Aisle of Lesbos

New York City Council(all)man Erik Bottcher shared this hilarious text today, to which I say: If THIS is what a lesbian looks like, then sign me up! 

Ironically, I happened to have watched two notorious sapphic flicks over the weekend that I've been meaning to mention: First up was the Talia Shire vehicle(!) "Windows" (1980), which was kind of a pre-"Basic Instinct" psycho butch thriller, with Elizabeth Ashley playing the part to a T. 

As much as I understand why the film was panned -- it was even disowned by the director Gordon Willis, who made a name for himself as a cinematographer of "The Godfather" trilogy and many Woody Allen pictures -- for me it was fun to watch 40+ plus years later just to see any type of representation from back in the day. (I'm a bad gay -- I felt the same way about "Cruising," "Partners" and the depiction of Jack Tripper!) 

Of course it helped that Joe Cortese, as the cop on the case, was awfully easy on the eyes. 

He has a cute son with ex-wife Kim Delaney, both seen here with the Bidens 

Then I watched "Personal Best," a movie I feel like I've seen but never actually watched from beginning to end. My déjà vu may have been the result of deep-seated memories of Siskel and Ebert's review of it in 1982, discussing "homosexuals" as if they were legitimate people. (I was completely mesmerized -- that was something I really needed to hear in JUNIOR HIGH -- yet felt I had to be on the lookout that no one even saw me watching the review as I was sure that alone would "out" me.) On the original PBS incarnation of the show, Siskel and Ebert practically showed the entire movie, to which they both an enthusiastic "yes" in the pre-"thumbs up"/"thumbs down" days of "Sneak Previews."

Kudos to writer/director Robert Towne, whose script doesn't even seem dated now -- the relationship was handled very matter-of-factly and was every bit as tedious as all real-life lesbian relationship I've encountered since! -- even if I could see why gay audiences might have been disappointed with the (inevitable) outcome. 

Hard to believe that Mariel Hemingway's real-life jock co-star -- Patrice Donnelly, who is sort of a more masculine version of Ralph Macchio -- isn't a lesbian in real life. And say what you will about advances in fitness and better styling, boy was that the heyday for hunks, as displayed throughout the film! 

Pleased to check both of these off my list of Films I Should Have Already Seen. 

(Correction: Mariel's character's randomly being half Native American didn't exactly age well, but at least it wasn't a dated reference about The Gays!)