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Bright Lights Film Journal
Issue 28 | April 2000

"headitorial"

We always get so desperate looking for a theme for each issue that we forget most issues of Bright Lights come together serendipitously, through some unknown, perhaps medieval process akin to turning base metals (our wretched culture) into gold (the bracing insights and sizzling writing of our obscenely talented writers). Webmaster George suggests this be called "the Heterosexual Issue," and indeed, without wishing to name names or "out" anybody, we can certainly hint that there are indeed heterosexuals, verifiable ones, bylining our contents page. On the other hand, we’d prefer to dedicate this issue to "Kids" — who, surprisingly, can be found throughout this issue in various guises and motifs. As Art Linkletter so memorably said, "Kids say the darndest things!" — and do the darndest things too, Art, we might add, if the gallery in this issue of Bright Lights is any indication!

Cruel readers will call the entire issue "childish," but we beg to differ. Surely much here is clearly aimed at adults — Robert von Dassanowsky’s dizzying exegesis of that most hated Bond film, Casino Royale; Vanneman’s witty celebration of The Gay Divorcee; brief excursions into the netherworlds of the Brothers Kuchar and Swiss documentarian Richard Dindo; and DVD reviews that cover a wide range of cultish faves: Edgar G. Ulmer and Ed Wood in overview, along with single-film takes on the everpresent Radley Metzger, Robert Aldrich’s glorious The Killing of Sister George, and Teshigahara’s existential classic Woman in the Dunes. Now "existential" isn’t a word most American kids could spell, is it? (We won’t harp on the fact that most Cuban kids probably could, since that little island has a vastly higher literacy rate than the generally dimwitted U.S.)

But back to the Bright Lights kids! Of course, they abound here — kids who kill (pint-sized serial murderess Rhoda Penmark in The Bad Seed), kids whose music and hairdos could inspire violence (Ladies and Gentlemen, the Fabulous Stains), "old" kids like Norman Bates whose relationship with Mama occasions several deaths (that’s Alan Vanneman’s exhaustive look at Psycho), and certainly the wicked brat of Lillian Hellman’s play-then-movie, These Three, who "accuses" a teacher of — gasp! — adultery (lesbianism in the original). Kids in crisis can be found in the chilling documentary on the San Francisco teen smack subculture, Black Tar Heroin. And other "older children" appear in the brainless ode to post-teen macho American foolishness, Fight Club, suitably skewered by Alan Vanneman.

Even more kid motifs can be found by the diligent searcher. Eric Schlosser’s ruminations on the Dogme films from Denmark (and elsewhere) frame the movement as a new New Wave, youthful directors using snappy new methods to uncover fresh truths. (And don’t forget, Dogme directors get reprimanded — like any erring brat — when they don’t follow the movement’s rules!)

Since "kids" have become not only the audience most of America’s art is made for but also the phrase that most typifies the mindset of those who rule us, we at Bright Lights are happy to do our part to salute and celebrate … Kids!

Gary Morris
editor/publisher

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Watch for new issues of Bright Lights every three months: August, November, February, and May. To be automatically notified when the next issue is posted, join our mailing list.

Visit the archives for hundreds of other articles, dear.

features

Alfred Hitchcock and Psycho — Here’s looking at you, kid

Casino Royale — James Bond, Orson Welles, and Woody Allen get all postmodern on your ass

Dogme, or Live Cinema — A new New Wave washes over the movies

Interview with Louise Hassing — A Dogme actress tattles on the Dogme boys

Lillian Hellman's These Three — Now where did they put the lesbian?

report

The Politics of Deepa Mehta's Water — An eyewitness account from the troubled — make that destroyed — set of the final film in Mehta's trilogy

recent

Fight Club — A new low in testosterone impairment

Black Tar Heroin: The Dark End of the Street — Going down in San Francisco’s street-kid smack underground

revivals

The Gay Divorcee — Fred and Ginger get continental on your ass

Patty McCormack in The Bad Seed — All hail the Superbrat!

Ladies and Gentlemen, the Fabulous Stains — Girls on film, punk style

experimental

Secrets of the Shadow World — George Kuchar scrutinizes sasquatch droppings and outer space

Three Films by Richard Dindo — Less is more, and absence creates presence!

dvd reviews

Teshigahara's Woman in the Dunes — Sisyphus never had it this bad

Three Films by Edgar G. Ulmer — Primo cinema from the prince of poverty row: Bluebeard, Moon Over Harlem, The Strange Woman

Four Films by Ed Wood — Graverobbers and drag queens from outer space! Glen or Glenda, Jailbait, Bride of the Monster, Plan 9 from Outer Space

Robert Aldrich's The Killing of Sister George — These dykes are in major distress

Radley Metzger's The Alley Cats — Softcore gals with hard claws

book reviews

Out Takes: Essays on Queer Theory and Film, by Ellis Hanson (Duke University Press)

Back Lot: Growing Up with the Movies, by Maurice Rapf (Scarecrow)