The cage of moviegoing fools
(Continued from page 18)
when our uptight bourgeois straight couple is finally cornered by the press (whom the father has been avoiding; it seems that the president has died in bed with a mistress, and France's moral figurehead must make a statement), it is Zaza who invents the ideal solution and helps him escape. Unfair to gays? Hell, they aren't that clever in real life.
Then there is the real topper, the ultimate nose-thumbing at convention. It occurs in the final scene, at the young couple's wedding. The priest is performing the ceremony, and it is evident from the way he licks his finger and turns the page that he is gay. A small detail, perhaps, but a perfect touch.
"La Cage Aux Folles" would more accurately be translated "The Cage of Fools," and it should have been. For the cage referred to in.
NEW
GROUP
FORMING
the title is the cage of inhibition,
'Cruising'national boycott
of irrational prejudice. "La Cage planned
Aux Folles" is not a messagey picture, but if it were, the message would undoubtedly be that one should have a right to love in one's own way. If anyone finds that message so outrageous or exploitative, well, obviously, there is something wrong with them.
We should not demand that every gay movie be utterly realistic
and honest, like "Sunday Bloody Sunday," or all-encompassing, like the documentary "Word Is Out." "La Cage Aux Folles" is, and the pun is unintentional, a fairy tale, a nutty, lighthearted fantasy with a suitably incredible happy. ending. It should neither help nor hinder the gay community, for it is not a political tract. Anyone who gets all riled to hell over "La Cage Aux Folles" ought to stick to Disney flicks.
GAY DADDIES
Picnics with the kids
March together Oct. 14 in Washington
30
Rap groups
to discuss common problems Weekend babysitters Acceptance of lovers
When to discuss sensitive issues and other matters Organizing Session: call Alan (215) 567-6788
CATHOLIC
WOMEN
OF ALL AGES
SHARE OUR LITURGY ON SUNDAY EVENING 7:00 PM
22nd & Spruce Sts. TRINITY MEMORIAL HALL
DIGNITY/PHILADELPHIA
(Continued from page 20)
a recurrence of spinal meningitis brough on by head injuries he received from the police. He plans to sue the city.
It may be fun for gay baseball teams to play against police baseball teams, but the time is past when we could imagine that fraternizing with cops will keep them from clubbing our heads in the streets. The main function of cops is to protect property, not people; gays in the Village now know that beyond a doubt.
Koch obviously agrees that the 11 million bucks invested in "Cruising" is crucial, whereas faggots are expendable. Speaking of the gay people in Koch's administration, Vito Russo wrote in The Village Voice: "For all the clout they have, gays inside the system may as well be as dead as Harvey Milk. And now the gays on the streets know it, too."
McPeake Report
(Continued from page 27)
John and Robert were just two of the people I've met on Spruce Street this summer. Many are confused; some feel they would lose their straight friends if they came out of the closet. They cannot identify with what they know of the gay. community. Many grew up going. to local high schools, and didn't deal with their sexuality. They hung out with their buddies, partied with their friends (the majority of whom are straight), listened to Rod Stewart and got high on grass or booze on Saturday nights. Only time will tell if they decide to join us as part of the gay community. What can we do as gay men and lesbian women? Can we help them? Can we offer alternatives they can relate to?
At press time, the Gay News has learned of the death of Jay, a longtime bartender at the Penrose Club. Jay was struck while bikeriding by a SEPTA bus allegedly running through a red light.
Marvin Kitman
(Continued from page 19)
season. Mr. Mike is more for the 1980s than Mr. Dick ("Dick Clark Live"). Some smart, kicky, sophisticated sponsor-like the bright people at Polaroid or Xeroxought to grab Mr. Mike and his gorilla band before September when they are going to be the hottest thing to ever hit the teen-age cult world.
A prediction: "Mr. Mike's Mondo Video" is going to be a box-office. smash, and NBC will buy the video rights and finally run it. Of course, first cutting the heck out of it. 1979, Newsday Distributed by Los Angeles Times Syndicate
YOUR GAY TRAVEL AGENCY
HAS MOVED!
Because of you we had to move to larger quarters and a more convenient location
G
N
We're now located in an old familiar spot
1426 SPRUCE STREET
Stop in and talk to Ron or Arnie for your next trip.
COME OUT OF THE DARK
Some of today's best gay novels are now available by mail:
PROJECT LAMBDA by Paul OM Welles
One homophobic murder on a Colorado Marine base mushrooms into a nationwide holocaust as a Deviate Sexual Rehabilitation Act is passed. by Congress concentration camps are established for scientific experiments on (and finalization of homosexuals. and the resistance of a free press is trampled Among the most stunning episodes are the wreck of a train carrying imprisoned homosexuals in cattle cars and the race against time to reveal the truth in an illegally published newspaper This story of a gay holocaust is one of the most 'shocking exciting and important works of our time Forrest Wallace Cato. Best-In-Books
NEAR FATAL ATTRACTION by Hursty Richey Twenty-five years after Red Greek s Boy Scout Troop 44 was disbanded following four accidental deaths among its ten members. two survivors. Roger and Tom, re-establish contact through a series of letters Thus Roger finally learns the true sexual nature of the game the boys loved to play on camping trips. the truth about Red Creek (where homosexuality, incest. sadism, pederasty. blackmail and murder Seem the norm, the truth about the repressed feelings Roger and Tom. have toward each other and the truth about the accidents.
likely to become the most widely read novel in the gay community since The Front Runner Jerry Douglas. News West
AMONG THE CARNIVORES by Daniel Curzon Jock Jones. an openly gay writer is hired to teach at Fresno State University Wishing to alter the way people see homosexuality. he discusses this homosexuality in his writing class institutes a Gay Studies. course, and disrupts an anti-homosexual petition-signing effort in a local shopping center All of this antagonizes the Administration, the bigoted local residents. the local TV station. Fresnos religious leaders and several closeted gay teachers all of whom, set out to destroy Jock Carnivores is an important achievement in it Dan Curzon has created a very authentic gay protagonist struggling to survive openly in the face of routine and persistent homophobia Louis Crew College English one of the best contemporary writers Jesse Monteagudo. The Weekly' News Miami
SOMETHING YOU DO IN THE DARK by Daniei Curzon First published in 1971. this novel is regarded as a classic in gay literature Following the life of Cole Ruffner in the weeks after hist release from jail on a sex offense charge. it shows the psychological and emotional pain Cole suffers in trying to deal with police. entrappment. his conviction and imprisonment, the rejection of family. and friends. and his own confused feelings toward his homosexuality. Something You Do In The Dark is a real novel, not a political tract It deals convincingly and powerfully with the persecution of a minority 1 greatly admire Daniel Curzon for writing this book Christopher Isherwood
STRAIGHT CUT DITCH by Richard Andersen Brother Patrick hires Christopher Newland to teach at all boys Bleeding Martyr High School (where most of the Brothers are gay) because he wants Christopher as his new lover He then enlists Bryan Scholes (an 18-year old senior on whom he presses his homosexual advances) to spy on Christopher, but Bryan and Christopher become lovers
Copies of PROJECT LAMBDA @ $9.95 ea. Copies of NEAR FATAL ATTRACTION @ $8.95 ea Copies of AMONG THE CARNIVORES @ $9.95 ea. Copies of STRAIGHT CUT DITCH @ $8.95 ea. Copies of SOMETHING YOU DO IN THE DARK @ $6.95 ea. Please add $1.25 for each book ordered to cover postage & handling Please enclose check or money order
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NEAR FATAL ATTRACTION
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$.
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GAY NEWS-Sept. 21, 1979