In my last post, I discussed some of the hidden queer and trans history of the Holocaust, as this is Holocaust Remembrance Week. If you haven't already, I suggest reading that post first as it ties in with the theme, and it will provide deeper context as to why I am assigning this homework.

Don't panic. This homework is for you, not for me. I've already done it, and I'm glad I did. I think you will be, too.

The Homework:

Watch Cabaret (the right way)

I took time before the new year to finally watch Cabaret, a movie I've long wanted to see, but never got around to. I was drawn to it. The timing felt right, as if this was when I was meant to see it.

The film is both haunting and prescient. Of course it is.

The film is derived from the 1939 novel by Christopher Isherwood, Goodbye to Berlin, based on his experience as an Anglo-American queer man who moved to Berlin to live life openly in his queerness, but as time moves on, the thriving picture of queer life in Berlin is increasingly contrasted with the backdrop of in increasing Nazi takeover that permeates all aspects of life, in the night club and outside of it, both in the author's life and in the story. In his semi-autobiographical novel, he writes his of own experiences. He went to Hirschfeld's Institute of Sexual Science discussed in yesterday's Part 1 post. Isherwood was a part of the queer culture in Berlin. He witnessed the Nazi takeover.

Throughout the film, characters face the cognitive dissonance of life and joy before the fascist uprising, imagining they can still grasp that joy and hold it and keep it, imagining everything will be okay. Meanwhile, they begin to come face to face with the increasing absurdity and violence of the increasing power of the regime. If, like I described in a recent post, you feel like screaming as everyone goes about their lives, almost as if their heads are in the sand, you will relate to the film.

(By the way: It's available to watch in various places, but I happened to notice as I was writing this post that the Internet Archive hosts a stream for free. Here's an old trailer which does it no justice but I'm sharing anyway:

I feel pressed to make a production note that the film (1972) itself is based on the Broadway musical of the same title (1966), which was based on a Broadway play (I am a Camera, 1951), which was in turn based on the book described above (Goodbye to Berlin, 1939).

The film itself stars Liza Minnelli and Michael York, was released in 1972, and still holds an awkward yet impressive record for having the most Academy Awards without winning Best Picture. Calling it a musical is technically accurate but reductive. It's set in a nightclub. It's beautiful, haunting, prescient.

Side note: If you're a fan of Schitt's Creek, you may recall Moira directing a stage production of the show:

The Right Way to Watch It

What do I mean when I say that you need to watch the movie the right way?

Simple, let me explain. The film is beautiful and is a must-watch in January 2025, but through the process of adaptation, it still shies away from the fuller context of what this all means for queer and trans people. Queer and trans people are aspects of the story in the film, but their experiences as queer and trans people are not strictly central to it, and for this, I believe it was both somewhat conservative in its approach, yet also groundbreaking at the time, considering the caliber of the film.

This also helped the film appeal to non-queer audiences, and to help them relate. On some levels, this is a benefit, on other levels, not everything is about straight cisgender people and it shouldn't take stripping characters of their queerness or glossing over these aspects of their lives for cis and straight people to care about them. The film does address these things, but I believe it needs more context to fully appreciate.

Regardless of these flaws, which I believe they likely handled to the best of their abilities and within their power, I truly believe it's worth a watch for anyone in the US, especially, whose head is spinning with what is happening around us and the rise of fascism.

So, what I'm asking you to do is this, simply take a moment before you watch the film and read or skim through the Wikipedia page about the author, his experience, and just keep in mind that every aspect of this film, whether you witness it or not in the film, concerns queer experience. Do your best to infuse your knowledge into the background of the story and into the characters themselves. Let it inform the context that the film doesn't explicitly show you. But also, feel free to relate to it however feels closest to you.

And as the film comes to a close, I want you to ask yourself, is this not what is happening right now?

And when you answer that question, and when you want to yell at the characters in the film to warn them or be angry at them or tell them what they must do, and why and how could you not see this happening around you?! Now, imagine you're in the film, and it's happening now, in 2025, and what people might yell at your character when they witness the film about you, experiencing what is happening right now.

And I want you to listen to that voice.

no ends, only means