Looking Back at “Cruising”

Good article.  Here's all you need to know about William Friedkin's attempts at revisionist history, or to claim that Cruising was somehow positive for the gay community or "ahead of its time:"  the controversy and criticism over the film didn't just start once the film was complete.  Protests were going on throughout the time Friedkin was filming.  So Friedkin was well aware of what the criticisms and controversy was about, long before he decided on a final cut.  Now, put yourself in that frame of mind for just a second, and remember that-- even under those circumstances-- Friedkin still left in moments like those "subliminal" film clips of gay sex in the middle of brutal stabbing scenes. This goes way beyond "accidental" insensitivity.

So to hear Friedkin still comparing the reaction of the gay community at the time of the film's release to the lack of French protests for The French Connection (ummmm, what?) is not only disingenuous, its borderline insane (perhaps if The French Connection contained moments where Friedkin inserted "subliminal" clips of French prisoners from WWII into the middle of a montage featuring Gerard Depardieu gruesomely bludgeoning Catherine Deneuve to death with a model of the Eifel Tower, he might come close to a comparison).

Friedkin can't pretend that he was unaware.  He could have modified or clarified any number of problematic elements in the film while he was still in the process of making it.  And that will always be the most damning indictment of "Cruising."  He knew.  And he did it anyway.  Crusing ain't no innocent period piece.

The reason why the French thing and the gay thing are COMPLETELY different is a question of context. Hollywood probably does stereotype French people a bit, but it doesn't stereotype them as drug smugglers. If French people didn't like the portrayal in The French Connection, there were lots of other Hollywood movies they could see with French characters who weren't drug smugglers - not to mention, er, the entire history of French cinema, which would probably portray as wide a diversity of French (heterosexual) characters as you could wish to see. By contrast, when Cruising came out, Hollywood had made hardly any films with overt gay characters, let alone gay leads - and most of the ones they had made had featured gay characters who killed, were killed, or were generally unhappy and messed up in one way or another. And it's not as if any other country were churning out masses of films about gay people each year in order to offset that portrayal.

I think Brian is right that, when all the controversy is done, what you're left with is the fact that Cruising isn't a very good film. It's sort of mildly interesting to see what all the fuss is about - and to see Al Pacino in a sexually ambiguous role - but that's about it. The ending is way too inconclusive for it to be dramatically satisfying. The only way you can really put together a coherent ending is to assume that Al Pacino was troubled by his attraction to Don Scardino's character, he therefore killed him, and he will probably go on killing gay men in the future. I'm assuming the reason why the filmmakers tried to blur this conclusion is because, in the absence of any positive portrayals of gay men (and with Al Pacino having been a sympathetic, non-violent character when he was 'straight'), it is so obviously homophobic. So, depending on interpretation, the movie can be seen as homophobic, or as a bizarre and ultimately pointless mess with no conclusion whatsoever - take your pick.

. . .I was bored silly when I saw CRUISING years ago, and I will probably be bored now if I saw it again.

Heck, William Friedkin's previous film, SORCERER, was at least a bit better, if you enjoy watching paint dry.

What necessarily worked for THE FRENCH CONNECTION and THE EXORCIST did not translate to these two films.

And that is why I won't be adding CRUISING to my DVD collection when it is finally released. . .

Tom

Been there, done that, bought the soundtrack!

As a French guy, I'm offended by the suggestion that my countrymen are easily offended.

That being said, I can't say I have any intention of ever watching CRUISING, although I do admire some of Friedkin's films.

François
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http://gaycomicslist.free.fr

http://ehrensteinland.com/htmls/library/cruising.html

In all honesty why not just move on and ignore the film?  I've never seen or heard of it before, until I came here.  It picked on two very misunderstood groups of the time Gay and the Leather/Kink/BDSM community.  It should be released on DVD for it's historical signifiance alone, but to give it any extra press only ads fuel to the fire for the Right.

"You will make all kinds of mistakes; but as long as you are generous and true and also fierce you cannot hurt the world or even seriously distress her. She was meant to be wooed and won by youth. " Churchill

Back in 1980, I went to see "Cruising" with my friends, who were somewhat out of the closet or completely out (I was deep in the back of the closet at the time).  It was the film's premiere in Las Vegas, and I had nightmares that lasted for weeks: Was this going to be MY life when I finally had the courage to be honest about myself?  Would  I be doomed to be a homicide victim for loving another man? 

Fortunately, the answer was "no."  But what really shocked me about "Cruising," aside from its stereotypes and general badness, was the fact that the mostly straight audience actually cheered every time a gay man was killed on screen.  (Years later, when I watched "Brokeback Mountain" with my ex-boyfriend, the audience didn't boo or shout obscenities when the lead characters kissed and had sex.)

I think it only goes to show how far America has come over nearly three decades--and of course, how far the GLBT community still has to go to get true equality.  I do agree with Mr. Jurergens on one point: "Cruising" is the film that made the GLBT community rise and send a message to the homophobic Hollywood executives that we were mad as hell, and not going to take this anymore.  So maybe, just maybe, "Cruising" peformed a public service--even though it took years to realize that fact.

And no, I won't be buying a copy for my collection!

Both the book and the later documentary talk about this excrement, although the book goes into more detail. What I remember most about the documentary is the man who said that he was gay-bashed by 2 punks who specifically told him they were beating him up because he was like those fags in Cruising.

This movie is just reinforcement for gay hate, and given the climate today, I'm not surprised that view is back in vogue.

I think this is and was a disgusting movie portraying gay men in all negative ways and it was dissapointing because in the eraly 80's things were getting somewhat better for lgbt people and there were some strides in better movies that had been out at the time and were going to come out later but this should have been made in 1970 due to it's all to often negativity.