Opinion

Open Secret - Gay Hollywood 1928-2000

Written by: David Ehrenstein
Published by Perennial

In exploring the often-contradictory relationship between gay men and lesbians and the US film and television industry, David Ehrenstein has set himself a huge task on two levels. First, by its very nature, for the majority of the period this book covers, the world of the Hollywood homosexual was hidden from public view by a network of mechanisms that involved individuals, studios, publicists, and the press itself. Second, conversely, the scale of the undertaking itself is daunting simply because so many people involved in the industries over the years have been queer. His efforts to chronicle their history, while laudable and diligently-assembled, occasionally suffers because of one or other of these factors.

To begin with though, an overview. The book's chapters broadly cover a chronological telling of the history, with occasional digressionary, subject-sepecific sections; the Ellen Degeneres story is one such, as is a detailed look at Rock Hudson's career. The early years are covered in surprising detail considering that so few of those who experienced them are still around to tell their stories, but there's a significant oral tradition in the lesbian and gay community, and he benefits by that. Additionally, because certain topics were more scandalous at certain times, where matters did come to light, their coverage is the greater. The 'scandal rags' of the time, too, were always keen to bring their readers stories of sexual scandal, and provide a good source of material.

The events of the middle of the century benefits greatly by the inclusion of reportage from the people who experienced them, and Hollywood's role as a place at once revered and looked-down on by American society at large is particularly apparent here. McCarthyism hit Hollywood hard, and the parallels between those condemned as Communist and those labelled 'deviant' are clear. It's in this part of the history too, that almost casual, 'mini-outings' begin to appear; the identification of people whose sexuality may now be a matter of record, but who weren't high-profile enough for everyone (me, for instance) to have heard of it, as well as the far more famous names.

One of the most surprising elements of the book in this first half of its timespan is the complicity of the press in maintaining the fictions around homosexual members of the Hollywood community - actors especially. Many of the more respectable publications, as much as the tabloids and scandal rags, were willing to publish glowing accounts of Actor X's relationships with a string of opposite sex partners, all the while knowing that it was a fabrication, but unwilling to give up broader access to the other celebrities at their studio. The power of the studios at this time was of course massive, and The Fourth Estate, whose readers were desperate for inside glimpses of the glamorous world of the celebrities were pretty much at their mercy.

The nearer the narrative gets to the present, the more obviously familiar the subject matter. Rumours about various people are discussed, and the rise of organisations such as GLAAD (the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation) and the various groups which began to operate within the studios, such as Disney's well-known League are seen to be assuming an increasingly important and visible role in defining the relationship between queers and the establishment. Ehrenstein also addresses the impact of AIDS in Hollywood head-on, and recognises that in this community, exactly as in the wider world, the politicizing effect of the disease had a knock-on effect of politicizing the gay and lesbian community.

The epilogue, added to this second edition, brings many of the issues which were still open at the time of the first edition to some degree of closure. The advent of TV series such as Will and Grace, Queer As Folk, and a number of homo-focused films is addressed, as is the ongoing line of Hollywood figures being up-front about their homosexuality, though still hardly any actors, a point which he raises and addresses with some (possibly too much) sensitivity to the exaggerated impact that being gay or lesbian can have on an actor's career.

If the book has a weakness, it's that it's a little too heavy on the oral tradition and light on analysis or opinion. Large sections of the narrative are direct (sometimes lengthy) quotations from people's recollections of the times they lived through, and are fascinating, often saddening, and always illuminating. But there's no real sense of author that comes through. I'm left wondering why David Ehrenstein specifically wanted to be the one to compile this history, and what perspective he brought to it. I'm left wondering what he thought of this history he has so scrupulously assembled.