Top 10 Closet Cases
We owe a lot to the below narratives and their characters—the ones who make the brave decision to come out and even the ones who never get to be that bold—since they serve as a boon for those who struggle today, and remind others of the formative and common experience of what it means to come out. If only some of these folks could’ve attended a pride parade.
Ahoy! Pride Month 2012 is upon us (already??) and to that end, we are rolling out some notable films that feature the sometimes painful journey toward a proud, authentic existence—a journey that often involves years in the closet. In a time when ‘it gets better’, when coming out may feel like a redundant, strategic or long-overdue (ahem, Anderson Cooper) tactic, it’s important to remember that on the individual level, this is still a huge milestone in a queer person’s life, a brutally honest moment when each person claims a little more of his or her true self.
We owe a lot to the following narratives and their characters—the ones who make the brave decision to come out and even the ones who never get to be that bold—since they serve as a boon for those who struggle today, and remind others of the formative and common experience of what it means to come out. If only some of these folks could’ve attended a pride parade.10. Megan (and everyone else) in BUT I'M A CHEERLEADER
This quirky and clever satire on the ex-gay movement puts a charmingly clueless Natasha Lyonne in the middle of a group of sorely misguided folks as they ostensibly do whatever it takes to remain in the closet, in spite of comically burgeoning libidos. The fun of CHEERLEADER is that it manages to strike a near-perfect balance between outrageous camp (Cathy Moriarty and RuPaul as ex-gay ‘educators’, need we say more?), sneaky dark comedy and even some heartfelt moments: Lyonne’s love scene with Clea Duvall remains one of the most beautiful—and surprising.
Author: Dan Heching9. Matt Mateo and Lucia DeLury in THE OPPOSITE OF SEX
This succulent little gem from Don Roos has the closet door swinging in all sorts of ways, with hilariously wishy-washy characters swirling around the well-meaning, always-tortured Bill (Martin Donovan), a gay man grieving the loss of his boyfriend who gets mixed up with the wrong crowd, in one Dede Truitt (Christina Ricci in what is still arguably her best performance). Aside from his cute new boy toy Matt (Ivan Sergei) turning ‘straight’ for Dede (somehow it doesn’t quite stick), another interesting closet-case in this film is the title character of sorts, Lucia (Lisa Kudrow in what is definitely her best performance), who starts out so cut off from the possibility of physical affection, eventually learning to open her doors and be free.
Author: Dan Heching8. Tom Ripley in THE TALENTED MR. RIPLEY
A truly heartbreaking murder mystery, where the mystery lies not in a typical whodunit buildup, but rather an interior peeling away of Ripley’s layers, brought to vivid life by an excellent (and so young) Matt Damon. Based on a character created by famed lesbian author Patricia Highsmith, the closet is a place where Ripley develops his talents, as it were, to put on a totally different face and persona, something that so many who’ve been (or still are) in the closet can relate to. Of course, the drastic—and ultimately tragic—extents to which his behavior takes him are what make Ripley such a unique figure. His adorable and ill-fated love interest, played by adorable and droopy-eyed Brit Jack Davenport, is a 1950s-era dandy at ease with himself, bringing to arresting relief just how insecure Tom Ripley truly is.
Author: Dan Heching7. The Boys of Y TU MAMA TAMBIEN
This scintillating Mexican tale of love and lust shared by three free spirits on the road across Mexico successfully depicts the true fluidity of sexuality in youth, with two boys (Gael Garcia Bernal and Diego Luna) under the heady influence of an older woman, who eventually end up breaking down an unspoken barrier. Whether or not either of these boys is really in the closet is completely beside the point; Y TU MAMA TAMBIEN examines (and nails) the moment-to-moment notion of sexuality, and of being human. These feelings and themes are mirrored in the latest from Chile, the 2012 Sundance Film Festival contender YOUNG & WILD, which explores the bisexual escapades of a young blogger torn between her boyfriend, a passionate female lover, and her evangelical family.
Author: Dan Heching6. BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN
What is so arresting about Annie Proulx’s story, and which carries through quite well in the film, is the incidental nature of the love affair between the unsuspecting and quite lost Ennis Del Mar (Heath Ledger) and the joy-loving Jack Twist (Jake Gyllenhaal). Before any mention of the closet or homophobia can arise (and it never really does), these two Wyoming cowboys are confronted first and foremost with their newfound love for each other, an authentic and powerful force which in many ways just ‘happens’ in the confines of their own corner of a mountain range. BROKEBACK is an important film in that regard, since the outside world does not actually have so much to do with the private and central relationship of the film, which isn’t defined as ‘gay’ in relation to the normative surroundings. This is before gay, for their society’s purposes. These boys are not confined to a societal closet, in that their entire world is like a closet; their only refuge are the mountains and the sky, which are considerably less judgmental. And therein lies the film’s heartbreak, because ultimately the only way they ever truly acknowledge, and occasionally revel in, each other is by cocooning themselves, far far away, in the empty and vast mountainscape where they first found each other.
Author: Dan Heching5. Idgie Threadgoode in FRIED GREEN TOMATOES
This film met with a fair share of dissention upon its release, when it was evident that entire parts of Mary Stuart Masterson’s character—namely her sexuality—were glossed over in this sprawling adaptation of Fannie Flagg’s novel of an Alabama café and the women who run it. Interestingly, Flagg adapted the screenplay herself, and a re-watch now reveals that Idgie’s feelings for Ruth (a delicate Mary-Louise Parker) are nonetheless resoundingly clear. Still, it would have been nice to see a little more of Idgie’s inner workings. As a side note, Masterson also played the very gay-ish tomboy role in SOME KIND OF WONDERFUL, the inferior Hughes follow-up to (and gender-reversed carbon copy of) PRETTY IN PINK (see item #1).
Author: Dan Heching4. Col. Frank Fitts in AMERICAN BEAUTY
Chris Cooper made quite a mark with his portrait of a deeply paranoid, somewhat delusional military family man who is not only a closet case, but a portrait of downfall in the face of traditional American values and expectations for the modern man. It’s difficult to even refer to this dangerous character as ‘in the closet’—Fitts is so out of touch with himself, as well as everyone in his family, that it’s unclear whether he’s even aware of the prison he occupies.
It’s interesting to note that AMERICAN BEAUTY screenwriter Alan Ball was initially inspired by the Amy Fisher-Mary Jo Buttafuoco shooting in Long Island; thankfully, he went with a for more evocative climax, involving Frank Fitt’s homicidal shame at being rejected by Kevin Spacey’s Lester Burnham.
Author: Dan Heching3. Eyal in WALK ON WATER
Israeli Eytan Fox’s brilliant film opens a dialog across many divides; German-Jew, Israeli-Palestinian, man-woman, and gay-straight. Lior Ashkenazi plays Eyal, a Mossad agent charged with shadowing the grandchildren of a Nazi war criminal, who becomes increasingly drawn into the world of gay grandson Axel Himmelman. There is the potential for a deeply rich love story here, with Eyal spending much of the film with Axel and exploring his own potential gay side—they bathe naked in the Dead Sea together and Eyal accompanies Axel to a gay bar, at one point asking him some decidedly candid questions about gay sex. It is therefore frustrating and rather inexplicable when Eyal ends up with the younger man's sister, a decision that is highly suspect and perhaps not one the director had any control over.
Fox has had his just desserts though, with his amazing YOSSI & JAGGER about closeted men in love in the Israeli military, and this year’s inferior sequel YOSSI, catching up with the same character, still struggling with coming out.
Author: Dan Heching2. The politicians of OUTRAGE
Kirby Dick’s stirring 2009 doc reveals the unsettling parallels between closeted politicians and malicious anti-gay policy, and how many voting members in congress and beyond who are so adamantly against gay civil rights end up slapped with unseemly gay sex scandals down the line. Dick is very careful not to patently vilify these people, which gives the film that much more credence; internalized homophobia is something each and every closet-dweller must address at some point, and those in the public eye, especially a spotlight as permeable to ‘values, ethics and family mores’ as a political spotlight, surely don’t have it easy when trying to win this very personal battle. Of course, none of that excuses closeted mayor Ed Koch from ignoring AIDS’ effect on his city in the early 80s, or any number of closeted senators and governors who have slapped the gay contingent of this country with extremely restrictive policy whenever they have the chance…
Author: Dan Heching1. Duckie in PRETTY IN PINK
Here is a debate most everyone has taken part in at some point, and stars Molly Ringwald and Jon Cryer themselves recently got in on it too: was Duckie really gay? My answer? For sure! Consider the evidence: the fashion, the hair, his natural ease making friends with needy females like Ringwald and Annie Potts, the emphatic vocal inflections ("Blaaaane? His name is Blane??"), the fashion, the hair. PRETTY IN PINK functions just barely as a love triangle, and the original ending—in which Duckie actually does end up with Rindwald’s Andie—played so poorly with test audiences they had to reshoot.
More importantly, PINK remains a relevant movie in how it essentially depicts the beautiful bond possible between a gay boy and a straight girl—regardless of whether they are completely aware of their sexuality just yet. Plus, the film is drenched in John Hughes 80s goodness. So we’re just gonna have to side with Molly on this one. Sorry Jon: you played gay. Deal with it.
Author: Dan Heching
