Al pacino is gay

When he tells the detective about his incident with an officer, he is brushed aside, being accused of fabrication.

'Cruising' Does Not Shy Away From Brutality

The first homicide in Cruising shows the killer looking for prey at a gay club. He's stripped, beaten, verbally abused, and sexually assaulted.

There he continued to learn method acting, participating in the tail-end of a revolution in the art of performance.

Since I started this viewing project, I’ve been joking with friends that Al Pacino is bisexual. Koch rejected these demands, citing opposition to censorship and a drive to encourage the film industry of New York.

But I’m so glad I made my way back to Al Pacino.

Directed by William Friedkin, known for his work on The Exorcist, Cruising stands out for its gritty portrayal of a subculture then at the margins of society, wrapped in a cloak of thriller and mystery genres.

Though Cruising was nominated for a Razzie, its ending is rich with ambiguity and unanswered questions.

The LGBTQ+ community protested Cruising due to fears of reinforcing harmful stereotypes about the community. Friedkin wasn’t wrong for making a movie that ultimately tells a subversive and risque story, and the protestors were not wrong for putting up their guards against another perceived attack on their community, an all too real threat at the time.

"What are you doing?" the man asks, sensing something is wrong. With this rejection from the city, the fight against Cruising’s production came to a head on July 26th of 1979, when 1,000 protestors marched on the film production’s headquarters in Greenwich Village, blocking traffic by enacting a sit-in on the street.

His innocence and caution didn't save him. It's a movie about the gay community but not for the gay community. Books like Peter Biskind’s Easy Riders, Raging Bulls helped to mythologize this era as a grand artistic achievement of drugs, genius, and masculinity.

Only in recent years, has the cultural canon broadened this American cinematic moment to include a wider range of voices.

The queer community knew that Cruising would endanger their already vulnerable community. When asked by a producer if his interpretation of Salomé’s King Herrod is bisexual, Pacino says, “Of course.”

In Sonny Boy, Pacino talks about how his performance in The Godfather films was inspired by a line in Mario Puzzo’s book.

This cinema belongs to us as much as it does any straight film bro. Cruising and its director William Friedkin make a weak attempt to somehow differentiate the leather subculture within the queer community from the mainstream gay community--there's gay and then there's gay. At another point, he sits at a bar where he talks to a gay magician and two women dance behind him.

Sometimes people mumble, sometimes images are dark.

By the time the method was fully adopted by Hollywood in the late 60s, the movies were responding to a moment in American history where the hope of progress was being crushed by American imperialism. It raises questions about the fluidity of identity and the impact of stepping into another's world, even superficially.

10 Best LGBTQ+ Thrillers, Ranked By IMDb

If you're looking for the best LGBTQ+ thrillers, here's a good place to start, as these movies have lots of thrills while offering diverse characters.

The Controversy Came From The Belief That Cruising Would Reinforce Harmful Stereotypes

Prior to its release, Cruising faced significant opposition from the LGBTQ+ community, sparking protests and calls for boycotts (via Village Voice).

The contention stemmed from concerns over the film’s portrayal of the gay community, particularly its focus on the S&M subculture, which activists feared would reinforce harmful stereotypes and misconceptionsabout gay men as inherently deviant or linked to criminal behavior. Whether your agree that it’s a subversive statement against police and the status quo; a well-made, engaging thriller; a compelling time capsule of the 70’s/80’s NYC gay BDSM scene; or all of the above, Cruising is worth a whole lot more than reactionary condemnation.