Out Takes: Essays on Queer Theory and Film (Series Q)

This collection brings together the work of both film scholars and queer theorists to advance a more sophisticated notion of queer film criticism. While the “politics of representation” has been the focus of much previous gay and lesbian film criticism, the contributors to __Out Takes__ employ the approaches of queer theory to move beyond conventional readings and to reexamine aspects of the cinematic gaze in relation to queer desire and spectatorship.The essays examine a wide array of films, including __Calamity Jane__, __Rear Window,__ __The Hunger__, __Heavenly Creatures__, and __Bound__ , and discuss such figures as Doris Day, Elizabeth Taylor, and Alfred Hitchcock. Divided into three sections, the first part reconsiders the construction of masculinity and male homoerotic desire—especially with respect to the role of women—in classic cinema of the 1940s and 1950s. The second section offers a deconstructive consideration of lesbian film spectatorship and lesbian representation. Part three looks at the historical trajectory of independent queer cinema, including works by H.D., Kenneth Anger, and Derek Jarman. By exploring new approaches to the study of sexuality in film, __Out Takes__ will be useful to scholars in gay and lesbian studies, queer theory, and cinema studies. __Contributors.__ Bonnie Burns, Steven Cohan, Alexander Doty, Lee Edelman, Michelle Elleray, Jim Ellis, Ellis Hanson, D. A. Miller, Eric Savoy, Matthew Tinkcom, Amy Villarejo, Jean Walton This collection brings together the work of both film scholars and queer theorists to advance a more sophisticated notion of queer film criticism. While the “politics of representation” has been the focus of much previous gay and lesbian film criticism, the contributors to Out Takes employ the approaches of queer theory to move beyond conventional readings and to reexamine aspects of the cinematic gaze in relation to queer desire and spectatorship. The essays examine a wide array of films, including Calamity Jane , Rear Window, The Hunger , Heavenly Creatures , and Bound , and discuss such figures as Doris Day, Elizabeth Taylor, and Alfred Hitchcock. Divided into three sections, the first part reconsiders the construction of masculinity and male homoerotic desire—especially with respect to the role of women—in classic cinema of the 1940s and 1950s. The second section offers a deconstructive consideration of lesbian film spectatorship and lesbian representation. Part three looks at the historical trajectory of independent queer cinema, including works by H.D., Kenneth Anger, and Derek Jarman. By exploring new approaches to the study of sexuality in film, Out Takes will be useful to scholars in gay and lesbian studies, queer theory, and cinema studies. Contributors. Bonnie Burns, Steven Cohan, Alexander Doty, Lee Edelman, Michelle Elleray, Jim Ellis, Ellis Hanson, D. A. Miller, Eric Savoy, Matthew Tinkcom, Amy Villarejo, Jean Walton Contents Introduction: Out Takes / Ellis Hanson Cruise Control: Rethinking Masculinity in Classic Cinema Queering the Deal: On the Road with Hope and Crosby / Steven Cohan The Queer Aesthete, the Diva, and The Red Shoes / Alexander Doty Rear Window's Glasshole / Lee Edelman Visual Pleasure in 1959 / D. A. Miller Lesbian Looks: Desire, Identification, Fantasy Cassandra's Eyes / Bonnie Burns "That Ain't All She Ain't": Doris Day and Queer Performativity / Eric Savoy Lesbians Who Bite / Ellis Hanson Heavenly Creatures in Godzone / Michelle Elleray Queering the Reel: Sexual Politics and Independent Cinema White Neurotics, Black Primitives, and the Queer Matrix of Borderline / Jean Walton Scandalous! Kenneth Anger and the Prohibitions of Hollywood History / Matthew Tinkcom Queer Period: Derek Jarman's Renaissance / Jim Ellis Forbidden Love: Pulp as Lesbian History / Amy Villarejo Bibliography Index Contributors Brings together the work of both film scholars and queer theorists to advance a more sophisticated notion of queer film criticism. This book includes essays that examine an array of films, including Calamity Jane, Rear Window, The Hunger, Heavenly Creatures, and Bound. The most popular male stars of the forties-whether together or apart-were Bob Hope and Bing Crosby, whose series of "Road to" films for Paramount helped to make the studio the most profitable one throughout the decade. Edited By Ellis Hanson. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [347]-355) And Index.