There is a part of me that is tempted to believe that the type of debate concerning the film The Boys in the Band , which has taken place over the last three decades, is a unique occurrence in the queer community. I'm not really sure why I would ever believe that. The ultimate reality of our society is that our perceptions are shaped by our experiences growing up. Based on how we perceive the world some of us believe that proverbial glass to be either half empty or half full. Given that the film is one of my all-time favorite guilty pleasures, I do tend to think of it in a positive light. But of course there are those who let the negative aspects of the film prevent them for seeing the writing itself as a milestone in American cinema.
Mart Crowley wrote the play Boys in the Band in1967, the summer of which he says life "came crashing down" around his ears. He managed to get his play to Broadway producers Richard Barr and Clinton Wilder, who in turn passed the work to another popular playwright had written the Broadway theatrical sensation of1963. The play was Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and not surprisingly the playwright, Edward Albee became interested in Boys, which has since beenvery understandablycompared to Woolf. Eventually Boys in the Band became enough of a hit on Broadway that it was made into a film in 1970. It was directed by William Friedkin, a little known director who followed Boys with The French Connection, The Exorcist and eventually Cruising, which also caused great controversy within the queer community with it's rancid portrayal of the gay leather scene in New York.
There are usually at least three popular reactions to Boys in the Band among many gay men. First, there is an overwhelming opinion that the film is depressing and it shows gay men in an unsympathetic light. Secondly it supports negative gay male stereotypes. Lastly the extent that the play airs the dirty laundry of "gay male culture" makes even some of the most liberal amongst us squeamish.
The way my perceptions of the Boys were formed by my experiences growing up involves my seeing the film the year it was releasedas I was in the midst of dealing with my identity as a young man who was attracted to other men. I must've been about 16 and I remember the almost unexplainable desire I had to see this film which I knew I wasn't supposed to see because of my age. I felt like an undercover agent who had to sneak into the theater. Instead of the horror and disdain that so many other gay men seem to have experienced as they viewed the film, I watched in awe at the different types of gay men parading in front of my eyes. The film follows what happens during a single evening when a group of nine gay men get together to celebrate a birthday and are infiltrated by a supposedly straight friend of the party's host.
As a young African American male I was especially drawn to the fact that the film featured what seemed to me to be a fairly well-adjusted, well educated, handsome black gay man among the group. There didn't seem to me to be anything stereotypical about Bernard. It was a milestone to not only include a gay couple but the issues that Hank and Larry were grappling with are issues that gay men constantly deal with todayto boink or not to boink outside the confines of a committed relationship.
Even as a teen I was able to look beyond the admittedly heavy handed direction by William Friedkin to appreciate Crowley's writing and his fairly complex cast of characters. I was too fascinated by the "boys" to think of them as unsympathetic and too engrossed by the storyline to find the film depressing. One would have to be from the "Ostrich School of reality" to ignore what seems to be the negative aspects of Boys is still based on reality.
Mart Crowley wrote the play Boys in the Band in1967, the summer of which he says life "came crashing down" around his ears. He managed to get his play to Broadway producers Richard Barr and Clinton Wilder, who in turn passed the work to another popular playwright had written the Broadway theatrical sensation of1963. The play was Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and not surprisingly the playwright, Edward Albee became interested in Boys, which has since beenvery understandablycompared to Woolf. Eventually Boys in the Band became enough of a hit on Broadway that it was made into a film in 1970. It was directed by William Friedkin, a little known director who followed Boys with The French Connection, The Exorcist and eventually Cruising, which also caused great controversy within the queer community with it's rancid portrayal of the gay leather scene in New York.
There are usually at least three popular reactions to Boys in the Band among many gay men. First, there is an overwhelming opinion that the film is depressing and it shows gay men in an unsympathetic light. Secondly it supports negative gay male stereotypes. Lastly the extent that the play airs the dirty laundry of "gay male culture" makes even some of the most liberal amongst us squeamish.
The way my perceptions of the Boys were formed by my experiences growing up involves my seeing the film the year it was releasedas I was in the midst of dealing with my identity as a young man who was attracted to other men. I must've been about 16 and I remember the almost unexplainable desire I had to see this film which I knew I wasn't supposed to see because of my age. I felt like an undercover agent who had to sneak into the theater. Instead of the horror and disdain that so many other gay men seem to have experienced as they viewed the film, I watched in awe at the different types of gay men parading in front of my eyes. The film follows what happens during a single evening when a group of nine gay men get together to celebrate a birthday and are infiltrated by a supposedly straight friend of the party's host.
As a young African American male I was especially drawn to the fact that the film featured what seemed to me to be a fairly well-adjusted, well educated, handsome black gay man among the group. There didn't seem to me to be anything stereotypical about Bernard. It was a milestone to not only include a gay couple but the issues that Hank and Larry were grappling with are issues that gay men constantly deal with todayto boink or not to boink outside the confines of a committed relationship.
Even as a teen I was able to look beyond the admittedly heavy handed direction by William Friedkin to appreciate Crowley's writing and his fairly complex cast of characters. I was too fascinated by the "boys" to think of them as unsympathetic and too engrossed by the storyline to find the film depressing. One would have to be from the "Ostrich School of reality" to ignore what seems to be the negative aspects of Boys is still based on reality.