Video: 'Hollywood Montrose was the gay 80s hero we never knew we needed'

 

As we shake the cobwebs off from our Labor Day holiday and launch ourselves into this coming week, I would like folks to do a small favor for me. From time to time, I like to feature videos from LGBTQ pop culture historian Matt Baume because his work is excellent and highly educational. This time, he has done something I find to be somewhat controversial. He pushes a theory that a gay character from an 80s comedy who could be seen as insulting to us was actually positively significant.

 I remember the 1987 movie Mannequin and the gay character Hollywood Montrose (played by the late Meshach Taylor) embodying so many seemingly negative homophobic stereotypes  - flamboyant, loud, completely mincing, etc. etc. But after watching Baume's video, I actually reconsidered my feelings about this character because Baume makes a good point. Watch this video and tell me what do you think.