... you can learn from:
Once Bitten (1985)
Jamie: How'd you like to have your crotch set on fire?Sebastian: Ooooh! Rough trade!
One of my most favorite shitty movies, the Jim Carrey vampire comedy Once Bitten, turned 30 years old yesterday! It was released on November 15th 1985, another one of those weird after-Halloween horror releases, although this movie's about as scary as a bungled Brazilian wax. I've posted about this movie several times over the years but I realized this morning that I've never spent words upon...
... Sebastian, the mincing gay stereotype played by actor Cleavon Little. He's the sidekick to the Countess, the ancient vampiress played by Lauren Hutton, and he's there to make sure her make-up is on good and to hiss out little bon-mots like the above.
This scene is especially strange, with that mirror-less mirror contraption, making it text all I just said. He's there to reflect back at his lady companion.
But he is actually a character, and he is openly proudly gay (when he wafts out of the Countess' closet in the opening scene we get an "out of the closet" joke because this movie is anything but subtle.) And I've seen this movie enough times that I have come to pretend that those sexy twin vamps are his playthings.
Plus he taught me Little Me about phrases like "Rough Trade" so how can I not love him? This movie's chock-full of Gay Panic (see this previous post about two of its gayest scenes) and flouncing Sebastian is its stopped-beating heart, bless him.
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1 comment:
So what was the story with Cleavon Little? Gay or straight? He had a brief marriage in the early 70s, but I don't remember ever hearing about any other relationships.
After the great "Blazing Saddles", he seemed to fade away.
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