There are a lot of gay men out there who for some reason remember this character and can quote her lines. And it was a big hit in '78, but kind of forgotten now. Is this character, in fact, a gay icon? And if so, WHY? And remember: The physician's tour is on Tuesday!
shareI might have responded to your comment earlier but I simply was not set up for it.
Your question made me laugh out loud because as a gay I have to admit to being able to quote a number of Elizabeth Ashley's lines from this movie...in fact, I borrowed one particular line recently to complain of poor customer service at a local Kaiser Permanente pharmacy.
I'm not sure as to the character being a gay icon or not but I can definitely see her as having a lot of gay appeal. With the unblinking,remote gaze, perfect diction, stylized zombie walk and glamorous coiffure and makeup(false eyelashes and orthopedic shoes...kinky!).... she's sort of a semi-camp,disco era homage to the character of Mrs. Danvers in Alfred Hitchcock's Rebecca.
Yes! That's it! Mrs. Danvers, exactly! (And there's also something very (hate to be cliche, but) Joan Crawford about her.
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Yes! Also, she has that breathy, sexy Sally Kellerman-esque voice that was so popular in the 70s...she was so resolutely blank throughout, it was both scary (at the time) and funny (now). It made me a fan of Elizabeth Ashley...I saw her last year on Broadway in "Dividing the Estate" and she's much older but still has amazing presence....and I kept wanting her to suddenly slip into her nurse character from "Coma".
She's not a gay icon. She's creepy. That's it. I am straight and I find her lines fun to quote as well. Get a life guys.
"...Every minute passing I wanna hold you. Every minute gone is too long a time."
I never thought of her being a 'gay icon'. Being gay myself, I can only speculate that she's popular among gays because she acts like a cold, uppity bitch. This is why many of us gays like Joan Crawford, Bette Davis, Cher, and too many others to mention.
shareYou don't have to be gay to think she's an icon...
But it wouldn't hoit!
I've had enough of this inefficiency.
www.TheAnimalRescueSite.com.