Queercore: How to Punk a Revolution
- Director: Yony Leyser
- Writer: Yony Leyser
- Producer: Nina Berfelde; Scott Crary
CGiii Comment
The title is a little misleading, there was no revolution to speak of...in fact, this hyperbolic-homo-history lesson wouldn't even merit a blink of an eye in the grand scheme of things. It was over before anyone really noticed! There were far more important things going on...AIDS.
Homocore, latterly known as Queercore [in order to incorporate the ladies] was a subterranean sub-culture...made up of the queerest of the queer. Their [artistic] output consisted of scrappy fanzines, some of the worst films ever to be committed to celluloid and music that would challenge the very definition of what music actually is. They preached and 'entertained' their converted few...and, it would seem, their main raison d'être was to cause offence...which they failed at, because the mainstream media ignored them...and their pornographic shenanigans.
The significant omission in this film is that of GB Jones [archival footage only], co-founder of Homocore...along with Bruce La Bruce, who does appear and talks at length...as do many other 'notable' talking heads.
Some talk sense, most talk absolute nonsense...but, the interesting thing is, those retrospective views are mixed in with the current, liberal climate...definitions of what 'queer' and 'straight' were [courtesy of Penny Arcade] are illuminating...and, still relevant. Homosexual assimilation into the heterosexual norm is - and will always be - a bone of contention!
Hands up if you disagree with same-sex marriage?!? Because...let's face it, it is a heterosexual construct and - most definitely - questions the legitimacy of those who identify as 'queer' and have embraced this pillar of heterosexuality! Of course, this argument will rage on. But, at least, Queercore spat in the face this [mad] practice of assimilation!
This is a film that has recorded a mere dot in LGBT history...it is awash with waves of nostalgia, self-importance and some bizarre and not-so bizarre opinions. Is it relevant? Of course it is, to those who participated...fond memories. For everyone else...now you know what Queercore was, when it happened and why it ended? Or...has it really ended!?! Discuss...at length, over a Gin, with your same-sex spouse!
Trailer...
QUEERCORE: HOW TO PUNK A REVOLUTION - Teaser from CAT&Docs on Vimeo.
The(ir) Blurb...
In the mid 1980s, two 20-year-old punks, Bruce LaBruce and GB Jones, created a movement known as Homocore, later known as Queercore. Unhappy with the Gay Rights Movement's conformist thrust and the aggressiveness of punk, they decided to create their own revolution from their bedrooms. The radical gay farce spread to film, music, zines, performance and activism, and became a rebellious international underground movement.
Cast & Characters
John Waters as Himself;
Kim Gordon as Herself;
Bruce La Bruce as Himself;
Kathleen Hanna as Herself;
Peaches as Herself;
Genesis P-Orridge as Himself / Herself;
Hole;
Dennis Cooper as Himself;
Bikini Kill;
Jayne County as Herself;
Rick Castro as Himself;
Gossip;
Pansy Division;
G.B. Jones as Herself;
Tom Jennings as Himself