Movies,Men,Women and ART...

To Wong Foo Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar — Patrick Swayze, Wesley Snipes and John Leguzama are drag queens traveling from New York to Los Angeles in a convertible. They find themselves in a tiny town after their car breaks down and as expected have all types of interesting encounters. What’s especially entertaining to see is how comfortable these action actors look in womans wear.

Glen or Glenda — The movie itself isn’t exactly the best (nothing by Ed Wood ever was), but for this type of list I simply have to pay tribute to him. Here he plays a man keeping his cross-dressing a secret from his fiancé. It is said to be loosely based on his own love of getting dressed in the clothes of the opposite sex.

The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert — Guy Pearce and Hugo Weaving play dress up and Terence Stamp is a transsexual who have a cabaret act in Sydney, Australia. When an opportunity comes to take the show on the road, they jump into a bus and travel across the Australian Outback. Along the way they run into some interesting situations.

The Birdcage — Nathan Lane is an out of his mind drag queen living with his boyfriend, played by Robin Williams. Things go further haywire when he must play it straight so Williams’ son can introduce them to his fiancé’s parents. Lane plays an exceptional feminine character.

Sorority Boys — After getting kicked out of their frat house for theft, Harland Williams, Barry Watson and Michael Rosenbaum dress up like chicks so they can crash at a local sorority. The premise is as absurd as it gets but it is funny as hell. The drunken frat party alone makes this a worthwhile watch.

Flawless — If you want to be frightened, check out Philip Seymour Hoffman as a pre-op transsexual. Scary. In this feature, he is a flamboyant, drag-act singer who, for extra cash, helps a homophobe (Robert DeNiro) with vocal lessons. They make the perfect Odd Couple and Hoffman shines as an openly gay man (a precursor to his Oscar win for his role in Capote).

Mrs. Doubtfire — Robin Williams dresses up as an elderly British woman and poses as a nanny so he can circumvent the bitter custody battle he has with his wife. This is one of the few roles where Williams acting like a hyperactive idiot actually adds character to his female persona.

Some Like It Hot — One of the classics. In this oldie but goodie, Jack Lemon and Tony Curtis dress like women to avoid getting knocked off by the mob. Curtis falls for Marilyn Monroe (who wouldn’t) while Lemon is chased down by Joe E. Brown. This movie is a comedy gem.

Tootsie — Dustin Hoffman can’t find work as an actor, so he comes up with an elaborate plan to dress up as a woman to find work. Needless to say, he makes the ugliest woman alive. But amazingly enough, he lands a dream gig and soon finds himself stuck when he falls for the lead Jessica Lange. Hoffman is great.

The Crying Game — This is the movie that had everyone and their mother fooled. Jaye Davidson is so convincing as a woman that it is impossible to not give this movie the top spot. Even without the shocking twist, this movie has plenty to offer. It is a must see.

The Birdcage

The Birdcage is a 1996 comedy film directed by Mike Nichols, and stars Robin Williams, Nathan Lane, Gene Hackman, Dianne Wiest, Dan Futterman, Calista Flockhart, Hank Azaria, and Christine Baranski. The script was written by Elaine May. It is a remake of the 1978 film La Cage aux Folles, by Jean Poiret and Francis Veber, starring Michel Serrault and Ugo Tognazzi. To date The Birdcage is the highest grossing LGBT film at the North American Box Office.[citation needed]

Val Goldman (Futterman) and Barbara Keeley (Flockhart) are engaged to be married, and have decided to have their families meet. Val's father, Armand Goldman (Williams), owns The Birdcage, a South Beach drag club. His domestic partner is Albert (Lane), who appears regularly as "Starina," the show's star drag queen. Barbara's father, however, is ultraconservative Republican Ohio Senator Kevin Keeley (Hackman).
Fearing their reaction if they learn the truth about Val's parents, Barbara tells her parents that Armand is a cultural attaché to Greece, that Albert is both a woman and a housewife, and that they divide their time between Greece and Florida; she also changes the family's last name from Goldman to Coleman to hide their Jewish background.
At this point, Kevin receives a phone call: Senator Jackson, Kevin's colleague and co-founder of the Coalition for Moral Order, has been found dead in the bed of an underage black prostitute; the event receives a large amount of coverage in the media. Louise Keeley (Wiest) then proposes a visit to meet their new in-laws as diversion to save Kevin's political career which will give them an excuse to get out of town, and Barbara's marriage into a "traditional, wholesome" all-American family will give the Senator excellent PR material.
Barbara phones Val in South Beach about the lies she has told her parents. After much persuasion, Val eventually convinces Armand to go along with the farce. Armand has the house redecorated in a more austere manner, and begins remaking himself as an unassuming, conventional, heterosexual American male. He gets in touch with Val's biological mother Katherine Archer (Baranski), and she agrees to join in the charade he's planning.
Despite the changes to the house and Katherine's help, Armand realizes that Albert's outlandish, effeminate mannerisms will be a giveaway as to the true nature of the Goldman household. Armand gently requests that Albert not be present for the dinner party that evening; Albert becomes offended and threatens to leave Armand entirely. A compromise is reached where Albert remains and acts as Val's uncle, but this soon falls apart when Albert cannot effectively pretend to be straight. Another argument ensues and Albert locks himself in his bedroom.
Meanwhile, the Keeleys are traveling to South Beach. As the evening draws nearer, Agador (Azaria), the Goldmans' flamboyant, gay housekeeper, has been made into a butler and chef for the evening, despite the fact that he cannot cook and never wears shoes.
The Keeleys arrive at Armand's residence, but Katherine, who is to play Val's mother, ("Mrs. Coleman") is stuck in traffic and has still not arrived. Everyone engages in awkward small talk but Armand is nervous, even more so because Katherine has not arrived. Meanwhile, Kevin and Louise are worried that Armand's nervousness is because he has heard about the Jackson scandal and is uncomfortable having the Keeleys in his house.
Suddenly, Albert emerges dressed in drag as a middle-aged mother. Armand and Val are horrified, fearing that Katherine's arrival would destroy the illusion. Meanwhile, Agador has prepared nothing for dinner but a bizarre soup containing, among other things, shrimp and hard-boiled eggs. Despite the many challenges facing them, Armand, Val, and Barbara all act the part and interact with Albert as "Mrs. Coleman."
Before dinner, Louise Keeley notices that the soup bowls depict men in homoerotic poses in a classical Greek style. Armand insists that she is mistaken and promptly fills everyone's bowl with the soup before Mrs. Keeley or the Senator can take a closer look. The primary topic of conversation is politics and, despite many potential pitfalls, Albert quickly wins over the Senator with a very right-wing tirade on the moral collapse of American society. But Louise Keeley is still suspicious: the dinner was terrible and Armand kept leaving the table for no apparent reason. Kevin defends Mrs. Coleman as a true lady and remarks that Armand is just a "pretentious European".
Val leaves a note for Katherine on the bar's front door, informing her not to come inside, but two paparazzi photographers, hoping for a scoop, remove the note once Val is gone. Katherine subsequently arrives and introduces herself as Mrs. Goldman. Kevin demands to know why there are two Mrs. Colemans; Val realizes that he cannot keep lying and pulls off Albert's wig, explaining to the Keeleys that while Katherine is his biological mother, Albert is his primary mother figure.
As feared, Kevin and Louise are taken aback upon learning that Albert and Armand are gay Jewish nightclub owners. Louise breaks down, and Kevin announces that they are leaving and demands that Barbara come with them but she is reluctant to do so. However, the Keeleys realize they have been followed by paparazzi and are trapped as news crews begin arriving at the scene, all thanks to tip-offs by the Keeleys' driver in exchange for bribes.
The Goldmans, Keeleys, Katherine, and Agador sequester themselves in a bedroom and contemplate the best plan of action. Val and Barbara explain why they deceived Kevin and Louise. They are forgiven, but the Keeleys fear being tangled up in a media scandal if spotted in a gay nightclub. In a moment of brilliance, Albert then choreographs the Keeleys' escape by dressing them up as drag queens and having them leave the club as the night's show ends. The plan works perfectly and none of the media crews recognize Kevin, Louise, or Barbara. Kevin, a supposed homophobe, is distressed not by wearing a dress but by the fact that the costume "makes him look fat." The group leaves South Beach with Katherine, passing Kevin's driver on the way out, who does not recognize him, even when they speak.
The film ends with Barbara and Val getting married in an interfaith ceremony attended by all of their families and friends.

Robin Williams as Armand Goldman
Nathan Lane as Albert Goldman
Gene Hackman as Sen. Kevin Keeley
Dianne Wiest as Louise Keeley
Dan Futterman as Val Goldman
Calista Flockhart as Barbara Keeley
Hank Azaria as Agador
Christine Baranski as Katherine Archer

A number of songs written by Stephen Sondheim were used in the movie. The song that Albert rehearses during the sequence with the gum-chewing dancer is entitled Little Dream, and was written specifically for use in the film.[1] Albert's first song as "Starina" is "Can That Boy Foxtrot," cut from Sondheim's Follies. The song that Armand and Katherine sing and dance to in her office, "Love Is in the Air," was originally intended as the opening number for the Broadway musical A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum in 1962. The song was cut from the show and replaced with Comedy Tonight.[2]

The Birdcage met with mixed reviews ranging from praise to condemnation in both the mainstream press and the gay press for the portrayals of its gay characters.
The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) praised the film for "going beyond the stereotypes to see the character's depth and humanity. The film celebrates differences and points out the outrageousness of hiding those differences."[3]
Review aggregator Metacritic reported that the film received "generally favorable" reviews, with a score of 72% based on 18 reviews.[4]

Cross-dressing in film and television
List of lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender-related films by storyline
[edit] References
^ Sondheim.com - Putting it together since 1994, http://www.sondheim.com/shows/the_birdcage/
^ Sondheim.com - Putting it together since 1994, http://www.sondheim.com/shows/a_funny_thing_happened/#cut_songs
^ GLAAD's press release on The Birdcage, retrieved January 20, 2007 from www.glaad.org
^ http://www.metacritic.com/video/titles/birdcage
[edit] External links
The Birdcage at the Internet Movie Database
The Birdcage at Box Office Mojo

Cyril Collard

Cyril Collard (19 December 1957, Paris - 5 March 1993) was a French author, filmmaker, composer, and actor. He is known for his unapologetic portrayals of bisexuality and HIV in art, particularly his autobiographical novel and film Les Nuits fauves (Savage Nights). Openly bisexual, Collard was also one of the first French artists to speak openly about his HIV-positive status.
Contents
1 Early life
2 Books
3 Les Nuits fauves
4 Other directing credits
5 AIDS
6 Sources
7 External links
[edit] Early life
Collard was born into a liberal, middle-class family in France. He attended Catholic school in Versailles, and pursued an engineering degree at Institut Industriel du Nord in Villeneuve d'Ascq, later known as École centrale de Lille before deciding to drop out.
[edit] Books
Condamné amour (1987)
Les Nuits fauves (1989) (trans. Savage Nights by William Rodarmor, 1993)
L'Ange sauvage (1993)
L'Animal (1984)
[edit] Les Nuits fauves
The semi-autobiographical Savage Nights (Les Nuits fauves), finished in 1992, was Collard's first and only feature film. It won four Césars (best editing, best film, best first work, and most promising actress) in 1993. Unfortunately, Collard did not live to accept his award; he had died three days earlier.
[edit] Other directing credits
Early in his career, Collard assisted fellow director Maurice Pialat and directed six music videos, as well as several television programs. Among the music videos he directed were those of French-Algerian band Carte de Séjour, whose lead singer Rachid Taha is one of the most famous rock-ethnic musicians in France today.
[edit] AIDS
Collard's own experiences with AIDS undoubtedly influenced his work. He died of AIDS-related illness aged 35.

Shirley A. Mason

This painting was entitled “Blue is the Color of Love” when printed in the book “Sybil” by Flora Schreiber, however written on the back of the original painting is “Aquatic Forms #1, Shirley A. Mason”. This writing, along with the signature on the front of the painting was covered by tape. It is thought that Ms. Mason did this on order to conceal her identity. By doing this, she not only covered her signature, but also the original title of the painting.

This light and airy work is the view of New York’s Central Park from Dr. Wilbur’s office window on the 32nd floor of Rockefeller Center, and was probably completed sometime near the end of Mr. Mason’s psychotherapy, which concluded in 1965.

This stark, unsigned piece was probably completed before Ms. Mason began her psychotherapy in 1954. The images possibly suggest parental figures closing in on the unprotected child. The suggestion of an island conveys a sense of no possible escape while the foreboding cloud closes in from above. Isolation within a threatening world is recurrent in the early works of Ms. Mason and the alternative selves.

Possibly drawn during the time Ms. Mason was a student at Mankato State University in the 1940’s. While probably inspired by an actual classroom setting, it is eerily reminiscent the kitchen in Ms. Mason’s home which was the location of much of the horrific abuse suffered at her mother’s hand as a child. Note the prominence of the naked light bulb, unlikely in a classroom, which was one of the many objects used in attacks on Ms. Mason by her mother.

This dreamlike work of masked dancers is unsigned and the date of the work is unknown. The artist, presumably on the alternate selves entitled the piece “Street Corner”, in black pen on the back of the original. Note the figures have no mouths or hands.

This unique work was produced by the hand carving of a woodblock, which meant that the carving was done in the reverse image. The image conveys a familiar theme of an unsafe world and isolation as a means of protection. Mike, one of Ms. Mason’s alternate selves, who was a woodworker and one of two male alternates, probably did the carving, with the “M” in corner as his signature.

Shirley Ardell Mason

Shirley Ardell Mason (January 25, 1923 – February 26, 1998) was an American psychiatric patient and commercial artist whose life was documented in 1973 in the book Sybil, which was dramatized in two films of the same name in 1976 and 2007. Both the book and the films used the name Sybil Isabel Dorsett to protect Mason's identity, though the 2007 remake stated Mason's name in its conclusion.
Contents
1 Biography
2 Sybil
3 Controversy
4 References
5 External links
[edit] Biography
Mason was born and raised in Dodge Center, Minnesota, the only child of Walter Mason (a carpenter) and Martha Alice "Mattie" Hageman. In regard to Mason's mother: "...many people in Dodge Center say Mattie" — "Hattie" in the book — "was bizarre," according to Bettie Borst Christensen, who grew up across the street. "She had a witch-like laugh....She didn't laugh much, but when she did, it was like a screech." Christensen remembers Mason's mother walking around after dark, looking in the neighbors' windows. At one point Mason's mother was diagnosed with schizophrenia.[1]
In the early 1950s, Mason was a substitute teacher and a student at Columbia University. She had long suffered from blackouts and emotional breakdowns, and finally entered psychotherapy with Cornelia B. Wilbur, a Freudian psychiatrist. Their sessions together are the basis of the book.
Mason later moved to Lexington, Kentucky, where she taught art classes and ran an art gallery out of her home for many years. She died of breast cancer in 1998, at the age of 75.
[edit] Sybil
Main articles: Sybil (book), Sybil (1976 film), and Sybil (2007 film)
Sybil told the story of Mason, who was treated for multiple personality disorder (now known as dissociative identity disorder) with reportedly up to 16 co-existing personalities. The book stated that Mason suffered from the condition as a result of severe sexual abuse at the hands of her mother, who Flora Rheta Schreiber believed was schizophrenic.[2] The book was turned into a movie, starring Sally Field, in 1976. The movie was remade in 2007 with Jessica Lange and Tammy Blanchard as Sybil in the title role.
[edit] Controversy
Mason's diagnosis has been challenged. Psychiatrist Herbert Spiegel saw Mason for several sessions while Wilbur was on vacation, and interpreted her symptoms to believe that Wilbur was manipulating Mason into behaving as a multiple when she was not one. Instead, Spiegel suspected Wilbur of having publicized Mason's case for financial gain; according to Spiegel, Wilbur responded to his assertion that Mason wasn't a multiple by saying the publisher wouldn't publish the book unless they said she was.[3] In August 1998, psychologist Robert Rieber of John Jay College challenged Mason's diagnosis, claiming she was instead an "extremely suggestible hysteric" and also stated he believed Wilbur had manipulated her in order to secure a book deal.[4][5] A review of Rieber's book Bifurcation of the Self by Mark Lawrence states that Rieber repeatedly distorted the evidence and left out a number of important facts about Mason's case, in order to advance his case against the validity of the diagnosis.[6]
The case remains controversial, as Wilbur's psychiatric files are sealed, and both she and Mason are deceased.
[edit] References
^ Miller, Mark; Kantrowitz, Barbara (1999-01-25). "Unmasking Sybil. (Shirley Ardell Mason, the real-life Sybil)". Newsweek (Newsweek). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G1-53612353.html.
^ Schreiber, Flora Rheta (1973). Sybil. New York: Warner Books, Inc.. p. 460. ISBN 0-446-35940-8.
^ Borch-Jacobsen, M (1997-04-24). "Sybil-The Making of a Disease: An Interview with Dr. Herbert Spiegel". New York Review of Books 44 (7). http://www.astraeasweb.net/plural/spiegel.html. Retrieved 2009-04-02. abstract
^ Rieber, R (1998). "Hypnosis, false memory and multiple personality: a trinity of affinity". History of Psychiatry 10 (37): 3–11. doi:10.1177/0957154X9901003701. PMID 11623821.
^ Schreiber, Flora Rheta; Rieber, Robert W. (2006). The bifurcation of the self: the history and theory of dissociation and its disorders. Berlin: Springer. ISBN 0-387-27413-8.
^ Lawrence, M (2008). "Review of Bifurcation of the Self: The history and theory of dissociation and its disorders" ([dead link]). American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis 50 (3): 273–283. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa4087/is_200801/ai_n21279759.
[edit] External links
Multiple Personality Controversies Links to many articles about the real Sybil, Shirley Mason.
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shirley_Ardell_Mason"
Categories: 1923 births 1998 deaths American artists Deaths from breast cancer Columbia University alumni People from Dodge County, Minnesota People from Lexington, Kentucky People diagnosed with dissociative identity disorder
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