MovieChat Forums > Valley of the Dolls (1967) Discussion > Homophobic

Homophobic

posted 9 years ago by ricknelson53
26 replies | jump to latest

Does anyone find it odd that this film is so beloved by gay men ( of which I am one ) ? It is full of homophobic slurs and even Sharon Tate's character - the supposed sweetest of the three girls - casually refers to *beep* ". It seems to indicate gay men are not only not men but the lowest low a man could be. I am fairly sure this reflected Jacqueline Susann's novel and, apparently, her own opinions. I remember she had an ongoing feud with Truman Capote who referred to her as looking like " a truck driver in drag " and her response was calling him a fag.

[–] ohmemercylard-58-17610 8 years ago

This is just the way it was at that time. Even gay men referred to themselves and each other as fags, queers, homos, queens. I was there then and didn't really enjoy the oneupmanship zingers that constituted much gay communication at the time, but as offensive as it is to modern ears, that's really the way people talked then, even the gay and gay-friendly.

[–] jrobinson45 8 years ago

Exactly right. And you were just as likely to hear those words used at Kennedy cocktail parties as you were on Nixon's secret tapes. It would be an endless task to apply today's standards retroactively and dismiss anything in the culture that didn't conform to today.

To me Valley is a big screen version of a soap opera--no better and no worse, albeit racier, than the ones on TV at the time.

[–] laurieann74 (97) 5 years ago

So, what should we do to appease your sensitivities? Get in a time machine and go back & erase all the non-PC aspects of old movies? I can't believe all the idiots who complain about old movies noy being politically correct. So what!!!! It is an old movie for crying out loud!

[–] Otter (24464) 4 years ago

I love camp enough to voluntarily watch 1950s Joan Crawford movies... and I've never been able to watch this movie all the way through. Okay, it has its moment, like the wig-snatching fight and the rolling in trash cans, but damn.

The thing is just a sluggish, boring, badly made bore, it's no "Torch Song" or even "Mommie Dearest"!