As you all may or may not have noticed (and I hope you have), the Know Your LGBT History portion of my blog has been under hiatus. The reason was simple. I was burnt out and running out of topics.
I wanted to bring it back with a bang so I hope that this post does the trick.
My Top Five LGBT Villains in Cinema
I love villains. Who cares about the heroes because it's the villains which make the movie. If it's a good villain, it will be a good movie. If the villain sucks, then the same will be said for the movie.
Lgbt villains are a difficult class to pinpoint. Our community have had to deal with movie characters who are villains for simply being lgbts. Unfortunately, these villains embody the very worst ofthin, one-dimensional stereotypes which do nothing but insult us. I'm glad to say that times are changing.
That's not to say that there were certain villains who transcended the stereotypes via nuanced performances or just downright campiness. With that in mind, I present my Top Five Villains who did just that. One note - this list will contain plot spoilers.
Honorable Mention: Mercy Croft - The Killing of Sister George (1968) - Late actress Coral Browne portrays Mercy Croft (I love that name), the innocuous television executive who is more than she seems in this controversial rendition of the hit Broadway play. Beryl Reid portrays June Buckridge, an actress who portrays a kind nurse, Sister George, on a popular soap opera. However, in reality, Buckridge is a loud, boisterous, drunken lesbian whose off-the-set exploits get her into trouble involving her job and threatens her relationship with her partner, Childe (Susannah York). Croft is the media executive who not only delivers the news of her firing to Buckridge, but also (in a scene still controversial by today's standards) seduces and steals Childe. Then she proceeds to verbally DEVASTATE Buckridge after being caught. Croft is honorable mention solely because many don't see her as a villain. Her incredible tongue lashing of Buckridge does have some truth to it because Buckridge is not a likable character. However, after having the temerity to steal someone's girlfriend and then verbally annihilate the person, Croft needs to have some type of recognition.
5. Raoul Silva - Skyfall (2012) - Silva (Javier Bardiem) is the villain in Skyfall, which is probably the best James Bond movie I have ever seen. His plot is simple. He wants revenge on Bond's boss, M (Judi Dench) for what he felt was a betrayal. But his methods are complex, including this scene where he teases Bond with a seduction. Some have said he was merely playing with Bond's head. I say that there was more to Silva than meets the eye and this scene proved it:
4. Mrs. Danvers - Rebecca (1940) - The oldest and easily the creepiest on our list. Mrs. Danvers (Judith Anderson) is the head housekeeper of the estate Manderley whose actions in the motion picture are possibly because of her secret love of the late mistress of Manderley, Rebecca De Winters. As such, she despises the new wife (Joan Fontaine). She deviously manipulates Fontaine's nervousness and inadequacies until she has the poor child contemplating suicide. Then she tells to go ahead and do it. Not to worry though. Evil doesn't triumph in the end. Mrs. Danvers' secret love for Rebecca is hinted in a sly manner, such as in this scene of her and Fontaine in Rebecca's bedroom:
3. Dr. Frank N. Furter - The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) - Can a space alien doctor from the planet Transsexual in the galaxy of Transylvania be all that bad? I won't even bother with the plot of this movie or explaining Dr. Furter (Tim Curry) because you probably know it already. But I do have one question. What exactly was his mission before he decided to make a man for "dynamic tension?"
2. Mr. Kidd and Mr. Wint - Diamonds are Forever (1971) - A pair of assassins from easily the campiest James Bond movie in the series. Kidd and Wint are lovers and cold blooded assassins hired to kill all of the chains of a diamond smuggling operation. They trade silly witticisms while doing just awful things such as blowing up helicopters, stuffing scorpions down the backs of their victims, throwing old women into canals, chaining folks to cement blocks at the bottom of swimming pools, etc. etc. The following scene, which cements who is in control of the relationship, is a classic:
1. The Nun - Come Back Charleston Blue (1972) - I know what you are thinking - who the hell is that. Bear with me. Come Back Charleston Blue was a blaxploitation movie sequel about a Harlem neighborhood besieged by the murders of drug dealers and the theft of their products. Residents claim that it is the work of Charleston Blue, a Prohibition era gangster who disappeared while on his way to kill legendary gangster Dutch Schultz. In reality, it is the work of a neighborhood photographer and community leader, Joe Painter (Peter De Anda). Painter is slowly but surely taking over the drug ring in Harlem by getting rid of the competition. Helping him is a character who I will call The Nun, although he is known as "the freak" in the movie and is credited as a "drag queen" by the credits. In a scene stealing performance (and unfortunately what looks like his only performance), actor Tony Brealond is Painter's second in command and a former soldier in Vietnam. Through subtle hints, it is implied that he is also Painter's lover even though Painter is also carrying on with Carol (Jonelle Allen), the niece of the neighborhood mob boss.
Some may ask why would I pick this character with no name from a movie which many of you don't remember or know. Basically because he is one of the only few lgbt of color characters in cinema not picked as comedy relief or to be pitied. He is the epitome of the "genderfuck" with an attitude. He commands respect and at times is downright fierce (particularly in the graveyard scene where he, clothed as a grieving widow, leads a massacre of mob figures) And then there is my favorite scene - when he starts a knock-down brawl with a bunch of pastors at a youth recreation center after being called a bad influence on young boys.
Past Know Your LGBT History Posts:
I wanted to bring it back with a bang so I hope that this post does the trick.
My Top Five LGBT Villains in Cinema
I love villains. Who cares about the heroes because it's the villains which make the movie. If it's a good villain, it will be a good movie. If the villain sucks, then the same will be said for the movie.
Lgbt villains are a difficult class to pinpoint. Our community have had to deal with movie characters who are villains for simply being lgbts. Unfortunately, these villains embody the very worst ofthin, one-dimensional stereotypes which do nothing but insult us. I'm glad to say that times are changing.
That's not to say that there were certain villains who transcended the stereotypes via nuanced performances or just downright campiness. With that in mind, I present my Top Five Villains who did just that. One note - this list will contain plot spoilers.
Honorable Mention: Mercy Croft - The Killing of Sister George (1968) - Late actress Coral Browne portrays Mercy Croft (I love that name), the innocuous television executive who is more than she seems in this controversial rendition of the hit Broadway play. Beryl Reid portrays June Buckridge, an actress who portrays a kind nurse, Sister George, on a popular soap opera. However, in reality, Buckridge is a loud, boisterous, drunken lesbian whose off-the-set exploits get her into trouble involving her job and threatens her relationship with her partner, Childe (Susannah York). Croft is the media executive who not only delivers the news of her firing to Buckridge, but also (in a scene still controversial by today's standards) seduces and steals Childe. Then she proceeds to verbally DEVASTATE Buckridge after being caught. Croft is honorable mention solely because many don't see her as a villain. Her incredible tongue lashing of Buckridge does have some truth to it because Buckridge is not a likable character. However, after having the temerity to steal someone's girlfriend and then verbally annihilate the person, Croft needs to have some type of recognition.
5. Raoul Silva - Skyfall (2012) - Silva (Javier Bardiem) is the villain in Skyfall, which is probably the best James Bond movie I have ever seen. His plot is simple. He wants revenge on Bond's boss, M (Judi Dench) for what he felt was a betrayal. But his methods are complex, including this scene where he teases Bond with a seduction. Some have said he was merely playing with Bond's head. I say that there was more to Silva than meets the eye and this scene proved it:
4. Mrs. Danvers - Rebecca (1940) - The oldest and easily the creepiest on our list. Mrs. Danvers (Judith Anderson) is the head housekeeper of the estate Manderley whose actions in the motion picture are possibly because of her secret love of the late mistress of Manderley, Rebecca De Winters. As such, she despises the new wife (Joan Fontaine). She deviously manipulates Fontaine's nervousness and inadequacies until she has the poor child contemplating suicide. Then she tells to go ahead and do it. Not to worry though. Evil doesn't triumph in the end. Mrs. Danvers' secret love for Rebecca is hinted in a sly manner, such as in this scene of her and Fontaine in Rebecca's bedroom:
3. Dr. Frank N. Furter - The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) - Can a space alien doctor from the planet Transsexual in the galaxy of Transylvania be all that bad? I won't even bother with the plot of this movie or explaining Dr. Furter (Tim Curry) because you probably know it already. But I do have one question. What exactly was his mission before he decided to make a man for "dynamic tension?"
2. Mr. Kidd and Mr. Wint - Diamonds are Forever (1971) - A pair of assassins from easily the campiest James Bond movie in the series. Kidd and Wint are lovers and cold blooded assassins hired to kill all of the chains of a diamond smuggling operation. They trade silly witticisms while doing just awful things such as blowing up helicopters, stuffing scorpions down the backs of their victims, throwing old women into canals, chaining folks to cement blocks at the bottom of swimming pools, etc. etc. The following scene, which cements who is in control of the relationship, is a classic:
1. The Nun - Come Back Charleston Blue (1972) - I know what you are thinking - who the hell is that. Bear with me. Come Back Charleston Blue was a blaxploitation movie sequel about a Harlem neighborhood besieged by the murders of drug dealers and the theft of their products. Residents claim that it is the work of Charleston Blue, a Prohibition era gangster who disappeared while on his way to kill legendary gangster Dutch Schultz. In reality, it is the work of a neighborhood photographer and community leader, Joe Painter (Peter De Anda). Painter is slowly but surely taking over the drug ring in Harlem by getting rid of the competition. Helping him is a character who I will call The Nun, although he is known as "the freak" in the movie and is credited as a "drag queen" by the credits. In a scene stealing performance (and unfortunately what looks like his only performance), actor Tony Brealond is Painter's second in command and a former soldier in Vietnam. Through subtle hints, it is implied that he is also Painter's lover even though Painter is also carrying on with Carol (Jonelle Allen), the niece of the neighborhood mob boss.
Some may ask why would I pick this character with no name from a movie which many of you don't remember or know. Basically because he is one of the only few lgbt of color characters in cinema not picked as comedy relief or to be pitied. He is the epitome of the "genderfuck" with an attitude. He commands respect and at times is downright fierce (particularly in the graveyard scene where he, clothed as a grieving widow, leads a massacre of mob figures) And then there is my favorite scene - when he starts a knock-down brawl with a bunch of pastors at a youth recreation center after being called a bad influence on young boys.
Past Know Your LGBT History Posts:
