Not so much hovering above the fray. . .
. . . as observing from a safe distance. Very, very, very far away. In today's New York Blade, America's Sweetheart (whether America knows it or not) Rachel Kramer Bussel writes of Spike Lee’s booty-bumpin’ lesbian sex thang:
When Spike Lee’s new film “She Hate Me” opens on Wednesday, July 28, viewers will have the chance to see 19 self-identified lesbians, most of them women of color, on the big screen. This is a huge step, certainly, but is it a positive one?Already causing a stir within the queer community, the film is sure to provoke viewers of all persuasions — but especially lesbians — with its over-the-top queer plotline.
And that's the part where I gently suggest, like the real weblog people, that you read the whole thing.
Mentioned the film here before, but the article has interviews with "technical consultant" Tristan Taormino, who's name I consistently spell and probably pronounce wrong even when my brain is working, Claire Cavanah, Samiya Bashir, and lots of other people whose names I could copy and paste just as easily as the previous ones.
And if you want to know more, Rachel helpfully provides links at her blog, Lusty Lady.
And I think I'm just going to end everything with this disclaimer for the time being: This entry subject to major revision or sudden disappearance when my brain starts functioning again.
Comments
Thanks as always (I love the awesome names you give me, but I cannot be "America's Sweetheart" because that is too reminiscent of Courtney Love). Anyway, curious to hear what you think of the film when you see you it.
Posted by: Rachel | July 23, 2004 11:35 AM
Ah yes, you know how I just love it when lesbians on the big and small screens can't wait to jump into bed with a man. It just warms my heart. And sets it on fire and makes me want to shoot flames from eyes and kill people. But all man-hating lesbians do that don't they? Ah I'm a cliche.
Posted by: Michelle | July 23, 2004 11:50 AM
It was interesting to me to see the writeup of this particular identity-politics-fracas. How much of what's at stake is "what lesbians are really like?" How many times is the assumed answer to this question singular and exclusive of other performances of that identity [to get theoretical, but serious, too]? Does that trouble anyone? Could we, in our desparation to "see ourselves" onscreen, be limiting such "self" depictions for others?
[This begs the entire question of bisexuality, of course. One of the quotes states simply that lesbians don't sleep with men, apparently ignoring many studies formal & informal that they, in fact, occationally do. Chasing Amy pulled a similar angle, with a presumed [Amy never ids this way, if I recall] lesbian choosing a man. Is lesbianism left unexamined here, or is bisexuality, or both?]
Posted by: neogrammarian | July 23, 2004 6:56 PM