you do with this!
ReplyDeleteHiya Neb and thanks!
ReplyDeleteThe portrayal of homosexuals throughout cinema history really interests me. I watched a lot of films growing up and saw so many negative representations of gays it was pretty depressing, Cruising being just one of the many. Even leaving aside the dubious moral message it's not a good film, it fails on many levels, but it's also an antique and wouldn't get made today. Fortunately, there is a whole new army of queer filmmakers who are helping redress the balance.
The re-edited Cruising sequence seems to sum-up a lot of feelings for me, and I do want to use it as inspiration for something, although I'm not quite sure what yet!