American Film History by Lucia Cynthia; Grundmann Roy; Simon Art & Roy Grundmann & Art Simon

Author:Lucia, Cynthia; Grundmann, Roy; Simon, Art & Roy Grundmann & Art Simon
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781118475164
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons, Incorporated
Published: 2015-06-16T00:00:00+00:00

16

Queering the (New) Deal

David M. Lugowski

Professor, Manhattanville College, United States

In his comprehensive discussion of dozens of 1930s Hollywood films, both before and after the Production Code was vigorously enforced, David M. Lugowski illustrates that queer images were ubiquitous and irrepressible – whether in the form of characters like the sissy, the pansy, and the “mannish” woman or in terms of cross-gendered situations, costuming, and verbal references. His investigation of Production Code Administration files supports the Alexander Doty claim he quotes: “queerness…just might be the most pervasive sexual dynamic at work in mass culture production and reception.” Lugowski contextualizes his study in Depression-era challenges to masculinity and PCA restrictions, which ironically tend to confirm Doty's claim in acknowledging the pervasive presence of queer content and in attempting, but ultimately failing, to restrict its admittedly implicit presence. While acknowledging the value of Vito Russo's Celluloid Closet interrogation, Lugowski recognizes empowerment in many representations that, for knowing viewers then and now, cleverly transcend confining stereotypes. Lugowski's essay shares ground with Veronica Pravadelli on cinema and the modern woman and Roy Grundmann on The Strange Love of Martha Ivers in this volume, and with Michael Bronski on queer cinema of the 1990s in Volume II.

Additional terms, names, and concepts: SRC (Studio Relations Committee), principle of deniability

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