LESBIANISM IN POPULAR CINEMA/FILM
by Rebecca Alvin

While films, which indicate lesbian relationships are not rare, films, which actually deal with the subject, are. This is true for both foreign and domestic productions. Most video stores don't carry the few films, which do focus on the issue, and there are very few books and articles written about this dilemma.

While male homosexuality has its own difficulties in film, female homosexuality is either ignored or completely abused in mainstream film. This tendency is largely unintentional. Even in this post- feminist, men's movement age, most men cannot comprehend feminine sexuality. So it's not likely that they can comprehend feminine homosexuality. Many men call understand female homosexuality only as sexual urges much like a heterosexual male's urges. They do not take lesbian love seriously. The implication here is that lesbians are simply women who want to act as men. In the male-dominated world of mainstream film, lesbian relationships can be introduced only if they're constructed along three main guidelines.

The first mainstream trend is to use feminine homosexuality as an erotic device. Because many men find lesbian sexuality to he erotic (even Roger Ebert reports feeling sexually charged while watching a love scene in Personal Best), it is filmed as a novel idea, an erotic accent. Lesbian sex scenes and implications are often put into a script for no other reason then to voyeuristically arouse heterosexual male viewers. The result is that while the male viewer maybe voyeuristically aroused, the female viewer is ignored.

The second guideline dictates that lesbian sex scenes may be included, but for the film-lesbian, love cannot exist. Mainstream films avoid true love for its female homosexuals like the plague. The third guideline demands that mainstream films explore lesbian sex only when it is motivated by experimentation. The film-lesbian can experience her sexuality only as a fleeting, experimental affair, as in Emmanuelle or Personal Best, or as evidence of mental instability, as in Rachel, Rachel.

It is intrinsic to the growth of film culture that more filmmakers portray lesbian sexuality in a mature, respectful manner. One example of this maturity is the film Desert Hearts (written by Natalie Cooper and directed by Donna Deitch). It's a traditional Hollywood narrative ala "boy meets girl from wrong part of town, etc." However, it is subtlety modified into a "girl meets girl, etc." narrative. Its appeal is in this disruption of Hollywood tradition.

The most important part of this film is its sensitive and realistic portrayal of all types of feminine relationships. It explores mother/daughter conflicts, female friendships and feminine heterosexuality, as well as homosexuality. It delves deep into the main lesbian character's emotions to come up with a touchingly real interpretation of her sexuality. It is an effective film for women of either sexual preference because it is not cantered around male voyeurism. The love scenes are portrayed with an innocent sensuality rare to male-directed love scenes.

Another mainstream American film that deals with lesbian love is Robert Towne's Personal Best. The film is about two female athletes and how their relationship affects their performances. We've seen this plot a million times before, between a man and a woman, but this is a refreshing change. Their relationship begins as an intense attraction and quickly develops into a romantic friendship. Muriel Hemingway and Patrice Donnelly portray the two women, Chris Cahill and Tory Skinner, respectively. Although the film is cantered around the naive Cahill, it is the self-assured Tory Skinner who we relate to most. Because of the sensitive script and Donnelly's effective acting, we really care about the people in this film.

While Personal Best is touching and respectful of its subject matter, its ending negates this quality. In the end, after Cahill and Skinner have been apart for a painfully long time, Cahill opts for a "straight relationship with a sexist, insensitive man. This choice seems extremely unlikely and does not fit with the general flow of the script. The film's uniqueness is destroyed in its conclusion. The beautiful feminine relationship is overwhelmingly belittled by Tory's easy acceptance of Chris's boyfriend and Chris's happy-go-lucky attitude.

The foreign market is no more pleasing than the domestic. Claude Chabrol's Les Riches (Bed Girls, The Does, The Girlfriends) is a good example of filmic exploitation of feminine homosexuality. Chabrol manipulates the issue into a vehicle for masculine fantasy in a film, which is basically about the petty concerns of two "bitches." The French film, Therese et Isabelle, is one of the very few foreign films which has any degree of respect for its topic. Unfortunately, its amateurish acting robs it of its potential, In addition to making it difficult to sit through.

Tony Scott's beautifully photographed The Hunger is an incredible work of art, but its handling of lesbian sexuality is somewhat immature. Once again, it is used by a male director to add an erotic flair to the eccentric vampire character (played by Catherine Deneuve). It maintains certain equality between heterosexual and homosexual relationships. However, this equality is obscured because Deneuve's character is insanely sick. Susan Sarandon's character saves the film from its exploitative potential because, although she is presumably under a spell, her lesbian behaviour is not necessarily in connection with mental instability. But here again, her motivation is ambiguous.

As long as male writers and directors dominate the silver screen, feminine homosexuality will not be explored to its capacity. There is a desperate need for female writers and directors, particularly those with alternative perspectives. The Susan Seidelmans and Penny Marshalls of the industry do not fulfil this need. It becomes necessary that directors like Barbara Hammer, Donna Deitch and others come forth and offer us films about minority experiences as well as about the feminine experience. And while everyone's busy cheering the successes of male minority directors, such as Spike Lee and John Singleton, who's out there encouraging the successes of female minority directors?

The time has come for women to assert their influence in cinema; Female viewers must demand that their diverse cultural views be explored at least as thoroughly as those of the male minority. And female filmmakers must be given the opportunities to accomplish these goals