Inherently Gay…
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TheSolarSailor — 13 years ago(November 12, 2012 10:05 PM)
I agree that so many calling the film "gay" today stems from current social views. many think Adam West's Batman TV show is gay today, but that wasn't really the case much at all back in the 1960s. But I also think that some of the things were slanted in that direction with Flash Gordon even back then (the similarity between the hawkmen and the quite popular world of gay leathermen in the 1970s is the most obvious). I mean, just 6 years prior to this film, a porno was made of the world of Flash Gordon, called Flesh Gordon. It seems that the material has always been sexually charged, even if just in the reader's minds. Ergo,"sexual experimentation" of the era is a good way to put it, and that can lend itself to individual interpretationeven all of these years later. But one must consider that homosexuality is very prevalent in Hollywood and rears its head from time to time in productions like this. The same goes for the Batman films by Joel Schumacher as well, though his I think are more evident than they are here.
Whose idea was it for the word "Lisp" to have an "S" in it?
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TheSolarSailor — 13 years ago(November 13, 2012 02:23 PM)
Like I said, I have heard people make comments about the old Batman show being gay, and I brought it up only to re-enforce your own point that this is a social issue today that people project onto things of the past, especially things of a campy nature. I do not share the opinion that the old Batman show is gay. I loved it as a child and I still do, and I am 100% aware of the fact that it was effectively capturing the look and style of the comic books of that era. Many people forget that the comic books had gotten rather silly well before the show came along, oddly enough a result of Dr. Fredric Wertham's efforts in the 1950s to see unsavory influences that were ruining the country's kids and tempting them to be deviants. In a way, he is the one who brought homosexuality to Batman to begin with, and it has hung around in the backs of people's minds ever since. In any case, you are right to call many of these views "short-sighted simplistic pop accessment from 2012 on shows that were of the '60s or 30's from another time era and place."
But I do think that Flash Gordon tends to be a bit different, as the existence of that soft-core Flesh Gordon movie from the early 1970s proves that the old serial adventures and comic books of Flash Gordon tend to elicit sexual mindsets with the readers. It is closely based on the old Buster Crabbe serials more than anything, according to some research I have done recently. I have not seen that film for myself, though. I am not sure where the gay slant would have come from initially, but from the few clips I have seen of that Flesh Gordon film, it rears it's head there as well. It is most likely the result of gay people behind the scenes, going back to my comment about the prevalence of gay people in Hollywood (something that has long been the case). I think all of this resulted in the 1980 film for Flash Gordon, as it drew influence from far more than just the work of Alex Raymond.
Most of the claims that these old stories are "gay" is fallacious at best, though there are some examples like 1980s Flash Gordon where I think it holds a little bit of water. Thaks for sharing the information about Schumacher and his auditions for the Batman & Robin film. That's some interesting viewpoints that won't ever be found in elsewhere other than personal stories from those involved. I suppose it is a professional courtesy that these things are kept quiet. Anyhow, that "Underwater Kingdom" looks interesting. I'd like to have a chance to see it some day. I love old escapist stories like that.
I am ordering an A&E documentary on the Buster Crabbe Flash Gordon serial in the next week. I look forward to watching it.
Whose idea was it for the word "Lisp" to have an "S" in it?
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baheidstu-351-733122 — 13 years ago(December 14, 2012 05:02 PM)
It's definitely camp and has gay appeal. It was not made by "homosexual people" (at least not ALL of them!) but primarily by Europeans who have a bit more appreciation for camp than North Americans do. At lot of people are defending this movie by saying it's camp but definitely NOT gay! But, come on, they often go hand in hand in this film. Certainly many of the costumes (particularly Flash's leather hotpants during the execution scene), the appearance of Voltan and Barin (Voltan as the classic "bear" in leatherman clothing, Barin with his Freddie Mercury-esque moustache), Flash and Barin whipping each other in their fight scene, and even Queen's appearance on the soundtrack indicate at least some "gayness". I think that's what makes it a great film.
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Splarne — 10 years ago(August 17, 2015 09:09 AM)
imdb, every board seems to contain some question regarding the sexuality of the actors or the movies. lots of people wanting so badly to have something to relate to will see just about anything anywhere.
Go away, or I shall taunt you a second time!
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alejandromolinac — 9 years ago(July 10, 2016 11:38 AM)
Like many people have stated This movie is aware of its campiness and runs with it All the costumes look like High Fashion Disco Runway And the Hawkmen look like Leather Daddies I don't think is intentional, but all these elements tend to attract a gay audience Baron and Flash never really had any sexual tension so there's no subtexts.
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romanticinsomniac — 9 years ago(October 01, 2016 11:22 AM)
Blucoon you're an idiot, and probably a fruit yourself. This movie has some of the hottest puss in hot pants I've EVER seen. HmmmmMelody Anderson. Smokin hot. God, leave it to a bunch of fags to try to ruin good, campy sci fi. I just love how you fruitcakes also try to say everyone is gay after they're dead. Typical. Christopher Reeves wasn't a homosexual either. beep morons.
100% Comic Book Purist, and Bloody Proud of it ! -
Conan-1982 — 9 years ago(January 23, 2017 04:15 AM)
I'm so naf about this stuff that I couldn't even spot the gayness in Nightmare on Elm Street Part II, and according to several lists on the internet that's the gayest movie ever made !
So I don't know, but those Hawk-men did look kinda weird
Overall there are enough hot chicks to balance out whatever gayness people may see in this movie (even that black-wearing evil lady who melted when she died is quite sexy IMO)