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From: bothner@Navajo.ARPA
Newsgroups: net.motss
Subject: "Bride" ("gayness" in movie)
Message-ID: <178@Navajo.ARPA>
Date: Wed, 21-Aug-85 21:08:34 EDT
Article-I.D.: Navajo.178
Posted: Wed Aug 21 21:08:34 1985
Date-Received: Sun, 25-Aug-85 04:25:52 EDT
Distribution: net
Organization: Stanford University
Lines: 85

[This minor interchange about the new movie "Bride" was posted to
the GAY bulletin board here at Stanford. It's been suggested the
net.motss might find it interesting, so (with permission) here it
is. I'd be interested to see the reactions of other people
(especially straights and/or people with inside information).

The bboard's address is gay@SU-SUSHI.ARPA or
...decwrl!glacier!gay@sushi. It is on four DEC-20 machines here,
including the standard instructional machines available to all
students. Recently, net.motss is also being forwarded (read-only)
to the same machines. Both bboards have a large readership. The
number of people who post (to "gay") is (as to be expected)
usually fairly small, and the traffic varies: Now during break,
things are rather quiet, but now and then we get some controversy
and suddenly there is a lot of traffic, sometimes also on the
regular bboards. This is helped by the fact that the campus
organization Gay and Lesbian Alliance at Stanford (GLAS) is very
active, visible and attracts people from all over the Peninsula.]
-------
Date: Mon 19 Aug 85 19:08:31-PDT
From: Per Bothner 
Subject: "Bride"

I saw "Bride" the other day (the remake of the cult classic "The
Bride of Frankenstein"). I don't know how much sense it makes to
say that a movie registers on "radar", but this one certainly did.
I haven't seen anything to confirm it, but I would be very
surprised unless a lot of the people involved (including the
director) were gay.

Among the factors which supported this growing conviction:
Quentin Crisp (author of "The Naked Civil Servant") has a minor
role as Frankenstein's co-worker. There a lot of naked male torsos.
The casting is also suggestive: While Sting (as Frankenstein) is
married, he sure is one hell of a charismatic guy (which I've
thought since I first saw him in "The Secret Policeman's (Other)
Ball"); the cavalry officer is very pretty (and causes an extra
"blip"). Also, the relationship between the Monster and the midget.

I'd be interested if other people share my opinion - or have facts.
Of course, this is irrelevant in an artistic sense...

I found "Bride" worth seeing, but flawed; particularly the
direction and acting were weak. But it's an interesting twist
on the Frankenstein myth. Not only the people(!), but also the
scenery and photography are pretty and colorful. Jennifer Beals
plays the Bride; you'll also recognize the midget from "Star
Trek" (though I've forgotten his name). (Ooops! Is "midget"
the Politically Correct term?)
	--Per
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Date: Tue 20 Aug 85 08:06:09-PDT
From: John Reuling 
Subject: Re: "Bride"

All true, but you missed the most "obviously" gay pair in the movie:
the circus manager and his "assistant."  Didn't you notice that they
were always together, even at night?  In fact, when the assistant
(I forget his name) got killed, and all of the cute little muscular
blond circus-boys got SO upset, I wondered what we were supposed to
think of that.

In general an interesting movie, but a little predictable, I thought.

-J
-------
Date: Tue 20 Aug 85 11:45:25-PDT
From: Per Bothner 
Subject: Re: "Bride"

I did notice the circus manager and assistant, at least at
the level of my growing awareness of something "funny".

I don't think that the predictability of the movie is necessarily
a flaw, since it deals with mythic themes - after all we are all
very familiar with the Frankenstein story at some level or other.

Cumulatively the "gayness" of "Bride" seems pretty un-subtle, but
I'd be interested in to what extent straights noticed it. (I went
to see it with a straight friend - who by the way I've mentioned
various things to that should make him suspect my orientation.
Neither of us mentioned anything, but (now to come to the point
of this digression) he was somewhat more negative about the
movie than I was, describing it as "two stars" to another friend.)
	--Per