I'm not gay, not that there's anything wrong with that

Rating: 6/10 (5 June 2010)

I saw this movie on Bravo so my comments are based on the edited cable version.
A) I think this topic would have been better handled by a director who had lived and experienced this music and era in general as a teen-ager or young adult, unlike Haynes. The director seemed to be making queer theory political points wrapped in glitter rather than presenting an understandable epic of that epoch, probably leaving many heterosexual viewers out in the cold. The reference to Ronald Reagan ( President Reynolds in the movie) is one example. It is absurd to imply that Reagan was somehow responsible for the death of glam as it is for some gay activists to blame him for the spread of HIV. Nevertheless, I found the film enthralling both for the visuals and the recognizable historical figures and events B) I was somewhat connected to the rock scene of that time and to glam in particular so I think I have some insight to offer younger readers, although I am sure Haynes himself has more knowledge of gay history and "inside" glam gossip than myself.
C)The "green pin" may combine both alien power as in the Green Lantern comic books that Haynes probably read as a child ( childhood is given strong play in the beginning ) and an icon of homosexual experience passed on from one time period to the next as expressed by Allen Ginsburg. Ginsburg once told of how ,through a series of sex partners going back in time, he was connected to Walt Whitman. Not exactly glam but he was a poet like Wilde, and Whitman's work is known for it's ethereal, pre-maturely modern tone as in "I sing the body electric" ( Alien Anal Probes anybody ? ). That poem was written over 20 years before anybody had electricity in their home. It was also the source of the title of a science-fiction story written by Ray Bradbury. Another film connecting UFO's,bohemian sex and alternative music is "Liquid Sky", which I am sure influenced Haynes.
D) The Slade character is obviously based on Bowie, who came to be known to non-glam fans via his title role in the science-fiction movie " The Man who Fell to Earth" . Gay equals alienated equals "alien" may explain the UFO at the beginning. Bowie is much more talented than the Slade character whose vapidity and posing is similar to the now obscure real-life person known as "Jobriath", who like many who led the "drug,sex and rock'roll lifestyle" of the seventies died of AIDS in the 80s. Like Slade and Davie Jones/David Bowie/Ziggy Stardust, Jobriath also performed under a second stage name ( Cole Berlin ) Unlike Bowie but similar to Slade, Jobriath blamed his brief career on the failures of an egotistical manager.
E) Ewan's Iggy stage performance was a great impersonation, almost comical in it 's accuracy.
F) I could not figure out who Jack Fairy was based on but he reminded me of Klaus Noemi, whose cover of "You Don't Own Me" can still be heard on the Rush Limbaugh program.
At last, an actual semiotic signifier that the Reaganites did co-opt glam !!!