We are settling into a routine. The large black man in the back seems like he is sleeping but is genuinely friendly, if not overly interested in the topic of the class. The lesbians have fallen into a back-and-forth banter with the instructor, who, without his notes would be completely lost.
Luckily for us, we got to listen to the discussion on Dorothy being a lesbian coming of age story. The term “Witch” is a code word for LESBIAN!!!! So, when Glenda asks Dorothy whether she is a good witch or a bad witch … yep, a whole new meaning. She initially responds that she’s not a witch! However, by the end of the film she is informed that she has had the power the entire time … does this mean that she is now “sexually” aware? Does her Ruby Red shoes indicate anything? Once you start down the yellow-brick road there are all sorts of potential interpretations.
Anyway, this week we discussed the role that the German film industry, prior to the rise of the Nazi’s, had on the notion of homosexuality. Loosely speaking, there was a perception of three types of sexuality, male, female and the third. Because of this idea, many felt that the issue of homosexuality did not lie with the homosexuals, since they were born this way, but with the people who had issue.
With this foundation, the discussion went to the various interpretations of the third sex. The third sex was divided into the Male/Female In-betweens which included those who demonstrated characteristics generally associated with the opposite sex. The other aspect of the third sex was centered on the Instructor/Student ideal.
Our film, Maedchen In Uniform was a dry film, pieced together about a motherless girl who goes to a boarding school and falls in love with one of the instructors who shows kindness. Oxygen guy brought his little Toto to class again and in a fit of boredom chewed through his leash and then visited the classroom rubbing his stinky little body against all of us … apparently we are now marked!
Speaking of marked, next week we get to appropriate the monster genre! I can’t wait.
Next Week: Required Reading: Queer Monsters: Vampires, Zombies, and Creatures – Oh MY! Screening: The Old Dark House (Whale, 1932). Required Reading: Harry Benshoff’s “Defining the Holloywood Queer Monster.”
