Lesbian, gay center hosts movie viewing

Although those who attended Tuesday night's showing of Isaac Julien' s film Looking For Langston said the movie would not appeal to the typical Penn student, the six students and staff members said they found it worthwhile. The showing was sponsored by the Lesbian Gay Bisexual Center. Julien's movie draws on the works of famous Harlem Renaissance poets including Langston Hughes, Essex Hemphill and Bruce Nugent to explore identity, race and sexual orientation. The 45-minute black-and-white film brings the viewer to the "Cotton Club," a 1920s gay bar for black and white men. Using the bar as a backdrop, the movie explores the sexual fantasies of renowned poets from the time period. In Looking for Langston, the writers describe the 1920s as a time when "homosexuality was a sin against the race." They cry out to be able "to court outside the race, outside the class, outside the attitudes." According to LGBC Program Coordinator Gloria Casarez, Penn students "wouldn't go for it" because of the sensitive topic and sexually explicit nature of the film. "The film is important because there are not a lot of films that portray African Americans, especially gays," she added. School of Education graduate student Kevin Convers, a LGBC graduate intern, said some of the film's footage "could be misconstrued." He added, though, that he feels it is "a good film to show to anyone because rarely are there films made in which gays have the upper hand [and] blacks are nicely dressed, drinking champagne." But College freshman Alex Gino said she thought the movie "had a terribly lonely feeling." "Maybe that's what [the director] was trying to convey," Convers suggested. Gino later said that during the Harlem Renaissance, the "black experience [was] in vogue" for middle and upperclass white patrons. She added, however, that they soon became disinterested, "which is what is going on now," Convers said. "Hip hop has become commercialized," he explained. According to Casarez, Julien's exploration of race and sexuality made the film perfect for the LGBC's monthly movie viewing in light of Black History Month. Next month, the LGBC will sponsor a film entitled Framing Lesbian Fashion in honor of Women's History Month.