Welcome to Reel Good Reviews!

This blog is to present our thoughts on the Reelout Queer Film Festival in Kingston. The festival serves the purpose of bringing together a diverse range of people supporting and creating an unforgettable experience that we are excited to see again next year. In hosting this festival, it gives a safe and welcoming environment to, and supporters of, the LGBTQ2S+ in celebrating what makes us all unique. Our experience at the festival was more than welcoming as this cozy environment was a non-threatening introduction into Queer film. In our community we find that it is very important for everybody to feel represented in film, which is why festivals like this have been created. An independent cinema called The Screening Room located on Kingston’s downtown strip; Princess Street, hosted the festival for its 21^st year. Although it’s very popular now, it has come a long way since its start in 1999, where it was originally hosted in the back of Kingston’s only gay bar, welcoming in 477 guests in one weekend, – showing the niche for these types of films (Reelout).

Upon walking in, we were welcomed into a colourful environment filled with balloons and people who are passionate about film. Along with friendly staff we were given colourful buttons instead of paper tickets in order to enter the theatre itself. Later on, the buttons were re-integrated into our viewing experience as we had to vote on the quality of the film afterwards. The screening room was a refreshing change to the traditional theatres we are used to viewing films in. The small atmosphere created an intimate environment that you wouldn’t normally experience at regular cinemas. Considering it being an independent theatre, the popcorn prices still remained at big theatre prices, but that is the least of our concerns. After settling in we were greeted by a member of the Reelout Queer Film Festival where he acknowledged the land that we are situated on and spoke on the history of the festival. This gave insight into the impact that the festival has had on the community, and how it came to be what it is today. This festival touches on much more than just LGBTQ2S+ stories, but a wide range of issues surrounding gender, race and culture as well. All of these topics are presented in a touching manner which makes the festival so impactful to the viewers and people in the community.

Works cited:

“Introduction.” Reelout, 25 Nov. 2012, http://www.reelout.com/about/introduction/.

Sex, Sin and 69

While viewing this film I began thinking about how the fact that when my parents were my age a film like this would have likely never existed, and how sheltered they must have been from the issues presented in this film as they were not affected by them. With the increased media representation that the LGBTQ2+ has nowadays, I am glad that I can be educated on the issues that this community faces, and I realize that there is significance in being able to view a film about the “decriminalization” of homosexuality in 1969 at a Queer film festival in Kingston, Ontario. 

 “Sex, Sin and 69”, produced and directed by Sarah Fodey is a documentary that covers the “decriminalization” of homosexuality which took place in 1969 when legislation Bill C-135 was passed in Canada. Fodey brings in many modern-day leaders in queer activism to speak on the impact this legislation had on Canadian history and helps bring to light the many misperceptions that many, including myself may not be aware of. Activists who spoke in the film include, but are not limited, Morgan Holmes an Intersex activist and scholar, El-Farouk Khaki who speaks on racism and gay Muslims and Kim Katrin Milan speaks on developing a politics of Intersectionality. Although the decriminalization of homosexuality took place in 1969, many say although this progressive legislation was passed, homosexuality was not decriminalized in ‘69 as many people felt the exclusion and inequality for many years to come. To this day the LGBTQ2+ community is still being affected by the lack of recognition and the untold injustices the community has faced and still faces to this day.

This film brought to light issues that I was not aware of, including the 1981 bathhouse raids in Toronto, twelve years after Bill C-135 was passed. “Operation Soap” became a monumental event in realizing the way Toronto Metropolitan police still viewed the LGBTQ2+ community as it brought up the many injustices that the community still faced. According to the Canadian encyclopedia, in this raid over 300 men were charged, 20 of them being charged with keeping a common bawdyhouse and 286 being charged as committing an indecent act and as found-ins, meaning they were inside the bathhouse when the raids happened. This caused outrage in the LGBTQ2+ community and its allies as it goes to show that although homosexuality was decriminalized, the Toronto Police grossly abused their privilege, as gay men and women were still being discriminated against. Although this bill was a pivotal point in Canadian history it created a false sense of security that created a dangerous atmosphere for the LGBTQ2+ community. As stated by Dines and Humez in their text Gender Race and Class in the Media,  “freedom” is connected with individualism, and that it is dependent on “equality of condition”. The way I interpret this is that although one may believe they have freedom it always depends on the circumstance. In this case, the LGBTQ2+ community was given the false promise that they would not be discriminated against due to their sexuality, but they were misled and it resulted in being arrested for being homosexual 12 years after homosexuality was decriminalized.

An important event that was spoken about in the film was the 2016 pride parade in Toronto, where Black Lives Matter brought the parade to a stop in order to bring to light the inequalities that the Black community faces within the queer community. The Toronto Star retold the event in an article and described how Activist, Alexandra Williams called out Toronto’s LGBTQ2+ equality celebration parade for its “anti-blackness”, stating that “We haven’t all made it to the point of queer liberation. That not all communities who participated in Pride are actually able to be free in that celebration”. Williams then asked that their demands of increased funding and support of Black Queer Youth events, among other demands in support of the Black Queer community in Toronto be met. This is an evident case of where the analytical tool intersectionality can be applied. In the text Intersectionality For Beginners, it states that Kimberly Crenshaw coined the term Intersectionality to analyze the discrimination that Black women faced. She sought to explain that race and gender are not mutually exclusive categories and how someone can be discriminated against from the cumulative effects of being both Black and female. Intersectionality is not solely to explain the discrimination that Black women experience as it can be applied to many more intersecting categories, in this case, sexuality and race.

Before I conclude with my review of the film as a whole I would like to recognize my positionality as a Caucasian, heterosexual, woman and acknowledge that I have not personally faced the discrimination that queer people are exposed to.

The documentary “Sex, Sin and 69” speaks on important aspects of the decriminalization of homosexuality in 1969 and the effects this legislation has had on the LGBTQ2+ community and its allies since the bill has been passed. I learned several facts and heard about many events that I didn’t know happened, such as the tragedy of the bathhouse raids in Toronto. On a more positive note, I also learned some really interesting facts, one of which is that the first legal same-sex marriage was in Toronto, my hometown. With this being said when watching a movie where so much information is given to the viewers, it is sometimes complicated to be engaged in the film when an abundance of new data is thrown your way. I found myself confused beacuse the way the film was structured was incoherent, in my opinion, leaving me disengaged from the film as I found it difficult to keep up with all the information I was presented with. I am grateful that I am aware of the injustices that the LGBTQ2+ community has faced, but I believe if it was presented in a more engaging and comprehensive style to the everyday viewer, then I could’ve enjoyed the movie more, rather than being having to research on the events presented in this film in order to clarify. Overall this movie was filled with educational and vital information not only about the 1969 decriminalization of homosexuality but also some of the events that occurred after the bill had been passed, although I do wish it could have been presented in a way that is easier for the everyday viewer to digest.

Star rating: 3/5

Works Cited

Battersby, Sarah-Joyce. “Black Lives Matter Protest Scores Victory after Putting Pride Parade on Pause.” Thestar.com, 3 July 2016, http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2016/07/03/black-lives-matter-protest-scores-victory-after-putting-pride-parade-on-pause.html.

Bradburn, Jamie. “Toronto Bathhouse Raids (1981).” The Canadian Encyclopedia, 3 Feb. 2013, www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/toronto-feature-bathhouse-raids.

Dines, Gail, and Jean M. Humez. Gender, race, and class in media: A text-reader. Sage, 2003.

Fodey, Sarah, director. Sex, Sin and 69. Sex, Sin and 69, 27 June 2019.

Kaufman, Peter. “Intersectionality for Beginners.” Everyday Sociology Blog, 23 Apr. 2018, http://www.everydaysociologyblog.com/2018/04/intersectionality-for-beginners.html#more.

Sex, Sin and 69.

A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge

BY: Rachel Verhaeghe

This piece is an overall analysis of the film A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge (1985) directed by Jack Sholder. In this essay, I will give a general summary of the film and themes that are incorporated in it, the audience that is being represented in the film, how topics like popular culture and queerbaiting that we’ve covered in class can be applied to the film, the suitability of the film, and lastly, a star rating of my overall experience along with the quality of the film.

            A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge is the sequel to the original A Nightmare on Elm Street, directed by Jack Sholder in 1985. In this film, infamous Freddy Krueger (Robert Englund) appears in Jesse Walshe’s (Mark Patton) nightmares shortly after the Walshe family moves into the neighbourhood of Springfield, Ohio. Each night, Jesse wakes up with hot flashes and finds his way into the basement of his new house. There, Freddy Krueger is waiting for him and requests that Jesse help him in his quest to kill, saying, “You’ve got the body. I’ve got the brains.” (1985). After trying to fight Freddy, Jesse is ultimately defeated and starts his killing spree. First, Freddy has a nightmare in which he is led to a gay bar. There, he sees men kissing and finds his coach Schneider sitting at the bar dressed in dominatrix attire. Since it was a nightmare, this shows the homophobia that was very prevalent during the time of the film, something that Mark Patton, in real life, was battling with. After they leave the bar, they are suddenly at Jesse’s school, where there is a very intimate scene in the locker room. With coach Schneider still in this outfit, a sadistic power takes him, ties him up to the lockers, and spanks his exposed buttock with a towel. As Jesse appears to be appalled by this, the spirit of homophobia comes through again. It is revealed later that Jesse was the one who killed coach Schneider, as Freddy Krueger embodied him to do the heinous act. In another scene, Jesse asks his friend Grady (Roberts Rusler) to watch after him, in case Freddy tries to kill again. While begging Grady for help, Jesse suggests that he sleep in the same bed as him. In disgust, Grady questions whether that is necessary and demands that he shouldn’t. Yet again we see homophobia occur, when in reality Jesse was just looking for help from a friend. After fighting long and hard, Jesse thinks he has won the battle against Freddy, but it is revealed in the end that Freddy is very much still alive.

            In this film, the audience that is represented is the LGBTQ2+ community, and more specifically gay men, as the main character, Mark Patton, himself, is gay. Being gay in an industry such as this back then was very hard, especially for Mark who wasn’t allowed to come out as gay until much later on in his life. This movie really signifies Mark’s sexuality through a few of the scenes, even though he was told to act disgusted and homophobic, which was contradictory to what he was really experiencing.

            For a movie like this to be made in the 1980s is very progressive. The film industry was starting to appeal to all audiences, including the LGBTQ2+ community. This is a concept that would never be allowed in the early 50’s or 60’s, or prior to that. They were steering away from family friendly, wholesome content and “began to anticipate the social liberalization of the 1990s.” (Brandt 111). This idea of popular culture is so important to understand as it is always changing. Ideas back then are completely different to the things we see today. Popular culture at the time of this film was just starting to become accepting of the idea of same-sex scenes in movies, not to say that everyone who consumes popular culture is totally, 100% accepting of it today, but we have come a long way in the film industry.

            Queerbaiting is a term defined as, “By adding homoerotic subtext or erotic tension between two characters, usually leads, LGBTQ audiences are enticed to tune in, unaware that there was never an intention to elevate the subtext to an actual relationship.” (Mitchell 2018). In the production of this film, we can see queerbaiting as there is this sexual tension between Freddy and Jesse. Although the two never end up in a sexual relationship, we can see the obvious sexual tension between them when Freddy demands that Jesse be part of his killing spree. Since the main character, Jesse, played by Mark Patton, is gay himself, we can see now how this scene really comes full circle. And because of this, we can now celebrate it at a film festival like this, as, “writers and/or creators are able to appeal to the LGBTQ market,” (Mitchell 2018). This leaves us with one question: Isn’t the film festival “queerbaiting” the LGBTQ2+ community? We are paying to attend a screening of this movie knowing the main character is a part of the LGBTQ2+ community, weren’t we all expecting something to happen, homosexually, during the movie?

            In relation to the suitability of the film, I personally think that the level of appropriateness is fairly high, as long as you can handle 80’s-styled horror movies. There is the one scene where Coach Schneider’s buttock is shown and he is wearing a dominatrix-like outfit, which might not be a suitable scene for young children. But, other than that, the entirety of the movie is very suitable for children.

            I would say that the overall experience of the film festival and the quality of the movie were both amazing. Before the screening of the film began, there was a drag queen who performed. I felt very inspired by her way of expressing herself and how confident she was to perform in front of a room full of people. Not only was it admirable that she did an awesome performance, but it was even greater that the people running the festival gave her that outlet to express herself in her own unique way. In regard to the movie itself, I have always loved old-fashioned horror movies, and this one was very enjoyable and as equally aesthetically pleasing. Of course, the movie was cheesy, like most 80s films, but that, for me, was one of the best things about it. Adding on to that, I loved the jump-scares that were incorporated into it, as well as the overall creepy vibes it gave off. Overall, my experience at the Reelout Queer Film Festival and the movie A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge they screened was terrific.

Star Rating: 5/5

Works Cited

A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge. Dir. Jack Sholder. New Line Cinema, 1985.      Film.

Brandt, Jenn. “’As Seen on TV‘: Gender, Television, and Popular Culture.” In Gender and Pop Culture: A Text Reader, edited by Adrienne Trier-Bieniek, 2014, 103-120.

Mitchell, Bea. “Queerbaiting: What is it and why is it a problem?” PinkNews, 26 Feb. 2018, https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2018/02/26/what-is-queerbaiting-everything-you-need-to-know/, 4 Feb. 2020.