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Queer Narratives in Disco Films: Saturday Night Fever, Xanadu, and Beyond

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Queer Narratives in Disco Films: Saturday Night Fever, Xanadu, and Beyond Queer Narratives in Disco Films: Saturday Night Fever, Xanadu, and Beyond A thesis presented to the faculty of the College of Fine Arts of Ohio University In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Master of Arts Erin R. Drake August 2019 © 2019 Erin R. Drake. All Rights Reserved. 2 This thesis titled Queer Narratives in Disco Films: Saturday Night Fever, Xanadu, and Beyond by ERIN R. DRAKE has been approved for the Film Division and the College of Fine Arts by Ofer Eliaz Assistant Professor of Film Studies Matthew R. Shaftel Dean, College of Fine Arts 3 Abstract DRAKE, ERIN R., M.A., August 2019, Film Studies Queer Narratives in Disco Films: Saturday Night Fever, Xanadu, and Beyond Director of Thesis: Ofer Eliaz This thesis looks at the history of disco, specifically the significant role that films played in shaping our cultural understanding of the phenomenon. Through the use of queer theory and narratology, “Queer Narratives in Disco Films” argues that the reception of disco and disco films is shaped by heteronormative assumptions of how narratives ‘should’ be understood. Such assumptions can have homophobic implications. Apart from breaking down the narrative structure of disco films, this thesis also further explores disco’s relationship to cinema by examining disco films situated in various genres and the affect of disco in modern films. This project reveals how disco can always be read with a queer sensibility and that reading disco as queer is necessary for preserving an often- erased history. 4 Acknowledgments I am very proud of my thesis; it is an excellent representation of my passions as an individual and my strengths as an emerging film scholar. None of this work would have come to fruition if I did not have the support and guidance from many wonderful people over the past two years. I would like to thank the faculty of the Ohio University Film Division for their financial support and top-notch instruction. Steven Ross, the director of the Film Division, was incredibly helpful in making sure I had ample funding opportunities. Professor Louis-Georges Schwartz introduced me to important, fundamental concepts within film studies through his insightful classes. Professor Erin Schlumpf also provided excellent instruction in her classes. I took an independent study with her where she helped me learn more about queer theory and queer cinema on an in-depth level. Her teachings created the foundation for what would become the crucial methodology for my thesis. I would also like to thank Melissa Ervin, the Film Division’s secretary. She has always helped me stay on track while navigating the stressful event that is completing a thesis. I don’t know what I would have done without her. Overall, I am incredibly grateful to have attended Ohio University. The faculty helped me reach all of my academic and personal goals while studying in the program. You made my graduate school experience genuinely amazing. Along with the Film Division faculty, I would also like to thank some of my cohorts for their support as well. Qian Zhang and Julia Staben were in the class above me, and set an excellent example of academic success for me to look up to for inspiration. 5 These women provided me with guidance and encouragement to help me succeed in the program and to continue their legacy. I would also like to thank all of my classmates in my year and the year below me for creating a work environment that was productive and cordial. I am excited to see what future classes will achieve during their time in the program! I would also like to thank my family—my parents Brenda and Terry and my sibling Rachel—for their love and support during this process. Finally, I owe my biggest thanks to my thesis advisor, Professor Ofer Eliaz. Initially, I was not sure how I could turn my niche interest into a fully-realized thesis, but Ofer has always encouraged me to hone in on my passions. He always gave me the best advice to help me shape my ideas into a mature project. He also helped me come into my own as both a scholar and a writer. I am forever grateful for his instruction, guidance, and support at ever step in the process. As I said before, I am incredibly pleased and proud of my thesis. If I did not have such a wonderful advisor in my corner encouraging me and believing in my abilities, my attitude toward my final product could have ended up being completely different. Overall, my thesis turned out better than I could have imagined all thanks to Ofer. 6 Table of Contents Page Abstract ............................................................................................................................... 3 Acknowledgments............................................................................................................... 4 List of Figures ..................................................................................................................... 7 Introduction: Staying Alive................................................................................................. 8 A Brief History of Disco: 1970-1979 ......................................................................... 13 Disco’s Special Potential ............................................................................................ 17 Saturday Night Fever and the Beginning of the End .................................................. 23 Chapter Summaries ..................................................................................................... 28 Chapter One: Dominant and Queer Readings in Roller Boogie and Xanadu—It’s Not a Bad Film, You’re Just Reading It That Way .................................................................... 32 Breaking Down Assumptions Regarding Narratology and Universal Desire ............ 35 Roller Boogie, or Saturday Night Fever on Wheels ................................................... 40 Xanadu: A Place Where Nobody Dared to Go ........................................................... 49 “This Movie Doesn’t Make Sense (To Me)” .............................................................. 57 Chapter Two: Prom Night and the Deaths of Disco.......................................................... 59 The Makeup of Horror Narratives .............................................................................. 60 Disco as an Irrational Zone ......................................................................................... 64 A Brief History of Disco Continued: 1980-1983 ........................................................ 75 No Future for Disco Films .......................................................................................... 79 Chapter Three: The Affect of Disco ................................................................................. 80 Disco as a Zany Affect ................................................................................................ 82 Voulez-Vous: The Affect of ABBA in Film............................................................... 93 Forever Repenting for Our Sins ................................................................................ 107 Conclusion: Dead But Never Forgotten .......................................................................... 109 Bibliography ................................................................................................................... 113 Filmography .................................................................................................................... 117 7 List of Figures Page Figure 1. The character Jon Arbuckle posing in Garfield Gets a Life .............................. 88 Figure 2. Film Poster for Saturday Night Fever, featuring John Travolta and Karen Gorney............................................................................................................................... 88 8 Introduction: Staying Alive Asserting the true histories of queer folk is a crucial political move in our time. The histories of marginalized folk in general are constantly under attack and reinterpreted to fit a dominant agenda. This agenda privileges dominant interpretations of history including heteronormative narratives. For the past few years during the month of June, or what has become known as “Pride Month” for members of the LGTBQ+ community, images of Marsha P. Johnson circulate in the popular corners of the internet. Johnson was a gay rights activist and is largely cited as the initiator of the famous Stonewall riots in 1969. While the accuracy of Johnson’s action has been debated, it is largely agreed upon that she was, in fact, one of the first activists to resist the police at the event. Johnson, a black trans woman, and fellow activist and trans woman of color, Sylvia Rivera, were important leaders in creating the modern-day gay rights movement.1 Until relatively recently, these women never received the credit that they deserved for making queer activism what it is today. Unfortunately, most representations of queer history become completely misinterpreted for the sake of mutating this history into something tangible for mainstream audiences. A recent film adaptation of the Stonewall Riots, Stonewall (Roland Emerich, 2015), completely erased Johnson and Rivera from the narrative, choosing to cast a fictional white, gay man as the instigator of the riots. This rhetorical 1 Gillian Brockell, “The Transgender Women at Stonewall were Pushed Out of the Gay Rights Movement. Now They are Getting a Statue in New York,” The Washington Post, 12 June. 2019, https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2019/06/12/transgender-women-heart-stonewall-riots-are-getting-
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