Something sadly common in LGTBI spaces this Tuesday happened during the talk about cinema and gay characters at Las Cigarreras in Alicante, an initiative organized by Alicante Understands within the framework of Pride 2023. ‘The role of gay characters in the history of cinema’” (that’s what the program says) followed by the screening of selected short films from the Alicante Film Festival. The event was noted for its apparent absence of lesbian cinema and the presence of lesbian and bisexual women. This occurs the week the two girls denounced a homophobic attack in the Santa Cruz neighborhood after posing as any couple taking pictures in public.
none Mulholland Drive (David Lynch), nor Carol (Todd Haynes), nor slander (William Wyler) nor fried green tomatoes (Jon Anvet)… Adele’s life (Abdellatif Keçice), Portrait of a burning woman (Céline Sciamma), favorite (Yorgos Lantimos), disobedience (Sebastián Lelio)… or as many others as necessary for gay women Red roses anyone Lost and Crazy. Other Spanish blockbusters Call (Javises); with Asian hue virgina (Park Chan Wook)… there are many films in the history of cinema that left their mark on the before and after for lesbians. Films of such restraint and of such quality that, like many of the films mentioned above, they offer us different ways of handling stories and approaching the reality of women in the private sphere. This is how Todd Haynes shot it while filming Rooney Mara looking at his girlfriend out the window or looking through the camera… an area where only the viewers are hurt and know what it means for the story. itself.
At other times, lesbian cinema acts as a mirror for observing how lesbians have historically been treated as “bad” characters or “witches” over the years. benedetta. book Francina Ribes Pericas, “The lack and the surplus: murderous lesbians and bisexuals in the cinema” A good volume that other members of the collective can start reading. In it, the myths and archetypes of lesbians and bisexuals in the cinema of the eighties and nineties are broken down: Basic Instinctis a movie that will sound like “nobody” with a Sharon Stone that few will remember. The fact that a later analysis can be made of how these women are portrayed is obviously a healthy debate that needs to be addressed whenever it comes out, as it was recently after its premiere. tar and as with Adèle’s life and time. And there is a paradox between the invisibility of female homosexuality in cinema and the presence of lesbian scenes in commercials: a paradox that serves machismo and the instrumentalization of female bodies by the mainstream public.
None of this was discussed yesterday. There was one comrade who “had the audacity” to loudly expose the historical neglect of the acronym’s letter “L”, a clear reflection that we can’t escape the macho aspect of history even on the fringes. I must say, like my friends, I was speechless, and then we were able to comment on how out of place we felt in a space that was supposedly ours. The final surprise came when they implied that her complaint that this woman was simply expressing something we’ve all observed was a lack of education. To condemn invisibility is a right, not a lack of education; something that should be perfectly understood from the collective because that is part of the meaning of Pride.
We can talk at length about lesbian cinema and how the seventh art gives visibility to gay and bisexual women. Beyond the Dietrich or Katharine Hepburn myth, there are other more festive titles such as a host of Anglo-Saxon blockbusters and memorable ones. Damn Amal.
“Not enough movies” or “related movies” was one of the excuses put on the table yesterday. It is enough to review the list of directors at the beginning of this text so that there is no “excuse” for not naming names. We all have a responsibility to include these studies, and when there is the marginalization of women who have fought at the opposite pole of this “innocent ignorance”, “not knowing” is no excuse. stone wall front line For LGBT rights.
It is also urgent to criticize Once again, the lack of reference and visibility due to the rise and sexist violence we are subjected to. hypersexualization and the pornification of relationships between women.
Of course, editing initiatives aimed at bringing acronyms to the fore is appreciated, but the presence and cultural recognition of lesbian cinema is important not only because the cinematic quality of many films compels them, but also because it makes them necessary. Because girls, adolescents, “fadrins” and older also have a right to exist in the initiatives of your city’s Pride or Film Festival.