I was a politically active dyke in 1980, and that divide he posits between politicos and sexually active people is a real strawman, only applicable to a very small part of "the movement" (as loose then as now, if bigger).
Lots of political leatherfolk were appalled at the movie because it was clearly not going to be anything like the leatherscene they knew, because no one in the leatherscene was gonna make a penny off it (but, instead, would get the clampdown), and because, yes, this was the only representation of gay leathersex and it was obviously intended as a morality tale. (Albeit with a twist: if a cop gets down with "scum," he comes to see some of their humanity and becomes compromised.)
Yes, I protested initially because I thought it was bad press. But in doing so, I came to know lots of leatherfolk who were also protesting and came to a much more complicated analysis--one that seems to have evaporated over time (and certainly in this revisionist history).
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Date: 2007-07-10 05:07 pm (UTC)I was a politically active dyke in 1980, and that divide he posits between politicos and sexually active people is a real strawman, only applicable to a very small part of "the movement" (as loose then as now, if bigger).
Lots of political leatherfolk were appalled at the movie because it was clearly not going to be anything like the leatherscene they knew, because no one in the leatherscene was gonna make a penny off it (but, instead, would get the clampdown), and because, yes, this was the only representation of gay leathersex and it was obviously intended as a morality tale. (Albeit with a twist: if a cop gets down with "scum," he comes to see some of their humanity and becomes compromised.)
Yes, I protested initially because I thought it was bad press. But in doing so, I came to know lots of leatherfolk who were also protesting and came to a much more complicated analysis--one that seems to have evaporated over time (and certainly in this revisionist history).