I’m relatively ashamed to admit that I had never seen Sunset Boulevard before class last week. It’s one of Hollywood’s greatest treasures. It racked up numerous Academy Awards (even though it was in competition with one of my favorites, All About Eve) and proved to be telling of what life in the film-making business was like “back in the day.”
Gloria Swanson is fierce. Just plain fierce. She stars as an aging silent film actress in the early 1950’s who can’t seem to come to terms with reality. Her character seems completely over-the-top and outrageous, but she fits an eerie archetype that makes her relatable to a particular audience one might not immediately think of — the gay community. Gloria’s character, Norma Desmond, can be described with two seemingly contradictory terms synonymous with the gay community: glamorous and tragic. All of life is a stage everywhere Norma goes, and she demands the attention of any room she enters. The sad truth is that she is living a life formulated by her own absurd fantasies. Her glamour suggests that she is a big deal, and in all fairness… she was. Her internal struggles occasionally get the better of her, such as when she slits her wrists. Her most obvious gay qualities are her mannerisms. She tilts her head upwards almost all of the time, partly to hide her wrinkles and also to seem “above” everyone else. Her extravagance nearly qualifies her to drag queen status!
I think the reason that gays gravitate toward characters like Norma Desmond is because they are relatable, not necessarily in a realistic sense (obviously not everyone is an ex-film star). It is in the nature of a majority of gay men to be flamboyant and fabulous, just like Norma. It’s funny. The entire movie I could hear my fellow classmates muttering under their breaths that Norma was crazy and even disturbing, but all the while I idolized her. Unfortunately many lives of people in the gay community are cursed with tragedy, usually involving rejection from friends, family, and society which can lead to anger, isolation, and in the worst cases suicide.
Sunset Boulevard left me with chills. It leaves the audience with a tremendous insight into Hollywood’s bizarre design and operation. Most interestingly though… it left me wanting more. Maybe that’s the magic of Hollywood.
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Well if it makes you feel any better, that was the first time I had seen this movie too, and I've never seen All About Eve. Also, I really thought it was interesting that you compared Norma to the gay community. I would have never thought about it in that way. Norma's personality in the film is really what made it so great. The story line was good too, but her "out-there" personality was captivating.
ReplyDeleteThat's a great perspective, Austin. I feel for Norma and although she's larger than life, she's extraordinarily relatable. Really, the movie is about the consequences of living larger than life and becoming dependent on that image of yourself. That's something we can all understand.
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