Berkeley Undergraduate Journal

In this essay, I analyze the short films of director William E. Jones and how these films depict the shift from the gay community’s egalitarian origins to the modern neoliberal and discriminatory gay community. I begin my work by analyzing Jones’ Tearoom, which presents the “queer utopia” defined by egalitarianism shown in the titular “tearoom” (or area for homosexual public sex), where men have sex freely without regard to identity. Then, I discuss how Jones’ film More British Sounds uses sound to highlight the emerging identity-based hierarchy common in Bondage, Discipline, Dominance and Submission, Sadomasochism (BDSM) gay pornography in the 1980s. Next, I show how Jones’ The Fall of Communism as Seen Through Gay Pornography showcases the degeneration of gay sexuality from egalitarian to a sexuality defined by predatory and class-based roles. Finally, I highlight how Bruce Labruce’s film Raspberry Reich shows that modern gay sexuality is able to be redeemed into its original egalitarian form, as Bruce proves with his use of leftist imagery in the film.