Rainbow Colored Glasses

Dorian Gray is an immortal twink with a deadly secret. Oliver Parker’s film drains most of the queerness from Oscar Wilde’s novel. My guest and I examine what remains. Podcast favorite Colin Firth is back as the evil Lord Henry.

In Apartment Zero a neurotic cinema owner (Colin Firth) grows obsessed with his sketchy flat mate (Hart Bochner). My guest and I discuss the messy characters in this strange mix of erotic thriller and political allegory. This episode merits a trigger warning for a discussion of transphobia. 

In A Single Man, Colin Firth plays a professor grieving the loss of his lover. Julianne Moore and Nicholas Hoult play admirers who offer him a way forward. My guests and I debate the controversial changes filmmaker Tom Ford made to Christopher Isherwood's 1964 novel. This episode merits a trigger warning for discussions of self-harm. 

In Another Country a Russian spy recounts the bullying he endured at his English Boarding School. Writer Julian Mitchell’s story was inspired by the Cambridge Five, a group of British diplomats who gave military secrets to the Soviets during the Cold War. Rupert Everett and Colin Firth lead a terrific cast.

A gay professor learns there’s something fishy happening in his hometown. Cthulhu is a loose adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft’s The Shadow Over Innsmouth. The film understands that being LGBT can make even the most mundane of places feel dangerous.

A tutor fears his students are being hunted by evil spirits. Eloy de la Iglesia's Turn of the Screw gender swaps the protagonist of Henry James’ ghost story. Then cranks up the queer subtext. This episode comes with a trigger warning for discussions of sexual abuse. 

 Hal Holbrook and Martin Sheen play a gay couple living in San Francisco. When Hal’s teen son comes for a visit, Hal debates whether to come out to him. That Certain Summer was made for the ABC movie of the week in 1972. It frightened the censors but proved a success for the network. My guests and I give it a fresh look. 

In 1983 Harvey Fierstein’s Torch Song Trilogy won him Tony Awards for Best Actor and Best Play. In 1988 his performance was preserved on film. Fierstein plays Arnold, a New York drag queen who experiences love and loss as he builds himself a family. It was a pleasure to introduce this classic to my guest. 

To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar was a commercial hit in 1995. Patrick Swayze, Wesley Snipes and John Leguizamo play a trio of drag queens stranded in a small town. My guests and I ask: who is the protagonist and what is their journey?  This episode contains profanity. Trigger warning for discussions of transphobia and sexual assault. 

The Boy in the Wind was called Brazil's first gay film. A teen vanishes. A witness has a supernatural explanation. Filmmaker Carlos Hugo Christensen managed to sneak a queer, political allegory past Brazil's strict censors. We unpack it here. 

A closeted doctor has an affair with a man. Should he tell his wife? Critics dismissed Making Love as boring. My guests gave me a new appreciation for the film.

2014’s Xenia follows two Greek-Albanian brothers on a search of the father who abandoned them. Filmmaker Panos H. Koutras uses the story to examine the treatment of immigrants and minorities in contemporary Greece. 

Matt Dillon outs Kevin Kline in his Oscar speech. Kline insists he's not gay. Is he, or isn't he? We revisit Paul Rudnick's coming out comedy. 

The Leather Boys follows Reggie, a naive biker, who's torn between his brassy wife and his gay best friend. Homosexual behavior was still illegal in the UK but the gay character is treated with respect. My guests and I discuss Reggie's options. 

People in the Summer Night (aka Ihmiset suviyössä) follows the members of a farming community in rural Finland. Among them is Nokia, a closeted man who tries to blend in with a group of rugged log divers. HIs attempts to prove his masculinity will lead to his downfall. We discuss the film's themes in today's episode.

 A bisexual countess seeks a psychiatrist to cure her craving for blood. Dracula's Daughter is an unusual film. Anne Rice cites it as an inspiration for Interview with the Vampire. 

A New York school teacher searches for love in A Very Natural Thing. Christopher Larken's work is one of the first positive film depictions of queer romance. 

Isaac, an awkward college student, meets Beauford, his high school crush, on the ferry to Provincetown. Summer Kiss aired on Connecticut Public Television in June of 1987. This romcom is all but forgotten. I wanted to bring some attention to it.

In Latter Days an L.A. party boy attempts to seduce a Mormon missionary.  My guest and I discuss this dramedy and take a brief look at the career of ex-Mormon singer David Archuleta.

 In Staircase Rex Harrison and Richard Burton play a squabbling gay couple. The film was marketed as a "sad gay story." The stage play was a success in London. The film was rejected by critics and audiences. My guests and I take a look to see how it's aged. 

 When a gay teen is outed, he is taken under the wing of the school's queen bees. They're convinced a Gay Best Friend (G.B.F.) will increase their popularity. My guest and I take a closer look. at George Northy's screenplay.

We discuss The War Widow , one of the first lesbian films to feature a happy ending. It premiered on PBS on October 28, 1976 as part of the Visions series of original teleplays. In 2021 it was restored for the UCLA Film & Television Archive. 

A reporter investigates the disappearance of a famous glam rocker. Todd Haynes’s Velvet Goldmine explores a movement that allowed artists to hide their queerness in plain sight.

 A teenager falls for a predatory teacher at her French finishing school. Olivia is based on the novel by Dorothy Strachey. It presents same sex attraction without judgement. But the illicit relationship made it an uncomfortable watch for my guests. 

Coming Out aired in 1979 as part of the BBC’s Play for Today series.  A closeted writer and his friends debate whether the LGBT+ community should assimilate or rebel. The discussion still resonates today.

Rainbow Colored Glasses starts season four with a look at Paul Oremland’s 1998 film Like It Is. A boxer from Blackpool falls for a music promoter from London. The promoter’s snobby friends try to break them up. I enjoyed this film. My guest did not.

Harry Styles recently starred in My Policeman. A film about a man juggling relationships with a woman and another man. This inspired me to revisit John Schlesinger’s classic Sunday Bloody Sunday. One of my guests was seeing it for the first time. The other saw it when it premiered in 1971.

We discuss a short film with a long title: It Is Not the Homosexual Who Is Perverse, But the Society in Which He Lives. Activist Rosa von Praunheim read Berlin’s gay community for filth. His political manifesto remains timely.  

This episode includes explicit language.

 An author investigates the death of a young woman. Hasse Ekman's Girl with Hyacinths has been affectionately called "The Lesbian Citizen Kane." 

Todd Stephens’ feature debut, Edge of Seventeen, was a semi-autobiographical coming-of-age drama. A gay teen in Sandusky, Ohio struggles to hold on to his old friends and family as he enters the gay world. 

Gods and Monsters examines the unlikely friendship between Hollywood director James Whale (Ian McKellen) and his naïve yard man (Brendan Fraser). My guest and I revisit Bill Condon’s ambitious tragicomedy. 

Penda's Fen aired on the BBC on March 21, 1974. David Rudkin's screenplay follows a gay teen on an Alice in Wonderland style journey through England's pagan past. We attempt to parse Rudkin's thoughts on religion, sexuality, social conformity and rebellion. 

In 1987 two TV specials dealt with the challenges of coming out in your teens. What if I'm Gay? aired on CBS in the afternoon. Two of Us was pushed to a late night spot by the timid BBC. My guests and I look at the mixed messages these stories send. 

 In 1984 French Canadian flight attendant Gaétan Dugas was falsely accused of bringing H.I.V. to America. He was dubbed “Patient Zero.” In 1993 John Greyson wrote and directed a movie musical about the myth. Zero Patience is raunchy, surreal and political 

In Our Sons Julie Andrews and Ann-Margret play the disapproving mothers of a gay couple (Hugh Grant and Zeljko Ivanek). Zeljko’s dying of AIDS so the women go on a road trip to visit them. Cue fights, tears and a sprinkling of camp. This episode contains strong language. 

William Wyler first adapted Lilian Hellman’s play The Children’s Hour to the screen in 1936. In 1961 he produced an uncensored remake. My guests had contrasting responses to the film.  Trigger warning: the story includes an act of self harm. 

The Fruit Machine (aka Wonderland) is an ambitious, frustrating film. Two gay teens witness a murder and go on the lam. One falls in love with a sexy dolphin man. Things get weird. 

Patrick Wilde's Get Real follows a teen writer who falls in love with a closeted jock. My guest had a rosier view of the romance in 1998 than he does now.  This episode contains  strong language and a discussion of domestic abuse. 

Welcome to Season Two! Basil Deardon’s Victim pits a closeted barrister against a blackmailer. The film bravely denounced the UK’s anti-gay laws. 

Our season concludes with a look at Beautiful Thing. Jonathan Harvey's gay teen romance is as charming today as it was in 1996.