"Gay Sex in the '70s": Coming out, New York style
Like that cheeky New Yorker cover that shows the Manhattan skyline dwarfing the rest of the United States, Joseph Lovett's "Gay Sex in the '70s" can't help suggesting that New York City is the only place where anything really happens.
The most recognizable locations in this raunchy, narrowly focused documentary are Fire Island, Central Park and Greenwich Village. The Anvil, the Meat Rack and Studio 54 dominate the landscape. Chief among the survivors who recall the beginnings of gay liberation are such East Coast artist-activists as Larry Kramer, Tom Bianchi and Barton Benes.
They speak specifically about events that happened in New York, including the Stonewall riots of 1969, which happened in response to police harassment and led to the opening of bathhouses and discos and the establishment of a fresh gay identity. Eventually, this celebration of open sexuality (illustrated by grainy clips from 1970s gay-porn films) also led to the AIDS crisis.
Lovett and his interviewees recall Bette Midler singing and making a name for herself at the baths — and often drawing a celebrity crowd. They also recognize the troubling emergence of clonelike men with bad hair and tight clothes who represented a new brand of conformity.
One man admits to drinking beer, which he loathes, just to fit in with the newly macho gay bar crowd. Others discuss their reservations about certain sexual behavior.
Occasionally the Manhattan-centric nature of the movie makes a point, as when an Alabama-raised outsider remembers feeling shut out by an in-crowd that made room only for New Yorkers. But otherwise Lovett (a former "20/20" producer who lived through the period and interviews himself) has little to say about what was happening elsewhere in the 1970s. Harvey Milk might as well have existed on another planet.
Lovett attempts to provide a context by demonstrating that gays were uniquely isolated before 1969, when suddenly they emerged from their closets and connected, creating communities and decades-long relationships. But his movie ultimately lacks the authority of such gay documentary classics as "Word Is Out" and "Before Stonewall," which were far more inclusive.
John Hartl: johnhartl@yahoo.com
"Gay Sex in the '70s," a documentary directed by Joseph Lovett. 72 minutes. Not rated; suitable for mature audiences (includes nudity, sex scenes, strong language). Varsity.