By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 2.25
Director: Joseph F. Lovett
Country: united_states
Year: 2006
Running time: 67
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0455953/
Michael says: “This brief documentary takes a look at a very delineated period of time; when gay men embraced their sexuality
with relish. This era begins with the Stonewall riots in 1967 and ends with the coming of A.I.D.S. in the early 1980’s. Joseph Lovett’s film focuses on all the necessary elements; promiscuity, cruising, drug culture, club culture, Fire Island, and bathhouses, but a better title for his film could have been GAY SEX IN THE 70S IN NEW YORK WITH MY FIVE GOOD FRIENDS. The number of interviewees is pretty slim, and all of them had fairly similar experiences. While entertaining, and a little unbelievable (to me, anyway… not that I don’t believe this behavior happened, more like I don’t understand how a human being could physically keep going performing the way these men describe), GAY SEX IN THE 70S touches upon one aspect of gay life during a particular time in a particular place. I would hate for anyone to see this film and think that it was like that
for every gay man back then. 2 cats”
Scot says: “Regarding GAY SEX IN THE 70’S, I think that the film did hit its mark in one specific way: it highlighted the liberation that many men felt because they were able to express their desires without reprisal during that decade. But Michael’s criticisms regarding the depth and breadth of investigation are totally valid. I have no reason to believe that if I were born ten years earlier that I would feel the same as these men, because they were part of a specific community in a very definite locale.”
Rick says: “While this documentary provides no new information or insight to most gay men who’ve been there or, in my case, heard the stories, I did enjoy seeing the archival footage. Otherwise, not a great deal of depth or flavor, and I give it 2.5 cats. I would, however, suggest it be mandatory viewing for the insufficiently-informed-about-their-history gay youth of today. Kids who grew up on Will & Grace or goodness sakes! And this certainly should be viewed by all who have an interest in anthropology or sexuality in culture.
“Michael’s criticism of this film’s breadth encompassing only the stories of five particular guys is unquestionably valid, and no, of course these New Yorkers did not have comparable experiences to those who lived on, say, Brokeback mountain. I would, however, maintain that the culture of gay men living in New York in the 70s is especially important because this was a community who intentionally chose to leave the small town, the farm, the Brokeback mountain, come out and in so doing ostracize themselves from family in many cases, and be in one of the few places in the world in which they could actualize their human potential, sexuality inclusive. These are the people who had the moral courage to follow in the immediate footsteps of the drag queens rioting at Stonewall. This was a self-selective deviant community flourishing in a way that was not only liberating for those involved but with cultural/historical implications reaching well beyond the lives of gay men having sex in NYC in the 70’s. This is why their lives impacted culture, and therefore are more historically important than the poor old Ennis’s who stayed at home.
“Ironic it is, that we find ourselves in the new millennium with ‘gay marriage’ being the issue of importance to so man homosexuals. Ironic in that I would suggest that the majority of socially respectable gays and lesbians who are married in Massachusetts and yearn to be married in other states, would not actually BE MARRIED today were it not for the gay liberation movement set in motion by the socially unrespectable queers of various deviant type. Were in not for them, your socially respectable, ‘normal’ homosexuals would be in the closet, married to someone of the opposite gender, and perhaps doing the occasional super-secret hook up via the internet, meeting Jack at the lake a couple of times a year or whatever.
“What went wrong? How did the gay community become co-opted into an increasingly heteronormative value structure? Why am I becoming increasing alienated as a human being? These are all questions for historians, sociologists, and my psychotherapist (should I ever do the right thing and get one) to answer. In brief, I’d suggest that AIDS had a lot to do with it, having served as a kind of ‘9/11’ of the gay male community, fostering a brand of conservatism that exploits fear and loses sight of what it is that we are truly protecting. As a result we find ourselves in the modern age with gradually eroding civil liberties, and gradually attaining same-sex marriage equality. Meanwhile we actually become less safe, and the sexually prolific become marginalized once again. But blissfully so.”