Here's a gossipy question for you all: I'm working on an essay on Wayne
Koestenbaum's most recent book, Jackie Under My Skin, and it's gotten me
wondering if there might not exist a kind of liminal queer tradition of
writing about celebrities.
I'm thinking in particular of Parker Tyler, Vito Russo, and, of course,
Richard Dyer. Roland Barthes might also be added to this list given his own
writing on divas in "The Grain of the Voice" and his short essay "The Face of
Garbo." I'm also aware of a certain gay presence in more popular celebrity
and film writing: Lawrence Quirk, Ethan Mordden, Boze Hadleigh, Rex Reed, Liz
Smith, and Ronald Haver, for example. But what about critics like, say,
Edgar Morin? Would any of you Francophone or -philes out there care to out
him, if he is indeed outable? Are there others that I'm leaving out (excuse
the pun)?
[It's not my intention here, BTW, to start a flame war on identity politics,
essentialism, or outing. Hopefully, the argument that I want to make about
this "tradition" will be more interesting than just a rehashing of these
stale debates....]
----
To signoff SCREEN-L, e-mail [log in to unmask] and put SIGNOFF SCREEN-L
in the message. Problems? Contact [log in to unmask]
|