I Can't Fit into this Brazier I Mean Society!

So, I had never heard of The Birdcage, never knew Robin Williams was in it or what it was about.  When Joe said there was cross-dressing in it I had no idea it was to this extent.  But as I was watching the movie, at first I was a little freaked out; asking myself if this is for real.  As I continued watching I realized what the story was about and just the situational humor seemed extremely hilarious.  “Lines such as “Don’t look at me I’m Hideous!!! You’re not a woman, OHPP you bastard!”.... “Just because you’re 22 and Hung”… “Get the GODDAMN pinky down!”… “So this is Hell, and there is a crucifix?”… “Can I get somebody some soup!?”  All of these lines and countless others I was cracking up laughing.  A plain suit with pink socks is absolutely priceless.  One of the themes I was seeing that just really got me thinking was just how ridiculous certain ideals of conservatives are.  The movie really made fun of how exaggerated certain people can act around gays or simply people that are unlike them.  For instance, when the governor learned that the good housewife that met every expectation he could have had, only to learn that this housewife was actually man appalled him and he could no longer accept his view of this person.  Another theme being the amount of effort people put into trying to fit in with society and to please others.  The movie had excellent acting from all the different actors, actress, or mixes of the two.  The idea of the movie was a very original way of approaching the way society has come to view people that are different from them or the ideal of what society has deemed as normal.  For instance, the movie had an excellent way of showing how people not in our society or particular culture try to see us.  For instance, I thought it was so funny how they would add Playboys to the bathroom and asking… well isn’t that what they like…” Or removing everything and adding simplistic symbols such as a mounted moose head or giant crucifix were all things that I found funny.   Overall the unique idea of the movie matched with the incredible acting from all the characters come together to create a movie that is very enjoyable to watch with lots of laughs and creates an excellent story and message to get across to the audience.   

David Duneman

Expository Writing

Joe Serio

4/14/13

 The Birdcage

            The Birdcage is a very odd, colorful movie. This film obviously hits on the topics of homosexuality and transvestitism, and of course the conservative view of these topics as well.  The Birdcage itself, I believe, is a metaphor for how homosexuality is frowned upon and is tried to be hidden: and it is like a bird in a cage that way. My attention was fading in and out of the story line until the dinner scene, which was my favorite part of the movie. Two homosexual men, one dressed as a woman, trying to hide their sexuality from two very distinct conservatives: what can’t be funny in this scene? When the flamboyant of flamboyant, Al, comes in dressed as Val’s mother, things get pretty hysterical.

            Robin Williams’ character, Armand, seemed be kind of the bisexual person, having phases where he likes both genders, or maybe even fighting between sexuality’s not really being able to decide which one to stay with. Armand is like the glue that held all the important characters together. A good quirk that Armand had was that when he was nervous, especially at the dinner scene, he would spill out religious metaphor jokes that were hilarious. Not Robin Williams best character, but not bad.

            Nathan Lanes’ character, Albert Goldman, was definitely the comic relief in this film. He is always so emotionally unstable that it puts the audience in a position of power to be able to laugh at him. Albert reminded me of Jack Lemmon’s character from Some Like It Hot, not as funny but somewhere in that general character slot. Albert is the type of person that is obviously flamboyantly gay and doesn’t care what anyone thinks about him. So the two main characters have distinctly two different views on being homosexual: one is obvious in his manner of acting, and the other kind of tries to hide it from the rest of the world, well from the conservatives at least.

            Gene Hackman’s character, Sen. Kevin Keeley, didn’t add much humor to the film besides not knowing his daughters’ fiances’ parents are gay, and him walking out of the Birdcage dressed as a woman. One of the funniest things with Keeley was that he loved Albert when he thought he was the mother of Val. This is kind of a shot at people who just disregard gay folks for being gay, but when actually they could connect with that persons’ personality rather than hate their sexuality: rather than disregarding the person they should just disregard their sexuality.

Birdcage

I absolutely adored this film. The humor was intelligent, not slapstick, and full of fun and lightheartedness. This film dealt with a lot of tough and difficult issues, such as homosexuality, identity crisis, tolerance and acceptance, and politics, by using humor

The main message of the film is to never change yourself for others. When Val asks his father and, consequently his mother Albert, to change themselves, everything goes wrong. Barbara’s parents only start to accept the family when they are being honest about themselves, and when they help them get away from the media. Sen. Keeley dislikes the “fake family” he knows because of how they are acting. He likes “Mrs. Coleman” because he thinks that “she” is a darling wonderful woman. He feels this way because she acts false in order to impress him. Once all the characters become honest with each other, they can finally accept who they are.

I think that it is ironic that the only people who have a problem with the future in-laws are the Keeleys. They dislike Val’s family because they act weird, and because they make assumptions about them. Val’s family knows that the Keeleys hate gays, and drags, but they never act out in dislike towards them. Val’s family has every right to dislike the senator and his family. They express their hatred for gays, well for anyone that is not a right-wing conservative. There was more hatred expressed towards things that they could not change- their sexual orientation. But Armand, Val, and Albert let Sen. Keeley sound like an idiot. However, to Sen. Keeley’s credit, he did not seem as upset by the fact that “Mrs. Coleman” was a man. He was stunned that Armand is Jewish. Those, like gays, who are given the least amount of acceptance from society, are the first people to accept those who are different than them. Armand and Albert try so hard to accept the senator and his wife in order to make Val happy. The Senator could care less about the happiness of his daughter.

This film showed the stupidity of politics at time. Sen. Keeley did not care at all about the death of his friend, but about the fact that he was found with a black, underage prostitute. He did not care about the happiness of his wife or his daughter, but how his election is going. He condemned Val’s family, but hoped that it wouldn’t influence their decision to vote for him.

While filming this movie, filmmaker Rick McKay went to Paris, London, San Francisco, and Atlanta to make a feature length documentary about drag queens. This documentary was used to train Nathan Lane and Robin Williams. I am glad this did this in order to fully grasp the culture of the drag queens, instead of making things up based on the stereotypes that people make of them. This gives the film an aspect of reality. I would hate to watch something filled with stereotypes because then I feel like we are mocking a culture that may be different from ours, but is a culture nonetheless.

How to Fly Out of the Nest... Or... Birdcage...

I thought this movie was surprisingly fantastic. I didn't really know what to expect from a film staring Robin Williams AND Nathan Lane AAND Gene Hackman. I really was at a loss, trying to imagine what such a movie would hold. To be honest, I was kind of expecting to be let down. But I was not, let me tell you. The movie had me laughing the whole time. But, this being a movie I had to watch for class, The Birdcage is so much more than just an entertaining movie. The overlying theme of the entire film has been something that the United States has been dealing with since longer than most of the class member have been alive. Homosexual culture and acceptance. Personally, I had never thought that the issue of gay rights has been a problem for so long. I had only paid attention to what had happened in my lifetime. But it is very interesting to see another scope of argument portrayed through this picture.
Even though it takes plays nearly 20 years ago, The Birdcage bares a striking resemblance to todays America. That is, half of the country is pro gay, half is against. Or, as most of the characters say, half liberal, half conservative. Half get along with everyone, half get along with no one. And this is partly true and apparent in todays political world. The only reason we can't really get anything done in America today is because there is so much opposition against everything. Abortion is bad because it kills children. But no, it's good because it gives women a choice. Guns are good because they offer protection and security. But no, they're bad because... They kill children... Gay rights are good because all men are created equal. But, again, no. They're bad because they wither away tradition, which is something that this country was founded upon. Every argument that is presented in the U.S. seems to always have an equally supported antithesis, if you will. And we see this in the film.
Val loves his parents and supports their homosexuality to the fullest. Yet, he wants them to shun their orientation so they will be accepted by his fiancé's parents. Barbara, or Barbie or whatever, does the same. Even the senator, who is the founder of the "Coalition of Moral Order" accepts the help of Albert by dressing up as a drag queen to escape the press. It's almost as if no one really knows who they are or what they want in this film. (Especially those conservatives. What a bunch of idiots, am I right? You could pull any wool you wanted over their eyes.) This is again the same with todays society. So many people are so flip-floppity about what they support and what they don't. Today, people seem to change their minds more than their socks.

Social Cages

Starting with the g-stringed bodies of South Beach Florida, keeping hidden that which is out in the open is a a recurring theme in The Birdcage. Cultural conservatives have invented their own idea of what it means to be gay or straight and placed the gay vision in a cage, locked away from the rest of society. The figurative cage the film and nightclub are named after are mirrored in the home of the Senator, held hostage by not only the press, but his own idealism that blinded him to the true nature of his Coalition for Moral Order co-founder found dead with an african-american prostitute.

The portable cage of the car, driven all the way from Ohio to South Beach, is not only an attempt to keep the press from being able to follow the senator, it also keeps the world outside locked away from the senator's family.

His daughter is also locked away in a dowdy dress, the plainest attire of all the characters, but for the golden horse brooch, exposing her free spirited nature.

By the end of the film, the senator and family take on the clothes of the drag queens and other people who are attending the The Birdcage night club. Drawing full circle that it isn't the drag queens and audience who are caged, but the cultural conservatives themselves.

The senator's obsession with sweets seems like a statement about what he and his wife actually want out of life, that so much color and creativity has been drained from their lives that they turn to exotic candies to sublimate their desires that are not approved of by their social peers.

I thought this was one of the funniest of all the movies we've seen this semester with great performances and great deliveries of intelligent lines.

But underling the humor, was great wisdom about the nature of being human, one example being when Val is speaking to his father and the subject of being open about the nature of his parents came up as Armand says, "You were a baby and Ms. Donovan was a small minded idiot, I didn't want you to get hurt. It's different now, you're a man." Val replies, "I can still get hurt." This speaks volumes about the nature of what society expects out of being male or female and how we should not ignore them.

I enjoyed aspects that involved being counter to stereotypes about gays such as Agadore's cooking fiasco. The interplay of masculinity mixed with the nurturing impulses of all the people surrounding Val  is a nice way to show the humanity of the characters being a more healthy take on existence than the narrow socio-cultural conservative views. It's also some what depressing that our society is still legally dealing with the concept of gay marriage, 17 years after this film was released.

The summation of the film, as both families work their way through the crowd, one side all dressed as men, the other, all thought to be men dressed as women, and singing we are family re-inforces the message that all of the characters are part of a larger society and worthy of seeking out their own happiness and that the greater society can be an extended family.

The Birdcage

Holly Reese

4-14-13

The Birdcage

              The Birdcage is a character driven film that gets most of its comedic success from Robin Williams and Nathan Lane. The duo of Williams and Lane are more than just gay men who dress up as women, their comedy reaches far beyond sight gags. The comedy also comes from the quick dialogue and situational humor.

                   This film was released in 1996, a time when gay rights movements were not as involved and aggressive as they are now. In the 1990s the question of gay marriage was not entertained in the way it is today. This makes The Birdcage, in my opinion, a film that was ahead of its time. Williams and Lane are an openly gay couple, living and working together. They also have raised a son who is not by any means gay. While this film is a comedy, I can see why anti-gay or religious groups might not like this film for those aspects alone. But because it is comedy, it might make the gay jokes and drag queen aspect less uncomfortable for people who can’t handle people like this real life. The parents of Val’s fiance are so snotty and proper that they become the villains in some way. The audience does not like them because they are against our protagonists. Also, because of the comedy aspect, we are given a happy ending with a feel good vibe.

                     I really enjoy this film and its rhetorical comedy. I always find myself laughing out loud at not only the men dressed as women but also the dialogue. It is a dynamic film that addresses many issues that are still being discussed today.

Im in a birdcage!

The Birdcage is not only just a movie that pushes the boundaries of sexuality but the boundaries of your own beliefs. As we start off this film immediately we see cross dressing for drag shows. This sets us up in a fashion that we can expect a lot more later on. Another issue it sets up right off the bat is that Armand and Albert are good parents. We can see that their son is doing well. He went off to school and has job offers flowing in. This is a problem that the world is facing today. People in our society belief that children should be raised in a traditional home of a man and women. I feel that this movie reflects not only can the raise a child the can do so without the mother being present.

Time is also a contributing factor in this film. They did a wonderful job of showing just how your past decisions can shape your future. We learn more about Armand’s life before his club. He was a good man and had a dead on moral compass. Katherine was also a part of Armand’s past. This showed us that it was later on in his life that he found out he was gay. This is an important factor because society has taught that either you are born gay or you are straight.  Armand is showing us more than just being straight or gay. I feel his role proves to us that life is a journey and life has to mold you and shape you. Albert fits right in to this feeling of “finding out who you really are.”  About half way through the film we understand that he has been picked on for his life choice. Even though this movie address gayness in a lite hearted manner we can see it means so much more than that.

One scene I would like to point out is the scene when the Keeley’s first arrive. This is the part when both families sit down across from you. I felt this part in the movie was an important visual metaphor. As we see everyone gets a turn to speak in this greeting and it usually switches from one side to the other. I felt this was a visual for a chess board game. We see each person trying to protect or attack on another. Even the chairs they were sitting in possessed symbols that reflect those of a traditional chess piece. This I believe is a factor in human nature. We try to win over people and influence them. It can all be just a game to us sometimes.

As a comparison between movies I feel this movie and NBT share a similar theme. In this theme we can see both movies showing people hiding behind religion. This is becoming more of a common factor than I hide imaged. Maybe hiding behind religion is more prominent than I had thought in the first place. Overall great movie. 

The Birdcage

The Birdcage does not focus heavily on a specific plot, rather it focuses on the characters.  It is a densely character driven film.  Along with many other films we have viewed this semester, The Birdcage presents "identity crisis."  Albert has a problem with his age, and his insecurities.  Albert and Armand who have been lovers for twenty years have a son, Val.  Val is engaged; unlike his fathers, he is going to be marrying a women.  Val wants to bring his fiancee home to meet his father and his "Auntie Albert."  Val's fiancee comes from a very conservative family.  Her father is a very conservative senator.  So Val is stuck in a pickle and is timid bringing Barbara around his nontraditional family.  This movie is definitely a comedy.  Unlike Harold & Maude, where people were wondering if it was even considered a comedy.  The Birdcage, most definitely can make you laugh out loud.  Val's biological mother plays his mother married to Armand so that his fiancee will not be shocked Val has two dads.  Everything that could go wrong in this situation goes wrong.  Many of the times when I caught myself laughing was when misfortunes happened to people.
The main themes in this film were acceptance, homosexuality, identity, and family.  I think my favorite part in the movie is when Albert tries to act straight throughout most of the movie.  Throughout the movie the underlying aspect was the failure to mask your true identity.
I really enjoyed this movie.  After the week we watched Harold & Maude my expectations were really high for a "great film"  but The Birdcage was a very well done film I would recommend it to anyone who wants a good laugh.  And who wants to see the criticisms of the differences of people done in a comedic way.              

The Birdcage

Although I have never had a problem with homosexuality, In environment grew up I never had a chance to understand in a more detail manner what it is to be homosexual and the difficulties they face. I always made up my mind with inaccurate stories about the reason people were gay and use to judge their behavior. School and society was never open to even the idea of learning about the different aspects related to homosexuality. Nevertheless, I did not understand why it was so hard for others to accept homosexuality as a natural aspect of humanity.

After years of ignorance, I have had the chance to learn through different life experiences about the differences between heterosexuality and homosexuality, and the need to embrace both types of sexual orientation. I realized that homosexuality has been a natural aspect of human identity since the beginning of man kind. Through history, we read stories about the ancient Greeks and the way they practice homosexuality. I think is time to really understand that, as the soundtrack for The Birdcage goes, "we are all family." We are all equal regardless of our sexual orientation.

The development of the characters, and the plot in The Birdcage allowed me to see a more complete picture of the life of a homosexual while inspiring me to laugh more than any other movie I have seen for the class so far. Armand's family is an example, in my opinion, of how different the homosexual lifestyle can be, yet the important similarities that allows them to be just as effective at having a family as any other heterosexual couple can be. Acceptance, understanding, and love are very important themes of this 1996 Mike Nichols film.

The hypocrisy and repression of natural aspects of humanity reflected on the character of Senator Keeley seem to represent the mental and egocentric barriers that lay between a segregated society and a more healthy community. The repression of personal identity and acceptance of one another is the enemy that we should be fighting against. The inability to embrace our differences can be the biggest problem not only in society, but at the heart of the family.

I believe that The Birdcage makes a very strong argument in response to the segregation that homosexuals experienced in the United States. In my opinion, out of the movies we have watched for class, this is the film has made the best use of comedic devices to expose their argument to the viewers. Nichols not only exposed the life of homosexual characters in a very sincere way, but was able to create a light, yet powerful persuasive argument capable of touching millions. Regardless of the controversial connotation in some parts of the American conservative society, the film grossed more that 180 million dollars world wide and earned the nomination by The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation for going beyond the stereotypical characters and explore in a more accurate manner the reality of being homosexual.

BIrdcage

The bird cage is a metaphor for keeping things locked in or hidden.  In this case it is homosexuality. People cannot hide who they are even if they tried. Again, identity is another reoccurring theme in the movies we have seen. Identify is so important because that is who you are and no one can change that. A gay person is part of who someone is and that cannot be changed. That is part of their identity. Being gay is a huge thing here in America. People don’t hide their identities anymore because it is becoming more widely accepted.

One thing I noticed was what the camera showed. There was not a lot of different setting to this film and that got me thinking.  Maybe the limited amount of settings reflects how limited things are or how limited mindset of some the characters?  My guess is that is show how homosexuality is only accepted in a small view and not widely.  Another thing I noticed was the characters names. They don’t really fit the characters and in past films we all know how important names are to the characters. All of the gay men have manly names and all of the manly men have gay names. When I say gay I mean feminine.

Also cross dressing another theme. This is important to comedy because it is an exaggeration and it helps get a point across in a less harmful manner. Look at Flip Wilson. He was famous for his character Geraldine. Using that knowledge in this film not only makes it funny but also helps with the rhetoric that is being used.

The point of this film was not to change the gay culture community but to help those understand the birdcage. This is where people can go and fit in without being judged or feeling ashamed of their identity.   

"Who's yo mamma?"

The Birdcage seems like a pretty straightforward movie to analyze.   At a first glance, I decided that it was a silly, low budget, comedy with a gay couple to attract a wider ranged audience.  However, as soon as I started thinking about the principles and message that The Birdcage is trying to relate to the audience, I changed my mind.  The movie has one very strong argument: an unconventional family, such as a gay couple raising a son, is just as much a stable, loving, and moral family as a traditional family of biological parents raising their children.  While that seems like a pretty common message to us in 2013, it was addressed far less and even frowned upon when the film was released in 1996.  This argument is by no means subtle but somehow the director of the film communicates it with his audience in a very nonthreatening manner.  I will explain the ways in which he does so in the next couple of paragraphs.

            First of all, the director, Mike Nichols, introduced the audience to the gay couple with a clear, well thought out strategy.  He allows the audience to see the drag queens, which are actually very convincing in the first scenes, and most likely, we will laugh.  Then, he introduces the audience to Albert.  Although we know he is a man, his every move is feminine.  The director seemed to nail every dramatic little worry and passing thought of the stereotypical woman.  So what?  Well, because the director is trying to make a controversial point to a pretty hard-set audience, he creates Albert so that the women and, especially, wives can relate to him.  By making him so much like a woman, he becomes a less threatening character to those who do not approve of homosexuality.  In a nutshell, the director makes it so that the audience views Albert and his, or her, husband Armand not as a gay couple but as a marriage between a woman and a man.  This is an extremely important action taken by the director in order for his audience to even consider his message.  However, the picture does take its toll on the stereotypes of gays, which is a high price to pay and people are still trying to get rid of that stereotype.

            Secondly, Mike Nichols gets his audience feeling sorry for Albert as he is not appreciated as a mother and is merely tossed aside when a girl comes along for Val.  Even though Val is not Albert’s son and came from another woman, Albert loves Val unconditionally.  His love for Val drives him to deny who he is and pretend to be the straight and manly Uncle Albert, which is no small task for the very feminine character.  As someone already mentioned (I think it was Gabrielle), Albert is the only one who does not struggle with his identity.  However, he is the only one that is really asked to change his identity.  I find it interesting that, although Albert is comfortable with who he is, those who are in an identity crisis attack him; that is just exactly how our society is.  Yet, Albert is the one who helps the others overcome their identity problems.

The Family in the Birdcage

The film The Birdcage follows Armand, the owner of a nightclub and drag show, his partner, Albert, and Armand’s son, Val, through a series of hysterical events as Val tries to create the image of a normal family for his fiancé’s conservative parents, who are coming to visit. While this film focuses heavily around Armand and Albert’s sexualities it does not criticize them, instead the film concentrates its criticisms on identity, family, love and acceptance, to prove that sometimes being different is not as awful as some may think.

In keeping with most of the movies we have watched thus far, The Birdcage has many characters with identity issues. Val, wants to hide his family from the Keeleys so that they will approve of his marriage to their daughter, Barbara. He does not necessarily seem ashamed of his family, he just wants to appear normal in front of the very conservative Keeley family. In this way, he allows the thoughts and opinions of others to affect him and his outward identity. Armand allows this to affect him as well, he does not seem to care as much about how people see him, but he allows his son to pressure him into acting differently. Though he struggles to help Val, he always returns to Albert. Albert has no identity issues whatsoever. At one point he says that he knows he is strange and he knows that people laugh at him, but he never changes. Senator Keeley has more issues than any of the other characters. He is so involved in his job and getting reelected to office that he will do anything to gain and maintain a good public image. Ironically, because Senator Keeley unsuccessfully tries so hard to impress others, he seems more ridiculous than all of the other characters, including flamboyantly gay Albert and Agador, the house keeper.

Family is also examined in this film. Despite being a nontraditional family, the Goldmans function far better as a family than the Keeleys. Armand and Albert love each other just as much as they love Val. It is a very big moment in the film when Armand goes chasing after an upset Albert to give him their palimony agreement and tell him how important he is to him. The agreement is more or less like a marriage contract; it legally binds the two and gives each man the right to half of the other’s assets. Armand explains that Albert now owns half of his life. The palimony agreement is not about possesions to Armand, it is about love and sharing his life with the person he loves the most. The importance of family in the Goldman’s life is also seen when Armand and Albert do everything in their power to help Val impress the Keeleys so that he can be with the girl he loves. The Keeley family is not nearly as close as the Goldmans. Everything in their family revolves around Senator Keeley’s career. He only agrees to meet the Goldmans and think about letting Barbara get married when his wife mentions that a happy, hopeful wedding in the family might be good for his career. Mrs. Keeley is miserable, constantly fighting for her husband’s attention by acting interested in his career. Once again the criticism falls on the “normal” and “traditional,” implying that maybe that lifestyle is the one in need of reevaluation, rather than the nontraditional.

More than anything else, The Birdcage seems to be about love and acceptance. Armand and Albert love each other no matter what, even putting up with differences in opinion and personality. They are also very accepting and as supportive as possible when Val decides to get married because they love and support him. Armand and Albert may be more accepting simply because of their situation. It would be strange for two people whose lifestyles defy social norms to be judgmental of others. The Keeley’s are close-minded and allow their love to be influenced by material and societal factors. It is almost shocking to see how little love there is in the Keeley family. Acceptance also seems to be a foreign idea to Mr. Keeley, who only agrees to accept Barbara’s engagement when the Goldman’s show him undue kindness in helping him to avoid the press and save his career when leaving The Birdcage.

By constantly poking fun at senator Keeley the movie criticizes close-minded people who cannot accept others for who they are. Creating more pathos with the audience and the Goldmans allows the viewers to see that gays are not really that different from heterosexual people. The Birdcage teaches that it is not a bad thing to be different and sometimes those who are most different may be more loving, accepting, and “normal” than anyone else.  

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