This weekend, I had the opportunity to watch an episode of "Tales of the City" with a friend. For those of you who don't know, "Tales of the City" is a mini-series based on a series of books by Armisted Maupin, ostensibly showcasing what life was like in San Francisco in the Heydays of the 70s. The teleplay is filled with A-list actors and received rave reviews when it aired, although many Red-state PBS stations didn't show it because of the gay subject matter.
My friend didn't "get" the show. He couldn't articulate why, but from the things that he was saying, I believe that it's a combination of two things. Firstly, there's the current rejection of Gay Identity. In today's climate, the younger "hip" generation of Abercrombie & Fitch clones have little respect or tolerance for camp or anything that smacks of Gay Identity. Secondly, he was just unaware of the culture of the 70s.
Now I was nowhere near San Francisco in the 70s, but I do know the disco culture. It was in the movies while I was growing up. The gay culture that I read about early in my life was that culture. Today's queers may try to run from it, mistakenly believing A&F more "manly" than terrycloth and corduroy , but that culture got us to where we are today. Hell, as everything is recycled, it should be coming back to us.
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IT is all one day ... then ... today ... Tales of The City, Anita Byant, Village People, SOAP, Crusing - the movie, Making Love - the movie, Stephen on Dynasty, Boy George, The Smiths, Erasure, An Early Frost, Frankie Goes To Hollywood, Rock Hudson, Jeff Stryker, Phone Sex Lines, Melissa Etheridge, HAIRSPRAY - mainstream Divine, Long Time Companion, Madonna - Sex book, walking Joey Stephano naked on a collar and leash, raves - x clubs, internet gay porn and sites and hookups,RENT, VIAGRA, Ellen, Will and Grace, Queer As Folk, The L Word, Queer Eye make over of the Red Sox, Key West, P-Town, Chelsea, The Castro, Providence, Ft Lauderdale, Miami, and the rest of the world
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