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Cruising (Friedkin 1980)
This episode is dedicated in loving memory of our dear friend Matt Brown, PhD. You lived unabashedly out and gay. You loved cruising and the scene. And you always had a unique perspective. We would have loved to hear your thoughts on this film especially. We miss you!
Cruising was made during the brief few years post Stonewall and before significant awareness of AIDS that would decimate gay men especially throughout the 1980s and 1990s. In many ways we found this film to be more progressive, and offer better representation, of gay men than more recent films.
We reviewed the film on it’s own merits, as we encountered it as a text. After our discussion we became aware of there being significant controversy about the film especially at the time of its release. Our review does not address that. Cruising is intriguing, well constructed, and a fascinating allegory. And, it features a riveting performance by Al Pacino before he shifted into just acting as himself.
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SPOILERS IN THIS EPISODE
Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (McNaughton 1986)
The Silence of the Lambs (Demme 1991)
American Horror Story Season 11
TOPIC INDEX – Cruising (Friedkin 1980) (times are approximate)
0:30 – Introductions
2:45 – Film discussion begins
4:00 – SPOILERS section begins
4:00 – William Friedkin
12:00 – character motivation
14:00 – atypical serial killer tropes
16:00 – opening scene
23:30 – American Horror Story season 11
25:20 – SPOILERS for American Horror Story season 11 – spoilers end at 27:30
29:30 – serial killers and hegemonic masculinity
32:00 – queer-coded scenes?
37:00 – sex and killing
41:00 – final scene
46:00 – representation
51:00 – precinct night
53:00 – sociology moment – “black brute” character as foil
1:00:00 – grading the film using the Collective Nightmares Evolving Rubric of Social Responsibility
Related Episodes
Man Bites Dog (Belvaux, Bonzel, Poelvoorde 1992)
Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (McNaughton 1986)
Martin (Romero 1977)
Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge (Sholder 1982)
Credits
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“Horror films are our collective nightmares.”
Episode 138