Patrick E. Horrigan

In this work, which combines autobiography with film and queer criticism, Patrick Horrigan represents how films such as "Hello, Dolly," "The Sound of Music," "Dog Day Afternoon," "The Wiz," and "Funny Girl" (among others) shape and are shaped by his queer boyhood. A self-proclaimed sissy from a large Catholic family that makes well enough good on its pretenses to be a happy and supportive family, Horrigan endures bullying, isolation, and the anxious tolerance of his mother and father for ways of his that are clearly "gay." In response, Horrigan develops an elaborate and active fandom for musicals, figures like Barbra Streisand, and becomes an accomplished pianist who learns the arts of conversation and inquiry from his memorable piano teacher. Throughout the book, however, one continues to wonder about the implications and the consequences of the fact that LGBT youth do not have entertainments directed towards them and thus must invent a place for themselves in entertainments that have different subject matters and agendas. On the one hand, it is remarkable to what extent queer culture has managed to make movies like "The Wizard of Oz" or "Funny Girl" their own; on the other, one cannot help but wonder if the bullying and isolation would be ameliorated if we lived in a culture in which LGBT children and adolescents could see themselves on the cultural mirror.… (mehr)