Freddy's Revenge is sooo GAY (and why it matters 40 years later)

Описание: In today's video essay, I rewatch A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge — the 80s slasher with the infamous reputation as "the gayest horror movie ever made."
See, I grew up fully OBSESSED with the Nightmare on Elm Street series, but always thought Freddy's Revenge was whack… 40 years after the film's release, I found it’s not just subtext — the film is full-on queer cinema. See here's what happened...

As I got older I heard a rumor that it was full of gay undertones and gay subtext. So I decided to give it a rewatch now as an adult, just in time for the film's 40th anniversary, and discovered A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge isn’t some random slasher with subtle gay subtext - it’s a full on gay movie! And it has a surprising amount to say about the current moment, and on the price of internalized homophobia. I would even call it a bona fide queer horror classic, that has a special place in 1980s horror films.

The film was released November 1st, 1985 - during the peak era of homophobia in the United States, when right wing anti-gay voices like Jerry Falwell, Anita Bryant, Ronald Reagan led the charge to alienate and dehumanize queer people as the AIDS epidemic was just starting to explode in the queer community. The funny thing is, though not everyone making the movie even knew how gay it was (despite Mark Patton’s Drag Race Ready lip sync dance sequence to “All Night Long”) because of the abject repression of the era.

In today’s video essay, I analyze the gay themes of this under-appreciated classic - including homoerotic subtext, how it explores people's fear of being queer, and how Freddy represents internalized homophobia and his own queer desire. I also reflect on the historical context and legacy of the film for queer people, as well as a little bit of how my own career as a gay actor has been touched by homophobia. So put on your Freddy glove, hop on the school bus, and get ready to talk about “the man of your dreams”, and maybe even the queerest 1980s horror movie ever made.

📖 Jesse’s Lost Journal:
(https://staticmass.net/jesses-lost-jo...)

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(  / manboynice  )
(  / manboynice  )

Credits:

🧠Created by
Daniel Vincent Gordh & Will Gordh

✏️Written by
Daniel Vincent Gordh & Will Gordh

🎬 Directed by
Will Gordh

A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge
Starring: Mark Patton, Kim Myers, Robert Rusler, Robert Englund

🎬 CLIPS USED:
A Nightmare on Elm Street
A nightmare on elm street II: Freddys Revenge
A Nightmare on Elm Street III: Dream Warriors
Scream, Queen! My Nightmare on Elm Street
Hellraiser
Friday The 13th: Part 2
Top Gun
The Frog Prince
Buddies
Come Back To The Five And Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean
Never Sleep Again
Hollywood Acting Studio
The Lizzie Bennet Diaries
Eastsiders
What's Trending
Watch What Happens Live
Queerty Interview
Happy Sad Confused
Cracked.com
The Streamy's
An Evening of Awesome: Carnegie Hall
The Lookback Diaries
Non-Transferrable

0:00 - Introduction: Rediscovering A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge
06:30 - Part One: The Monster Inside - Analysis of Queer Themes in the Story
31:36 - Part Two: The Monsters Outside and the History of Homophobia, Aids, and Repression in 1980s
49:18 - Part Two: The Nation Reacts to A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge
51:57 - Part Two: Mark Patton and the Making of the Film
01:02:43 - Part Three: The Closet
01:13:00 - Conclusion: The Echoes of our Homophobic Past

If you've read down this far you win a cookie.

🔖 Related topics / keywords:
queer horror, gay horror movies, LGBTQ horror, Freddy Krueger, Freddy’s Revenge analysis, scream king, queer coded villains, 80s horror, homoerotic horror, gay horror video essay, LGBTQ+ representation in horror

🏷️ #FreddysRevenge #QueerHorror #GayHorrorMovies #NightmareOnElmStreet2 #ScreamKing