Why are lesbian films so bad?
December 7th, 2009Bad acting. Ridiculous plots. Terrible production. It’s no secret that lesbian-interest films are generally pretty awful. But does it always have to be this way? And are there any hidden classics that are actually worth watching? Film buff Siobhan McGuirk investigates…
Leafing through the brochure at the Sheffield International Documentary Festival, the ‘Bent’ strand leapt off the page. It’s still a rare occurrence to see a platform for queer-themed cinema outside a LGBT Film Festival. It seemed quite progressive and, most promisingly, the high standards of the festival suggested quality films (even if there were only four queer films in the Bent strand).
I was actually excited by the prospect of seeing a good, lesbian movie: I desperately needed one to justify the pennies wasted and hours lost to so many that were absolute tosh.
Worthy aims, bad films
I’ve tried telling myself that All Over Me
‘Lesbian interest’ films are, more often than not, cliché-ridden, predictable and poorly acted. The stiff dialogue barely gives the actors a chance. Claire of the Moon
I do understand the importance of positive portrayals of lesbians on screen. Beautiful, stable or just normal gay women are needed to counter those images of a suicidal, maniacal or tragic lesbians churned out for decades in mainstream cinema.
With conventional, heterosexual relationships dominating multiplexes, it’s also easy to understand the ever-increasing success of inoffensive lesbian love stories. Ours has been a demographic with little to relate to outside of the ’specialist’, or at your more provincial locale, the ‘adult’ section in the video shop.
Times are moving on however, and now there are websites and production houses dedicated to ‘gay interest’ movies which are eaten up despite the pervasive low production values and over reliance on stereotype.
But I’m frustrated by what’s on offer. I can’t seem to get beyond coming out stories, conception dramas and, bizarrely, murder mysteries that are torturous in all the wrong ways. Gray Matters
Does documentary have the answer?
Maybe documentary can offer something more relevant. In Sheffield, the four films in the Bent strand included Nobody Passes Perfectly, a brilliantly shot, intimate and involving discussion of lesbian and female-to-male trans experiences. Made in Germany within a close-knit community it is genuinely insightful without offering any easy answers.
Another of Bent’s four films, Edie & Thea: A Very Long Engagement has a great story that disguises the fact that it is poorly made. A newly-married couple, now in their eighties, guide us through their life together – starting in 1940s New York where they danced together in underground bars with their coats kept on for quick getaways from the police. The couple are very evidently besotted with each other and their frustration that they cannot marry in their own country is shared by the viewer. But the director’s decision to paste ‘Love is in the Air’ over a wedding dance scene that is shown repeatedly almost ruins the film, turning something heartfelt into sickly cliché. It’s a shame, because maybe a bit of realism is all that’s needed to up the quality.
Finding the good stuff
There are great lesbian-themed films, of course. Show Me Love
Both are set in pretty depressing places where the girls are unhappy outsiders for reasons beyond only their burgeoning homo or bisexuality. Lesbianism isn’t the only theme given detailed attention and characters and their locations are multi-dimensional. Both were made outside of North America and were directed by straight men, thankfully skewering expectations that fantasy lesbians and butch stereotypes are the only images male filmmakers produce.
Those stereotypes are still popular representations, of course, perpetuated by Woody Allen (Vicky Cristina Barcelona), Spike Lee (She Hates Me
Gia
Don’t lesbian directors make good films?
There are some very fine gay female filmmakers in a field where, depressingly, only six percent are women, but sometimes the output seems contrived for a niche category. Jamie Babbit followed up But I’m A Cheerleader
Yet some filmmakers focus on their experiences and subjectivities without playing to type. Butterfly (Hu Die in the original Chinese) is the widely celebrated and under-seen film from Hong Kong’s Yan Yan Mak. It subtly traces the changing acceptability of homosexuality across generations and, in 2004, was nominated for a raft of mainstream awards in Asia. Likewise German film Unveiled
Back in the mainstream…
It’s been ten years since Boys Don’t Cry
The visibility is worth celebrating, yet the tragic end that meets all but one of the protagonists implies that homosexuality is best understood as fraught with difficulty. They are impressive, multilayered films that address important issues. Yet none are set in the present, feature particularly stable homosexual relationships or background sexuality for another focal point.
Having something to say
We need to promote gay perspectives of issues other than sexuality and to place our myriad lives into the mainstream. We have important things to say about real issues. Yet, while Lesbian and Gay Film Festivals abound and there’s a Bent strand at a documentary festival, interesting lesbian-themed cinema is in danger of remaining ’specialist’ and little seen.
In a post-L Word world, where our expectations of believable storylines and convincing dialogue have plummeted, we’ll continue to go online for similarly flimsy output. Maybe we should start making our own films and getting them out there. I’m sure they’d be better than a lot of what’s on offer.
I agree that lesbian movies are generally lacking, but we cling to them because they’re all we have. I still love Go Fish, but maybe because it was the first one I ever knew about.
There was a string of “inoffensive,” straight friendly movies a couple of years ago that, I think, might have done more harm than good. They were ‘fun gay’ and all involved bi or questioning lesbian characters: Imagine Me & You, Puccini for Beginners, Gray Matters. Overall, I was happy to see movies with lesbian (or sort of lesbian) main characters, but I think watering down the story lines to attract skittish straight audiences left everyone unsatisfied.
So where do we go from here? How about more lez movies with characters who are past coming out but not ready for the commitment ceremony? You know, in that weird period we call…dating.
King is a Fink’s solution to disappointing lesbian movies: We write our own.
king is a fink ∼ December 7th, 2009 3:23 pmOh god no! Let’s not write our own - that’s where the trouble lies.
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. Being gay is like being Welsh and it stands true for this subject, too.
Look at Gavin & Stacey. Now that’s one of the most bog-standardest pieces of television I have ever seen but Welsh people have gripped it to their hearts because a) it’s one of the very few things on telly that we are actually on and b) it’s the only thing where the programme is laughing with us and not at us.
Same goes for any lesbian film - we’ll put up with any old tut if a) we’re represented and b) it’s home made.
My solution? Only let the talented loose on our life stories.
(I’ve Heard The Mermaids Singing is a nice bit of cinema, by the way.)
Lady Miss Kim ∼ December 7th, 2009 5:23 pmSaving Face is a fantastic film. Check it out.
Vanessa ∼ December 7th, 2009 5:47 pmNo mention of Thin Ice? But I was in it!
Marianne Seggerman ∼ December 8th, 2009 1:48 amWe like to think we can offer an exception to the rule http://bit.ly/66MdGn
LifeSliceFilms ∼ December 8th, 2009 4:18 pmI’ve got to concede that there’s a few exceptions to the rule… I think that the problem with lesbians making their own films is that they go for high concept rather than just making a movie! I like Kissing Jessica Stein because it’s like Woody Allen lite - nothing happens but dating! Any other suggestions on what I’m missing out on? Or what to avoid?
Siobhan ∼ December 9th, 2009 1:28 am“The Edge of Heaven” by Fatih Akin is a very good movie with lesbian main characters. The film, which is set in Hamburg and Istanbul, is about six people that are brought together faitfully through death.
Katha ∼ December 9th, 2009 6:06 pmWhat about ‘Desert Hearts’??? Whilst I agree that we often seek out and watch some pretty dire films in the search for lesbian representation, ‘Desert Hearts’ was surely a groundbreaker for us and a quality film at that.
Penny ∼ December 9th, 2009 9:44 pmI have long lamented the dearth of inspirational lesbian or bisexual-themed movies. I do think Go Fish is seminal in being arty, creative, genre-busting and stylish. It makes one proud to be gay. The Incredibly True Adventure of Two Girls in Love, though a little cheesy, is also rather charming and lovely, and sees a natural portrayal of a baby butch ‘Randy’ by Laurel Holloman, before she blossomed into Tina from The L Word. But I do think we need more stable representatives of queer life, just to show to the straight and gay world alike, that we are as diverse and polarised as heterosexuals.
Katerina Potatohead ∼ December 10th, 2009 11:43 amI would love to see The Well of Lonliness made into a film. Real literature, from real lesbian angst. For me it’s the appeal ( well the recognition and acknowledgement at least) of the suffering that others went through to pave the way for us today that is worth showing to the wider audience.
meagain ∼ December 11th, 2009 12:14 amNo one has mentioned “Better than Chocolate” which was a funny and touching film with some fantastic dark humour. Although the central story is a lesbian romance, the side-plots were also great, including the relationship between a shy butch and a pre-op transwoman, a confused straight (male) teenager and a story involving a repressed, middle-aged straight woman and a box of “adult toys”! It messed with the stereotypes and it was great to see a lesbian film reflecting the world we live in, with people of all genders and sexualities.
I have to second the comment about “Saving Face” too. Set in a conservative Canadian Chinese, it too blasts the stereotypes.
However, if you want really good lesbian films, I’d recommend looking at Spanish and French films, such as the comedy “French Twist”.
Anastasia ∼ December 12th, 2009 7:11 pm“Imagine Me And You” is a decent film in my view, and I really liked “Loving Annabelle” upon first viewing it (would still recommend it today); I have seen enough lesbian critics suggest it for viewing. While “D.E.B.S” can be called a bad film, it clearly did not take itself seriously; as an outrageous comedy, I feel that it was simply supposed to be fun, as you stated. And I really liked/like the chemistry between those two lesbian characters.
There is one lesbian-themed miniseries (a film to most) that I was blown away by, and that is Fingersmith; it was/is simply brilliant. It is not only categorized as a lesbian film, since it has many aspects. And I suggest it to anyone and everyone…except little kids.
I am all for lesbians making lesbian-themed films, as long as they make them right. And we all know that they can.
Interesting article.
Crystal ∼ December 14th, 2009 11:21 pmForgot to say that it is best not to read about Fingersmith’s plot details anywhere unless it’s just a brief synopsis and you have seen the film, since reading such (the in-depth details) could reveal big spoilers and ruin most of the film for you.
Crystal ∼ December 14th, 2009 11:28 pmOne more comment by me — I really liked the film “Lost and Delirious (2001).” That is a film that is often recommended time and time again by the young lesbian or even heterosexual female croud.
Crystal ∼ December 14th, 2009 11:49 pmLady Miss Kim said: “Only let the talented loose on our life stories.” We second that. But we also believe that lesbian writers/filmmakers can be the talented writers you’re waiting for.
Crystal said: “I am all for lesbians making lesbian-themed films, as long as they make them right. And we all know that they can.” Amen. We should all strive for quality.
Here’s to more great gay movies in the new year!
king is a fink ∼ December 15th, 2009 4:00 pmI loooved “I can’t think straight”, it was a seriously fantastic movie, one of my favourites, that’s for sure.
Morgan ∼ January 4th, 2010 1:30 amI am trying at the Star and Shadow Cinema to programme more gay and lesbian films. Its harder work to programme beyond the male dominated and heterosexual viewpoint that is the direction behind most feature films. One thing we can do is to encourage more women to write and direct films and address the imbalance. We have open submission nights and anyone can bring any films so long as they are no more than 10 minutes. The next one is thurs 18th March. Beginners, amateurs, pros welcome!
Pick up a film camera!
We are also showing Boys Don’t Cry on Sun 31st Jan.
(note from the Editor - this is the Star and Shadow Cinema in Newcastle upon Tyne - http://www.starandshadow.org.uk)
Debbie ∼ January 4th, 2010 4:52 pmI think its about money, You got to get decent funding to make anything good and sadly lots of big producers and broadcast houses are men. So either they want in their way on a budget or people make it themselves on the cheap. Shame.
Kat ∼ January 25th, 2010 12:28 pmHow come no mention of ‘The Killing of Sister George’ ? [ OK - even knowing of its existence dates me somewhat - but it's a great film---- and BritISH !!! ---- ]
http://www.amazon.com/Killing-Sister-George-Beryl-Reid/dp/B0009X7BGY
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Rhys ∼ December 6th, 2010 3:18 amAmazon.com
“Sister George” of the title is Britain’s best-loved soap opera character, played by actress June Buckeridge (Beryl Reid). Buckeridge has become so identified with her character–a sweet old Miss Marple-ish nurse who putters around her quaint little village on a motor scooter–even her friends call her George. But outside the studio she’s a hard-drinking, hot-tempered, foul-mouthed lesbian living with an immature young thing she’s nicknamed “Childie” (Susannah York, who makes her memorable entrance in a sheer baby-doll nightie). At her worst Sister George is an abusive monster (in a moment of rage she forces Childie to eat the butt of her cigar), but beneath the bluster is an insecure television actress. When the studio decides to kill her character off and an executive makes a play for Childie, the soap star desperately clings to her young lover. Director Robert Aldrich, best known for his tough action films and gothic thrillers, brings his fierce vision of human nature to Frank Marcus’s play. In its best moments the film simmers in angry suspicion and helpless frustration, brought to life by Reid’s vivacious performance, but other scenes are overlong and stage-bound and would have benefited greatly from judicious trimming and tightening. The caricatured portrayals of lesbian life have aged rather poorly–an inevitable sign of the times–but this acidic show biz drama still carries a hefty emotional punch. –Sean Axmaker
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Having a very varied taste in movies I think it’s wrong to say films are good or bad. There’s an audience for almost everything. For example, I love D.E.B.S and I also loved Nobody Passes Perfectly, but totally different but both with something to offer. I hear a lot of bitching and only a few people getting off their bums and doing something worthwhile to change things. At QUOD.TV we offer young film makers the chance to get their projects in front of a global audience and earn some revenues. We have a growing collection of lesbian titles, some very worthy and high end, others a bit fun and trashy. All worthwhile because someone out there bothered to try! So if you don’t want to go out and make a movie, then you could at least support those that do and pay a little to watch them. You might be surprised at what you find.
QUOD ∼ December 6th, 2010 8:26 pmI agree, it’s a brilliant film, but it was made long before a trend was set in ‘lesbian’ filmmaking and, as you say, is shamefully unknown.
Siobhan.McGuirk ∼ December 7th, 2010 6:49 amI Can’t Think Straight and The World Unseen aren’t too bad but definitely could be better!
Jemma ∼ December 14th, 2010 5:23 pmWillow and Tara, from ‘Buffy The Vampire Slayer’ (ok, it’s a TV show, not a movie, but still!) were the most honest couple I have ever seen on television, or screen.
Bianca ∼ May 13th, 2011 7:26 pm