Scott McKinnon 
Gay Men at the Movies [EPUB ebook] 
Film reception, cinema going and the history of a gay male community

Cinema has long played a major role in the formation of community among marginalised groups, and this book details that process for gay men in Sydney, Australia from the 1950s to the present. Scott Mc Kinnon builds the book from a variety of sources, including film reviews, media reports, personal memoirs, oral histories and a striking range of films, all deployed to answer the question of understanding cinema-going as a moment of connection to community and identity – how the experience of seeing these films and being part of an audience helped to build a community among the gay men of Sydney in the period.

 

Tabella dei contenuti

Introduction


 


Part One: Friends of Dorothy in the Emerald City


 


Chapter 1 – The 1950s – Censored from view for all to see

Gay space, cinema-going and censorship in 1950s Sydney


Regular guys and ‘sister boys’:
Tea and Sympathy


Friends of Tom Lee:
Rebel without a Cause,
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and
Some Like it Hot


 


Chapter 2 – The 1960s – Undeniable 

Gay space, cinema-going and censorship in 1960s Sydney


Poor unfortunate souls:
Victim and Advise and
Consent


The real lives of English youth:
A Taste of Honey,
The Leather Boys and
If…


 


Chapter 3 – The 1970s – Strike up the band 

Gay space, cinema-going and censorship in 1970s Sydney


A memory of times gone by:
The Boys in the Band


The thrill of the new:
Sunday Bloody Sunday and
A Very Natural Thing


 


Chapter 4 – The 1980s – Arriving at last, leaving too soon

Gay space, cinema-going and censorship in 1980s Sydney


The Hollywood gaze:
Fame,
Partners,
Cruising and
Making Love


An independent eye:
Taxi Zum Klo


 


Chapter 5 – The 1990s – When we were cool 

Gay space, cinema-going and censorship in 1990s Sydney


Made for them or watched by us?
The Sum of Us


To enlighten and remember:
Philadelphia and
Longtime Companion


 


Chapter 6 – The 2000s – In the shadow of the mountain

Gay space, cinema-going and censorship in 2000s Sydney


The film that got us good:
Brokeback Mountain


Staying home or going to the festival:
Another Gay Movie and
Shelter


 


Part Two: Memories of Dorothy: Memories, Movies, Gay Men


 


Chapter 7 – Gay kids at the movies – Movie memory and queer childhoods


On-screen memories: Childhood


Remembering childhood cinema-going


 


Chapter 8 – Others like us – Movie memory and the search for community


Movie memories at the movies: Identity


Learning, reciting and refuting memory


 


Chapter 9 – We were there – Movie memory and the search for a queer past


Heroes and villains:
Braveheart and
Alexander


Creating ‘our’ history:
Stonewall and 
Milk


 


Conclusion: Gay Men at the Movies

Circa l’autore

Scott Mc Kinnon is a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Technology, Sydney. His thesis investigates the role of cinema and cinema-going in the emergence of gay male identity and community in Sydney in the years 1950–2010. Scott’s research is particularly focussed on intersections between cinema and the themes of space and memory. He has also published work on Hollywood teen films and their place in 1950s Australian teen culture.