It Is Not the Homosexual Who Is Perverse, But the Society in Which He Lives
Encyclopedia
It Is Not the Homosexual Who Is Perverse, But the Society in Which He Lives (German
: Nicht der Homosexuelle ist pervers, sondern die Situation, in der er lebt ) is a 1971
German
camp
film
directed by Rosa von Praunheim
. The plot follows the adventures of a young gay man.
blonde Clemens, who invites him home for coffee and offers him a place to stay. Soon Daniel is living with Clemens and believes he has found the love of his life. The two try to imitate a bourgeois marriage and its lifestyle. But after four months of tedium, Daniel is cruised by a rich older man who entices him to move into his villa, where he encounters a group of older gays, pretentious in their appreciations of fine art and classical music, who fawn over him.
Progressively disenchanted, Daniel realizes that his rich friend is only using him as a plaything. He leaves to work in a gay café and learns to dress fashionably with ostentatious outfits. He spends his free time at a swimming pool. Two years later Daniel is no longer content with meeting men in elegant cafés, boutiques, and beaches; but, now seeks out pickups at the bars for quick sex. He moves on to dark lit parks where older leather-men congregate. He finally descends to the public toilets where hustlers hang out as well as frustrated, closeted types and aging gays who are no longer attractive; the latter only end up being beaten by punks.
At a bar frequented by transvestites, Daniel meets Paul who takes him to his commune where a group of men, lying around naked, openly criticize their superficial, closeted lifestyles, sexual hangups, fashion, and conformity. Calling for gay emancipation, they advocate social engagement and collective organization against discrimination.
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
: Nicht der Homosexuelle ist pervers, sondern die Situation, in der er lebt ) is a 1971
1971 in film
The year 1971 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*February 8 - Bob Dylan's hour long documentary film, Eat the Document, premieres at New York's Academy of Music...
German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
camp
Camp (style)
Camp is an aesthetic sensibility that regards something as appealing because of its taste and ironic value. The concept is closely related to kitsch, and things with camp appeal may also be described as being "cheesy"...
film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
directed by Rosa von Praunheim
Rosa von Praunheim
Rosa von Praunheim , in Riga, Latvia. His given name is Holger Mischwitzky. He is a German film director, author, painter and gay rights activist. Openly gay, he is one of the initiators of the gay rights movement in Germany....
. The plot follows the adventures of a young gay man.
Plot
Daniel, a young man from the provinces come to the city and moves from one gay subculture to the next. His adventures begin on the streets of Berlin, where the shy brunette Daniel meets theblonde Clemens, who invites him home for coffee and offers him a place to stay. Soon Daniel is living with Clemens and believes he has found the love of his life. The two try to imitate a bourgeois marriage and its lifestyle. But after four months of tedium, Daniel is cruised by a rich older man who entices him to move into his villa, where he encounters a group of older gays, pretentious in their appreciations of fine art and classical music, who fawn over him.
Progressively disenchanted, Daniel realizes that his rich friend is only using him as a plaything. He leaves to work in a gay café and learns to dress fashionably with ostentatious outfits. He spends his free time at a swimming pool. Two years later Daniel is no longer content with meeting men in elegant cafés, boutiques, and beaches; but, now seeks out pickups at the bars for quick sex. He moves on to dark lit parks where older leather-men congregate. He finally descends to the public toilets where hustlers hang out as well as frustrated, closeted types and aging gays who are no longer attractive; the latter only end up being beaten by punks.
At a bar frequented by transvestites, Daniel meets Paul who takes him to his commune where a group of men, lying around naked, openly criticize their superficial, closeted lifestyles, sexual hangups, fashion, and conformity. Calling for gay emancipation, they advocate social engagement and collective organization against discrimination.
Quotes
- "Faggots don't want to be faggots. They don't want to be different. They live in a dream world of glossy magazines and Hollywood movies,"
- "Let's work together with the blacks and women's liberation. Get involved politically. Being gay is not a career."