#the boys in the band
It’s back to back episodes featuring recent Netflix films as we discuss Mart Crowley’s 1968 play, twice adapted into film, The Boys in the Band.
Join us for a discussion of “turning on” and other 60s language, mining the death of your parents for dialogue and the controversial place the play has held in gay culture throughout the 52 years of its existence.
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I LOVED this episode so much! I was in hysterical laughter, Harold-style, numerous times over your commentary. I’ve watched The Boys in the Band (2020 version) 10 times, so I’m very passionate about it & I’m so happy that the queer history podcast I’ve listened to for about 4 years took the time to thoroughly analyze the historical context & the characters’ relationships. Thank you Jason, Eli, & Alice for your research & conversation.
Also I have read the entirety of The Men From The Boys sequel, for any fellow listeners who have questions now~
I deeply appreciate the way you talk about Donald’s arc, thank you. When the movie came out, there were a number of reviews that used ableist rhetoric about people w/ mental illness as the basis of their criticism of Donald which really broke my heart. So hearing you all truly recognize the kind of journey Donald is on & analyze Donald w/ the same respect you analyzed everyone else was refreshing. I agree w/ a number of your critiques & share Eli’s opinion of Ryan Murphy. I’d say for myself personally though, Harold was the character I connected with the most because of how he is written.
I joyfully screamed when Eli made the connection to The Symposium! The other reviewer (& most importantly gay playwright) who made that connection before is Tony Kushner in the intro he wrote for the script book that has both the original script & the 2018 revival script.
I hope that this episode helps more queer people engage w/ The Boys in the Band as a part of queer literature history written pre-Stonewall that demonstrates what gay & bi men went through before the significant changes we have now and how anti-Black racism & femmephobia within queer spaces and societal homophobia continue to exist today.
@theressomethingscrewy@conniecaserole@too-spoopy-to-be-frukd
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I finally got the scripts of The Boys in the Band (both the original 1968 script & the 2018 script) and The Men From The Boys on the final night of Hanukkah! Yes, I can immerse myself even more! I want to give a huge thank you to @theressomethingscrewy for telling me where to find them!
Image Description: In my hand I’m holding up 2 script books, a red one on the left & a blue one on the right. The red script book’s title is “The Boys in the Band by Mart Crowley With an Introduction by Tony Kushner.” The blue script book’s title is “The Men From The Boys by Mart Crowley.”
Fun The Boys in the Band Asks
I’m a big fan of The Boys in the Band and want to talk to more people who love it! So I thought I’d post a set of asks for people to send me & invite other fans to join in!
= How did you first learn about The Boys in the Band?
= What versions of The Boys in the Band have you read &/or seen? Do you have a favorite?
= Who is your favorite character?
❤️= Which relationship (can be romantic or platonic) is your favorite?
= Which character’s journey did you connect with the most?
= Share a headcanon you have.
= What’s your favorite scene?
⚡️= What’s your favorite line?
= Most hilarious moment?
= Most emotionally devastating moment?
= What song on the soundtrack do you love?
= What’s something in The Boys in the Band (theme, line, scene, etc.) that you feel isn’t talked about enough?
= What plays, movies, or books would you recommend to people who love The Boys in the Band?
= How does The Boys in the Band resonate with you today?
I’m going to start posting commentary/analysis about The Boys in the Band on here! Although it’s been a month since I’ve watched the 2020 movie & read the one act version of the script, it’s resonated w/ me so much that I still have so many thoughts about it. I think Donald is early representation of a queer character w/ mental illness, and we need to reflect on the importance of Donald in our current context.
When I was reading Tony Kushner’s introduction for The Boys in the Band script book, I really loved what he had to say about the meaning of Donald speaking about his parents w/ his analyst (I added Michael’s part for full context)–
Michael: Christ, how sick analysts must get of hearing how Mommy and Daddy made their darlin’ into a fairy.
Donald: It’s beyond just that now. Today I finally began to see how some of the other pieces of the puzzle relate to them.- Like why I never finished anything I started in my life…my neurotic compulsion to not succeed.
“It’s easy to assume…that these self-hating gay men must be in analysis to be cured, to become heterosexual. But that’s not the case, or for Donald, it’s not the case any longer. Donald, at least, is finally beginning to see beyond.”-Tony Kushner’s Introduction
Donald is seeing his analyst about issues that aren’t inherently about his sexuality, which definitely breaks from the standard portrayal in media at the time of queer men w/ mental health issues. So Donald processing other issues that many people of all genders & sexualities experience, such as family trauma and struggles w/ finding success, is quite groundbreaking. Many people hadn’t gotten to see queer characters w/ mental illness represented that way onstage before. Significantly, presenting Donald as a gay man who is examining his life beyond only internalized homophobia makes him an effective contrast to Michael, who is still trapped in the wish “to become heterosexual.” Donald responds to Michael’s “…if we could just learn how to not hate ourselves quite so very much” with “Yes, I know. I know” because he has been where Michael is. At the same time, he is moving forward in a more healthy way that addresses his trauma and lets him accept his sexuality. I consider that a hopeful future.
Soon after I watched The Boys in the Band, I saw 2 reviews (from NPR & Hollywood Reporter) disparage the writing & portrayal of Donald in ways that are rooted in harmful assumptions about people w/ mental illness, & it really hurt me to see this. NPR said that “his early expressions of nervousness ring false, as if he’s performatively voicing self-deprecation in an effort to endear himself to others” & Hollywood Reporter called him “too handsome, too perfectly sculpted, too innately calm and collected to be the supposed quivering mess… That panic is undermined by the fact he seems pretty much fine thereafter, and certainly is among the more well-adjusted figures populating the play.” As a person w/ mental illness, I’m not surprised to see this but I’m angry. Both reviews perpetuate the false assumptions of 1) a person w/ good looks can’t possibly experience mental illness & thus they’re “attention seeking” & 2) a person’s mental illness must be constantly visible to other people in order for their experience to be real. This is coming from established publications that many people read to inform their views about culture & this is how they choose to interpret characters w/ mental illness? Stating that someone’s experience of mental illness is less real b/c they look too good or appear too calm & well-adjusted to be believed leads to many people w/ mental illness feeling that our life experiences aren’t valid & not seeking mental health support b/c invalidation happens so much. When neurotypicals create a strict image of how a person w/ mental illness must appear, many of us are unable to get support b/c we don’t fit their image. Mental illness fluctuates in visibility–sometimes it’s visible & sometimes it’s invisible to people who aren’t us. Donald appears “calm” & “well-adjusted” to many viewers b/c his mental illness isn’t always visible when next to other characters; that doesn’t make him less valid than any other character w/ mental illness.
Has society changed in how it views queer people w/ mental illness between 1968 & 2020? On one hand, yes b/c of how society views queer identity in less pathologized ways (although pathologization is still around in more subtle ways). However, I think many societal attitudes queer people w/ mental illness have not changed & those reviews’ reactions to Donald are an example of that. It’s just cis straight people who perpetuate harmful assumptions about mental illness; it comes from within queer spaces too, which leads to more queer people w/ mental illness feeling alienated from queer communities. So we need Donald right now. Donald challenges assumptions about how mental illness presents & that makes many people, whether they be cis straight or queer, uncomfortable. And that challenge is necessary so that more of us can receive the support & validation we deserve.
Also don’t forget that Mark Gatiss and Ian Hallard are at Park Theatre from September 28 in The Boys In The Band. You can book tickets HERE
An early film directed by William Friedkin (who would go on to do the French Connection and The Exorcist), The Boys in the Band is also unusual for a 1970 film in featuring an all-gay cast, adapted by writer Mart Crowley from his own Broadway play, and features some amazing dialogue and one-liners. It’s getting a restored re-release on Blu-Ray this month, my review is up on my blog
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“The historical and absurdly quotable (Oh Mary don’t ask.) 1968 Mart Crowley play The Boys in the Band will be prancing back into our lives starring the cast of the Broadway revival on NETFLIX on September 30.” - http://www.back2stonewall.com
My weekend plans.
Allison Williams wearing Off-White at ‘The Boys in the Band’ 50th Anniversary Celebration.
05/30/18
Credit: RCFA
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Mart Crowley accepts the award for Best Revival of a Play for The Boys in the Band onstage during the 2019 Tony Awards at Radio City Music Hall on June 9, 2019 in New York City.
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Matt Bomer as Donald in The Boys in the Band (2020)
