A documentary surveying the various Hollywood screen depictions of homosexuals and the attitudes behind them throughout the history of North American film.Even today (2017) when homosexuality is more or less considered normal, this is an impressive documentary. Some of the scenes covered have long been known to be filled with gay subtext. But many others had never occurred to me, and to hear the stars and writers freely speak about them is quite a treat and changes the way a film is approached.Even more amazing, this film came out in 1995, when homosexuality was still not quite mainstream. Growing up in the 1990s, I never found gay themes strange (thanks to such directors as Gregg Araki) but knew it was not socially acceptable. To find the film is based on a much earlier book, which in turn had started as lectures as far back as 1972... wow!

"The Celluloid Closet" was an overall great documentary on how homosexuality has evolved in film over decades of movies. In the early 1930s the film explained how movies portray homosexuality to be humorous. The actors that played the gay role were called "Sissies" subliminally portraying to the audience that they are homosexuals.As the movie progressed it had displayed other aspects on how the community now pictured homosexuals. The "Hayes Code" was created to rate movies on how appropriate they were. The Catholic Church as well joined in the process of rating by evaluating certain films to see if the movie was "appropriate" by their religious standards. Films later depicted homosexuals as villains such as Dracula's sister forcing the main actress to undress in front of her. In Albert Hitchcock the two villain murderers were homosexuals as well. At a certain point in these movies they had many gay subliminal symbols that the censors did not understand. During the 40s queer film was progressing to different degree. "The Celluloid Closet" explained that seeming gay was almost as bad as being gay. There would be films that would criticize a character for walking a certain way or even saying certain words. The screenwriter of Rebel without a cause stated that he would make the main character to be displayed as a gay outcast if it were during the millennium time period. In the 50's and 60's many characters of films were obviously gay. The first film to admit the homosexual intention was "The Victim" in 1961. Although there was a steadily progress of queer film, homosexuality was then presented as a crime. In the queer films the gay character would end up dying whether it be by a hero slaying the homosexual, or they became depressed and committed suicide. Queer film over the last four decades has evolved from a mental illness to being presented a sign of affection and love. Now in the 20th century queer film is accepted in the theaters almost everywhere in the nation.

The Celluloid Closet is a documentary that focuses on Hollywood's evolution of queer film from the 1920's until the mid-1990's. The documentary's use of clips from complements clips from interviews of screenwriters and actors to show the chronology of not only queers and queer film, but also of censorship in Hollywood. The film also emphasizes how society's view of homosexuals shaped queer film. The film discusses how not only Hollywood's views of homosexuality have developed and shaped throughout the decades, but also all of America's (i.e. how all gay men were effeminate, and all lesbians were masculine). Screenwriters and actors further discuss how the Catholic Church became very involved in cinema and influenced the institution of the Hays Codes for censorship. The film emphasizes how screenwriters were able to avoid this censorship through connotations and subtleties; however, they still had to please the Church by portraying homosexuals as victims or villains to show that there was no happy ending for them. However, by the late 70's onward, depictions of homosexuality on screen became more positive as the Gay Rights Movement started in the United States, creating new norms and shaping more positive views of homosexuality in individuals.The Celluloid Closet gives an excellent history and analysis of queer film and how influential Hollywood can be. It was interesting to see how many old Hollywood films were considered part of queer cinema—such as Rebel Without a Cause, The Maltese Falcon, and Rebecca. It was truly enlightening, and it expanded my scope of queer film. The Celluloid Closet is highly recommended to watch, for it sheds a new light for watching films, old and new, and for how to pick up different themes and subtleties to bring a deeper appreciation for "just watching a movie."

The Celluloid Closet was a beautiful collaboration of work displaying the evolution of queer films since the beginning of film history. The commentary from the screen writers and producers complements the wide array of film clips that were selected for this production. Winding it's way through the late twentieth century, the film takes both comical and heartbreaking turns whilst taking a close look at the impact of queer films on the queer society. In the beginning of the film was a comical look at the character that was sometimes shameful and unacceptable to the queers, "The sissy", who made his first film debut somewhere in the early 1900's. Following the comical view of queers as the Sissy, in the Charlie Chaplain film Behind the scenes, it was upsetting to see how society's opinions of the queer made it into the movie. When Charlie Chaplain's character kisses a woman dressed as a man, he gets mocked by another man who dances prissily around them; in the age of the silent film, the prissy walk sadly but clearly displayed society's view of queers. The most entertaining part of the film draws on when screenwriters had to get creative masquerading queer characters as straight into their films in order to get them produced. Some of the best examples of these are Dracula's Daughter, Calamity Jane, and Spartacus, where a queer is only insinuated ever so slightly. Ultimately, this film displays wonderfully how society's views of queers through film has changed for the better.