The ‘Brokeback Mountain’ director, Madonna & more are becoming an official part of queer film history
Brokeback Mountain director, and the “Flashdance” songstress have in common? They’re all heading to Washington D.C.—well, sort of!Today, the Library Of Congress has announced that 25 influential movies will be joining the National Film Registry, an archive dedicated preserving titles deemed to be “of cultural, historic or aesthetic importance to preserve the nation’s film heritage.”Every year since 1988, the organization has selected 25 new films for historic preservation, and this year’s crop includes everything from animated Disney classic Lady And The Tramp to searing history epic 12 Years A Slave to two seasonally appropriate family favorites: Home Alone and The Nightmare Before Christmas.But, for our purposes, what’s most exciting is the inclusion of three gay (or “gay-adjacent”) classics that have had a major impact on the LGBTQ+ community and beyond: 1980’s generation-defining musical Fame, 1985’s Madonna star vehicle Desperately Seeking Susan, and 1993’s gay Asian-American rom-com The Wedding Banquet.They’ll be joining other previously selected queer cinema classics like sub-textually gay western Red River, landmark ballroom documentary Paris Is Burning, and John Waters’ subversive throwback Hairspray.
In other words, the registry just keep getting gayer and gayer.In honor of today’s announcement, let’s take a closer look at all three of these newly selected films and consider why they remain and important part of gay culture.Alan Parker’s (Evita) musical chronicles the lives of students at The High School Of Performing Arts in NYC—every high, low, and anxiety-inducing audition—featuring a breakout lead role for the late Irene Cara, whose rendition of the title track made her a star in the music world, too.The Registry cites both Fame‘s authentic examination of teenagerdom and its over-all influence on movies and music videos in the decades to come—directly inspiring Flashdance, Footloose, and more—as reasons why it’s worthy of preservation in the Library Of.
