Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters: Know your LGBT History

Friday, July 22, 2011

Know your LGBT History - Partners

The 1982 movie Partners is one of the single most ugly movies about the gay community I have ever seen.

There is no other way to put it. To label it as a "hot mess" would be too kind. In the immortal words of Bart Simpson - "I never thought it was possible for something to suck and blow and the same time."

Partners was supposed to be an action comedy starring Ryan O'Neal and John Hurt as two policemen who go undercover as lovers in the gay community to find a possible serial killer of gay men.

Laughs a plenty, huh?

The hook is that O'Neal is a super macho heterosexual man while Hurt is a mousy, quiet gay man afraid of his shadow. Apparently he is not only a desk clerk but also totally oblivious of the fact that everyone knows that he is gay.

Are you laughing already?

The whole point of the movie is supposed to an evolution of O'Neal's character from uncomfortable homophobia is somewhat acceptance of gays, but that falls flat because there are absolutely no positive gay characters in this movie. None whatsoever. The gay men are either spooky, oversexed, violent, so stereotypically nelly that they cry at the drop of a hat or worse - all of those characterizations at once. The only gay characters seen in a positive light is only due to the fact that they have very little screen time.

Even when the movie tries to send a message (via an absolutely nasty scene in which the police humiliate a gay man by making him walk naked to his cell), it falls flat. It's just one more indignity in a movie full of indignities.

The worst thing in the movie has to be Hurt's portrayal. He is just hideous and constantly bears an expression on his face that says "oh brother, I just have to keep thinking about my paycheck to get through this shit." And he really should have known better. In 1975, he received critical acclaim for his awesome portrayal of gay icon Quentin Crisp in The Naked Civil Servant. Why he chose to make a 360 degree turn and do this movie is one of the greatest mysterious of life. Anyhow, here is a scene from Partners:

7 comments:

Sage said...: Alvin, I just love your "Know Your LGBT History" posts!; 9:02 PM
BlackTsunami said...: thanks, Sage ;p; 9:56 PM
JCF said...: "The 1982 movie Partners is one of the single most ugly movies about the gay community I have ever seen."

And I thought "Cruising" held that title!; 10:09 PM
Donny D. said...: I remember the movie poster out at the time Partners was released, but I can't think of anything Hurt had done after that, which seemed odd, given his successes up to that time.

Did John Hurt ever have a significant role after that or was Partners a career crippler/killer?; 10:22 PM
BlackTsunami said...: Hi Donny,

John Hurt has had a long and storied career even after that dreadful movie, including starring in V for Vendetta, the Harry Potter movies and the Hellboy series.; 11:30 PM
Bill S said...: Well, JCF, "Partners" is sort of like "Cruising", played for laughs. Which should give you some idea of just how revolting it was.
There was a protest against the picture when it first played theatres in 1982. The ads featured a picture of Hurt and O'Neal, with Hurt brandishing a hair-dryer like a gun. The tangline read "One wants to clean up this town. The other wants to redecorate it." Clever, no?
What's especially awful is that 1982 was also a year when several very good movies dealing with LGBT themes-"Victor/Victoria", "Personal Best" and the underrated (I think) "Making Love". A case could be made also for "Tootsie", which doesn't feature any gay characters, but does have Julie mistaking Michael's female alter ego, Dorothy, for a lesbian. This is presented with some sensitivity.
On the other hand, in addition to "Partners", 82 also gave us another offensive portrait of gays in "Road Warrior"(to this day I've never understood why that movie usually gets a pass.); 1:15 PM
Michelle said...: I’m with you on this one all the way! This is just like that movie Soul Man where they put C. Thomas Howell in black face and a Jeri curl wig. And the worse part about both movies is that some straight white guys got together and thought...OMG, you know what would make a great movie....; 1:35 PM