4 - The Celluloid Closet & The Reel Injun

by Brittany, Brittany and Gabriela 

The Celluloid Closet

The Celluloid Closet is a 1995, American documentary film directed and written by Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman. The film is based on the 1981 book of the same name written by Vito Russo, he wanted the book to be entertaining and reflect on positive changes that have been made to the present. The film was made to show how the church did not want anything non conservative to be shown in Hollywood movies for many viewers to witness .This film represents the different stereo types people had in the 20th century. The film was exclusively on gays and lesbians and how they were looked upon through film.

 A law formed by the church was passed, so that nothing inappropriate and non conservative would be shown in any movie or television show. Gays and lesbians in the churches eyes was seen as non conservative and they would not be allowed to express emotion or even say that they were gay or lesbian on the screen. After the law was passed some film makers could find little holes in the new law and make the characters act and seem a certain way. The documentary interviews many men and women who were in the Hollywood industry to comment on many film clips and their own personal experiences with the treatment of lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgender characters in film. The film maker interviewed many characters and actors such as Whoopi Goldberg, Tom Hanks, Harry Hamlin and many made good points about the film, saying just because you played a gay or lesbian character in a television show or in a movie did not mean that you were gay or lesbian in real life, because movies is all make believe.

The following link is a trailer from The Celluloid Closet explaining what the film is about.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JL_vrb4-6_0

The popular films of the 20th century could only hint at homosexuality and often portrayed gays negative characters, or insidious villains. The film makers would often make fun of gay people making the gay man look very feminine on screen and making him act weak, often called then the sissy. After awhile more and more people started to accept gays and lesbians and that they should be shown on the screen, not to be forgotten and left in the background. Hollywood took out all the rules accept one, the rule about sex being on the screen. Finally Hollywood could show gay and lesbians and stereo types in their movies without being hesitant and gays not coming of out the closet, so to say. At the end of the documentary many viewers have a better idea on how gay and lesbians were treated in films in the past. We discussed in class that many people were through off on how gays and lesbians were treated and how the church really looked down on them, saying if you were gay then you should just die because you would not be accepted in society. The stereo types in the film are seen as a negative because no one should be judged on what sex they prefer.

This Link below asks normal people what they think about stereotypes and how they are started. They speak about normal stereotypes and if stereotypes are completely true or just a false accusation.

The Link below is a meeting between three men who speak about stereotypes and their opinions on stereotypes. They speak about how and if stereotypes are true or are they all false.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TjcBaMUOIMU

Reel Injun

The movie Reel Injun which was directed by Cree filmmaker Neil Diamond, gives the viewers a look of what we believe is factual about Native Americans. It explores one of our main points. One of the main issues that are presented in the film is stereotyping. The movie uses different terms and languages to show film making in Hollywood. An interesting view of the film was in the beginning, when Hollywood was just starting to come out with different movies to give us a visual of what Indians were like, Hollywood’s opinions and views of the Indians weren’t very nice. Generally, they wanted the viewers to get a very unpleasant perspective of them. Showing Indians being more like savages and cave – like people. These cave – like people aren’t even shown as human beings, which is what they are. They gave us the impression of the Indians not having any sense of integrity. It was only recently that the film makers decided to smarten up and make a film or documentary that really documents their lives, truthfully and seriously. Instead of making of lies and basically telling the whole world everything Indians are not. The film makers started to document how the Indians behaved; what their ways of survival were and how they acted in their different tribes, on a regular basis.

            In the movie, there are three types of Native Americans that are presented. The first are the savages. They are referred to as “savages” for a few reasons. The first would be because of their survival needs. Instead of focusing on agriculture, a lot of their focus was strictly on hunting. Because most people see what they want to see, in the people’s eyes this hunting act is linked to savage – like behavior. Another reason would be because of their clothes. The leather skirts and head pieces weren’t what the Europeans wore; to them it looked messy and unrestrained.

            The second type would be Hippie; these are the more spiritual Native Americans. They pay more attention to their rituals and preform a lot of ceremonies. They talk to mother Earth herself a lot and put their beliefs into the open air and speak about freeing your mind.

            The final type would be Groovy; these are the very sensitive happy ones.

            This relates to hegemony because it was the Europeans who were basically deciding what normal was. They didn’t think that the Native Americans were good enough or measure up to the same level that the Europeans were at. The Europeans are rich; they had everything that they wanted. The Europeans don’t have to do far as many things as the Natives do in order to survive. The Europeans were the ones who at the one at the top. They are the dominant ones and shaped the world based on what their view of a normal human being and normal behavior was.

An interesting point which makes the movie special is it was inspired by the childhood of the filmmaker himself. He is an Indian and as a child he loved to play with his friends. That’s when people who lived in the same area as him started to question his culture and how he lived his life. They would ask him very rude questions such as “Do you and your family live in teepees?” They would also ask if he and his family would go around riding horses like cowboys. Diamond was certainly confused as to why these people were making such weird comments about his life and culture. It was only because of these remarks that made him realize that it was TV and movies that were influencing people to think like that. Whatever they saw in the movies had to be true in their eyes. Maybe because the film makers told the audiences that were watching the movies that the information they were trying to portray was true or maybe because they themselves wanted to believe it was true. Just like on so many more items and subjects today, media has always been the leader. It has always taken over actual realism and has knocked it out to fill audience’s minds with information that is not true.

I have always been a fan of films that have been inspired or are based on true stories. This gives the listeners some guidance and direction as to whether the movie is going to be, a movie that is true or fiction because in comparison of earlier times and today, we have learned to not judge as much than we used to, but stereotyping is still very much a part of society today.

My link:

http://everydayfeminism.com/2013/06/common-native-american-stereotypes-debunked/

The following links is a link that represents only a part of the stereotypes that Native Americans experience and are exposed to. These stereotypes aren’t the typical stereotypes that we would generally see and hear about. For example, myself, I have never heard that Native Americans are alcoholics and lazy. Even though in Reel Injun, they don’t specifically use these stereotypes, they demonstrate the same issue. Native Americans are very frowned upon and these stereotypes are just adding to the ones that are already an issue. A general Native American stereotype would be, for example; The Washington Red Skins stereotype in the NFL. The Native Americans were upset about this term and said that it was derogatory because Native American’s skin color has more of a reddish tone to it.  They were upset with this because Washington NFL team just took a name and put it with the Washington football team name, without having any meaning. These stereotypes are still offensive and insulting to Native Americans.

Personal Reflect

The movie The Celluloid Closet and Reel Injun are both documentaries based on the side effects of stereotyping. The films involve media, culture (lifestyle) and gay and lesbian views in society. Both of the documentaries reflect and relate to the society we had in the past and also the society we have today. Both documentaries explain how much the media, especially in the theatre department have enormously influenced the public’s opinion. Directors had came out with the idea that if they based their story lines with gays and lesbian actors in their movies it would not get the public’s approval or fame if they had brought up the “unknown” sexuality. Directors would make modifications to scenes in their movie based on the media standards to make the public happy and create what they thought was a safe atmosphere rather than make the audience feel “uncomfortable” with a subject not spoken of, or in some cases, not heard of. Many actors were announced that if they played a gay or lesbian role, they would lose their job along with losing their reputation as an actor.

         

In the Celluloid Closet a writer that would create a script about a man confused about his sexuality was quickly changed into a man with “writer’s block.” Susan Sarandon explains to us in The Celluloid Closet, how directors thought of gays and lesbians as a “bad influence.”In The Celluloid Closet, all of the actors that were in the documentary were involved in a gay and lesbian movie or had a personal involvement; they explained to the audience how the anti gay and lesbian phase in society had affected them tremendously. This shows how strong society and media have a hold on the youth and public. Media creates a standard for what is “right” and what is “wrong.” We can learn a lot in both these films as they teach us how nothing in the media and society is completely true.

 In the documentary Reel Injun, you see all the stereo types of Indians (Native Americans) and how they are mislead and presented in numerous movies and films in media. Popular seen actors that had fame started to play big roles for Indians. This shows how society has ruled over the religious and culture of individual rights, by only showing the Americans point of view. The Celluloid Closet and Reel Injun explain to us everybody’s view by explaining how media has pro trade  and hid many truths to movies and TV shows to coincide with media, to create what to them was a normal standard society. The strategies used by the filmmakers in both movies explained to us how media and directors in movies and TV shows were hiding the evidence behind the scenes of how the movie was supposed to be and then how it was made. Therefore, none of what the director created or what the audience saw was completely the real truth, it was mostly lies. The power of the media influenced and shared their opinion and point of view so strongly so that the public would think the same way they did. Assumptions are made very easily in today’s society with all the stereotypes we have had up until today in 2014.        

 

The stereotypes my team and I have commonly made are the stereotypes of gays and lesbians. The stereotypes are mostly the way they act and especially their appearance. Gays act more feminine by paying more attention to what they wear and how they look like and their appearance including hair, makeup, purses, jewelry and many more.  Lesbians act more masculine by paying less attention to their appearance and how they dress by wearing baggy clothes, no makeup which is very often stereotyped today as a “Tomboy.”            

Stereotypes are reversed in sexuality, the female’s stereotypes influence gays and the stereotypes of males influence lesbians. A video called “What is being gay? (According to Society) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJyV85J1VhM explains how the media Fox, HBO, The CW, CBS, and ABC create their own opinion against lesbians and gays that cause the public to be influenced. We see the same thing happening even in today’s society. The short video goes back and forth from past to present showing us how the stereotypes are still very much the same as it was back then when it was brought upon. Gays were seen as very fashionable, too sensitive and dramatic; seem to only care about appearance. Lesbians were seen as not caring about appearance and all about sleeping around and steal their lover from their husbands. Many of the characters that were lesbian or gay ended on a bad note, they were either killed or committed suicide.

  

 Many viewers saw gays and lesbians as the enemy or for having a bad reputation and bad luck.  The video contains assumptions from the media that gays love the theatre and lesbians are vampires.  Most of all, the most main message from all the media is the constant reminder that they do not live “happily ever after” but the worst is brought upon in their life.  We can learn a lot from this video as it explains all the common stereotyping about gays and lesbians in movies and TV shows which are definitely not true or realistic.

Conclusion:

 Stereotypes are seen throughout the world today. Stereotypes are the judgmental opinion of the fame and fortune people in the media business that shove their opinion in our faces.  Since they are viewed mostly in the public’s eyes, people tend to believe everything they say to be true. Stereotyping is a huge issue in today’s society because more people are seeing it happen which influences the public to do it because they think stereotyping is okay. Stereotyping should be stopped because it’s causing people to judge others and think the same way as the media instead of their own opinion.