DivineDemento

Strong, powerful and slightly ridiculous women have a long-established role in queer culture, especially for gay men. These women are a mirror, reflecting our struggles and ambitions when positive representation was out of the question. So, if a gay icon is a woman who is resilient, glamorous, exaggerated and sexually empowered, it is time to induct Nigella Lawson into the pantheon. There has been something of a trend in recent years of awarding ‘Gay Icon’ status to questionable recipients. Now, I’m certainly not going to suggest that this is the most pressing issue facing our queer community at this current time, but it is certainly indicative of certain malaise surrounding gay culture as it becomes engulfed in mainstream (read straight) society and media. To award individuals like Taylor Swift gay icon status is to show an ignorance of what constitutes a gay icon. For a gay icon, and a star who champions gay people, can be mutually exclusive. Something more is required to bec...

Few books have proved as controversial as American Psycho, and certainly few have painted such a devastating picture of a nation built upon capitalism. But whilst the book is certainly a ‘black he arted satire on the terrible power of money’, it also highlights the deeply immoral perceptions of sexual and ethnic minorities in Reagan’s America – and how money, toxic masculinity and Reaganomics led to the death of millions. American Psycho is nothing if not infamous – the narrative comprises of the rambling inner-monologue of Patrick Bateman, a Wall Street investment banker who also happens to be a violent, disturbed psychopath. The book is notorious for being so violent, so flagrantly gruesome, that in many parts of the world it can only be sold in shrink-wrapped plastic. But American Psycho is also one of modern literature's most studied and debated works. The novel, on a surface level, is a deeply moralistic criticism of late stage capitalism. Though some critics have dubbe...

Only 3 short years after Tainted Love set the world on fire, drugs, constant touring and almost total emotional collapse meant Soft Cell disbanded with This Last Night in Sodom in 1984. A dirty, mono slab of commercial suicide, critics disregarded the album as being too radical a departure for the former pop darlings. But I would argue that ...Sodom is, in fact, the natural and appropriately chaotic conclusion to the bands original mission statement. Of all the early 80’s electronic duos, Soft Cell were not only the first, but also certainly the most misunderstood. Many only know Soft Cell for their 1981 mega-hit Tainted Love, and for Marc Almond’s signature all-black look – somewhere between Edith Piaf and Scott Walker. But at the time the band was also notable for their subject matter highlighting the stories of people on the fringes of society – rent boys, suburban housewives and sex workers. For all the pearl clutching Soft Cell inspired during their original 80’s tenure, the ...

As America in the 1970’s was being confronted with its own twisted and sordid underbelly, Britain was grappling with being a nation in a gradual state of decay. At a time of civil unrest, financial strife and cultural escapism, two musicals combined the time’s adoration for shock,   gender bending and glamour with a twisted warning to all outsiders. *Warning - Spoilers Throughout* In my first post I explored the reaction against the corruption of early 70’s American culture in contemporary exploitation cinema. Though the tension in Europe was different to that experienced in America (which was derived more from America’s decreasing status as a financial and political superpower), tensions still ran high throughout the early 1970’s. In Britain, this was particularly felt – recession, inept governments, civil unrest and the ever-encroaching threat of Cold War loomed over the public consciousness. LikeAmerica, Britain fought in, and embarrassingly lost, several battles and c...

Even today, the AID’s epidemic of the 1980’s remains a dark and sombre topic for queer people the world over. At a time when sex between men was made abject, and governments used the disease to push for intrinsically homophobic legislation, director Clive Barker paired horror's recurring theme of sex-based fear with the tragedies of a queer generation. The fear of sex, or the demonization of the sexually promiscuous, is a common and sometimes controversial trope within the horror genre. Many horror directors would argue that their films do not create such a narrative. Though I would argue that this viewpoint is somewhat reductionist, the evidence is certainly there – think of the number of horror films where sexually promiscuous teenagers are brutally murdered (often women killed by hulking, emasculated men) whilst the sole virgin survives. Think of the use of phallic murder weapons such as knives and chainsaws, or perhaps even the entire rape-revenge sub-genre that came to p...

In 1972 and 1974, Pink Flamingos and the Texas Chainsaw Massacre were two of many American movies that exploited the nations fear of social and moral collapse. Both films depicted families living in violation of our most basic ideas of dignity. So why does Divine, and her family of misfits, inspire generation upon generation of queers and outcasts, whilst Leatherface continues to inspire terror? I would wholeheartedly argue that Pink Flamingos , the breakout hit for both director John Waters and the original Drag Superstar Divine, is the most important queer film of all time. Its reputation is legendary, the level of disgust it inspires infamous. It follows Divine and her misfit family, who are hiding out in a trailer somewhere outside Baltimore. They are forced to put their peaceful existence of hold when Connie and Raymond Marble attempt to steal Divine’s title of ‘Filthiest Person Alive’. What results is an ever-escalating tornado of taboo-breaking acts, including singing s...