FALLING OUT OF THE CLOSET: KEVIN SMITH, QUEERNESS, AND INDEPENDENT FILM by CARTER MICHAEL SOLES A DISSERTATION Presented to the Department ofEnglish and the Graduate School ofthe University ofOregon in partial fulfillment ofthe requirements for the degree of Doctor ofPhilosophy September 2008 11 University of Oregon Graduate School Confirmation ofApproval and Acceptance of Dissertation prepared by: Carter Soles Title: "Falling Out ofthe Closet: Kevin Smith, Queerness, and Independent Film" This dissertation has been accepted and approved in partial fulfillment ofthe requirements for the degree in the Department ofEnglish by: Kathleen Karlyn, Chairperson, English Jon Lewis, Member, Not from U of 0 Mary Wood, Member, English Michael Aronson, Member, English Janet Wasko, Outside Member, Journalism and Communication and Richard Linton, Vice President for Research and Graduate StudieslDean ofthe Graduate School for the University of Oregon. September 6, 2008 Original approval signatures are on file with the Graduate School and the University of Oregon Libraries. 111 © 2008 Carter Michael Soles IV An Abstract ofthe Dissertation of Carter Michael Soles for the degree of Doctor ofPhilosophy in the English Depmiment to be taken September 2008 Title: FALLING OUT OF THE CLOSET: KEVIN SMITH, QUEERNESS, AND INDEPENDENT FILM Approved: Kathleen Rowe Karlyn My dissertation argues that the film comedies ofKevin Smith, through their willingness to depict and verbalize gender-bending, queer desire, and deviant sexual practices, exemplify the role independent "slacker" cinema played in the 1990s explosion ofAmerican queer media visibility. Couched in witty verbal comedy, Smith's films depict the tensions and dangers Generation-X males face as they negotiate the culturally enforced gap separating male homosociality (intense friendship, male bonding) fi"om explicit male­ male homoerotic desire in contemporary U.S. Clllture. The project takes Smith's career as a metonym for independent slacker cinema (which includes films by Smith, Richard Linklater, Jim Jallliusch, and Judd Apatow) and argues that Smith's films have been successful because they tap into and exploit both the 1990s boom in independent queer media production and the paliicular interests and needs ofactual young white slackers, including how these young men navigate tensions related not only to gender and sexuality v but also to race and class (all ofwhich are evident in their taste for mainstream superhero comics and the Star Wars films). Chapter II argues that Smith's debut feature, Clerks (1994), exemplifies, through its plot and fonnal elements, the homosocial buddy relation that suppresses male-male homoerotic desire by channeling it into men's rivalries over women. The chapter exposes the misogyny inherent to the slacker's homosocial group and discusses his fear/fascination with masculine women such as domineering mothers, bossy girlfriends, and (in later Smith films) lesbians. Chapter III argues that Mallrats (1995) shares key narrative propeliies and subject matter with superhero comic books, thereby addressing the comic book fans who largely constitute Smith's fan base. Chapter TV offers a bisexual reading of Smith's third feature film, Chasing Amy (1997). Chapter V examines Smith's later films Dogma (1999), and Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back (2001), arguing that they function genelically as queer road movies. Chapter VI analyzes Smith's public persona as an indie cinema icon who uses ironic, ambiguous modes ofself-presentation to "have it both ways," maintaining an appeal for both homophobic and queer-friendly audiences, thereby demonstrating Smith's keen understanding of self-promotion and the economic structures ofindependent cinema. VI CURRICULUM VITAE NAME OF AUTHOR: Carter Michael Soles GRADUATE AND UNDERGRADUATE SCHOOLS ATTENDED: University of Oregon, Eugene, OR University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA DEGREES AWARDED: Doctor ofPhilosophy, English, Emphasis in Film Studies, 2008, University of Oregon Graduate Certificate in Women's and Gender Studies, 2008, University of Oregon Master ofArts, English, 2004, University of Oregon Bachelor ofArts, English, 1993, University ofSouthern California AREAS OF SPECIAL INTEREST: Film and Cultural Studies Gender and Sexuality Studies PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE: Postdoctoral Instructor, Department ofEnglish, University of Oregon. 2008- 09. Graduate Teaching Fellow, Department of English, University of Oregon. Fall 2003- Summer 2008. Graduate Teaching Fellow, Women's and Gender Studies Program, University of Oregon. Summer 2007. VB GRANTS, AWARDS AND HONORS: English Department Graduate Research Award, 2006-07 Center on Diversity and Community Graduate Research Grant, Summer 2006 Bruce M. Abrams Graduate Essay Award in LGBT Studies, 2005 Dan Kimble First Year Teaching Award, 2004 PUBLICATIONS: Soles, Carter. "A Stalker's Odyssey: Arrested Development, Gay Desire, and Queer Comedy in Chuck&Buck." Jump Cut 49, Spring 2007 (39 pps in ms). <http://www.ejumpcut.org/home.html> V111 TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter Page 1. INTRODUCTION: FALLIJ'JG OUT OF THE CLOSET 1 View Askew Productions Presents Dante 7 The Rise ofIndependent Slacker Cinema 15 Queering Slacker Cinema.............................................................................. 25 The Homosocial Continuum 29 Radical Incoherence....................................................................................... 31 Chapter Outlines 35 Notes 40 II. GENDER PLAY AND QUEER EROTICS: CLERKS (1994) 41 The Buddy Film: A BriefQueer History...................................................... 49 Erotic Triangles and Gender Play................................................................. 65 Masculine Women .. 71 Queer Male Sexuality 86 Dante and Randall: Syntax .. 96 Dante and Randal 2: Catharsis 101 Slackers and Dykes: Clerks, Queer Cinema, and Miramax in 1994............. 107 J'Jotes 117 III. FANBOYS AND CAPED CRUSADERS: MALLRATS (1995) 121 From Miramax to Universal 124 Genre, Gender, Queerness, and Race 127 Queer Affection and Rivalry................................................... 149 Intertextuality and Comic Book Culture 156 The Dynamic Duo: Batman and Robin 169 From Clerks to Mal/rats to Chasing Amy 181 Notes 184 IX Chapter Page IV. UNSPOKEN BISEXUALITY: CHASING AMY(1997) . 188 Romantic Comedy: Chasing Amy and Annie Hall . 198 Male Melodrama . 206 J\Jew Triangulations . 216 Hooper X . 223 Unspoken Bisexuality . 237 The Comics Industry as Metonym for the Independent Cinema . 248 Notes . 257 V. RACING QUEERNESS ON THE ROAD: DOGMA (1999) AND JAYAND SILENT BOB STmKE BACK (2001) . 259 Buddy Comedies and Road Movies .. 265 Superhero Comics, Queerness, and the Road .. 268 New Queer Road Movies . 284 Racing Queerness on the Road . 291 View Askew vs. Disney and Miramax . 302 Comedy, Controversy, and Queer Camp .. 312 Notes . 321 VI. "JUST ONE PLEASANTRY SHY OF A COCK IN THE MOUTH": KEVIN SMITH'S QUEER STAR TEXT .. 324 Silent Bob Speaks . 333 Dueling Personas . 350 Real-Life Buddy Duos . 355 Marginalized Women . 369 Slacker versus Lesbian: "Chasing Amy Politics" .. 374 Snowball Effect: Working-class Hero versus Multimedia Mogul .. 390 J\Jotes . 402 x Chapter Page APPENDIX: SHOT LISTS . 405 REFERENCES 415 Xl LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page 1. Will Hunting Learns to Open Up Emotionally............................................. 3 2. The View Askew Transvestite Clown and Geeky Little Boy....................... 8 3. Dante Falls Out of the Closet 14 4. The Sang-Dante-Caitlin Erotic Triangle 69 5. A Queer Erotic Pyramid 70 6. Dante, Trapped Behind the Counter 73 7. Dante Is Rescued Just in Time by Super-Heroine Veronica 75 8. Veronica's Impressive "Package," Suggestive of Male Genitalia 77 9. Willam Black, aka "Snowball," Meets "Ronnie" and Her "Man," Dante.... 80 10. "I Love Women!" 88 11. Jay Plays a Visual Joke on Randal................................................................ 92 12. Choke-Hold and/or Fellatio? 102 13. Dante Admits That "The FDS Stings" 103 14. Mallrats Erotic Triangle #1 131 15. Mallrats Erotic Triangle #2 132 16. Jay and Silent Bob with Suzanne the Orangutan ,'................................ 136 17. T.S. and the First Stagehand Flank Mr. Svenning 144 18. Another, Stronger Visual Parallel 145 19. Shannon and Brodie Get Intimate During a Fight 154 20. Silent Bob as Batman the Voyeur 177 21. The Banky-Alyssa-Holden Erotic Triangle 218 22. Hooper X Shoots Banky 224 23. Hooper Kneels Down, Placing His Symbolic Phallus in Banky's Face 226 24. Alyssa Chases Hooper Out of a Three-Shot with Holden and Banky 228 25. The Swings, a Key Site for Holden and Alyssa's Relationship 241 26. Holden's Three-Way Proposal Schematized Via a Three-Shot 246 27. Jay and Silent Bob in Freeze-Frame 262 28. Morris Day and Jerome Benton Onstage 262 29. The Closing Freeze-Frame Shot of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid... 263 30. Jay's "Soapbox" Declaration in Chasing Dogma 280 XlI Figure Page 31. "Ooh What A Lovely Tea Party" 289 32. Silent Bob's Knowing Look at the Camera Tells All 290 33. "Bodyguard" Silent Bob Bids on "Pimp" Jay's Behalf 295 34. Serendipity's Glasses and Thumb-Sucking 297 35. Jay and Silent Bob Look on as Kane's Gang Attacks the Poop Demon 299 36. Jay's Fantasy ofJustice 308 37. Justice Wears Glasses, Rendering Her Geek-Friendly 311 38. Two View Askew Fans Dress Up as Silent Bob and Jay............................. 325 39. Kevin Smith Mimics Puppeteering / Fisting Jason Mewes 364 40. Lela, the Out Lesbian Audience Member 378 41. Smith Gets Defensive 379 Xlll