Current queer culture estimation of Noël Coward?
April 28, 2017 10:27 AM Subscribe
I've been a fan of Noël Coward as a songwriter and entertainer for a long while. (His many-shaded song about Spring is a favorite of mine.) Yet I realized today I have no idea what kind of esteem he is held in in queer culture today.
I can imagine him being revered for his intelligence and deep humanism; or being reviled for embodying a restrictive and outdated stereotype. Or, something else -- I don't know what. You are my queer informants: what do you make of the man? Is he a relevant reference point for you? (Comments by non-queer persons on Coward's significance today also very welcome.)
I can imagine him being revered for his intelligence and deep humanism; or being reviled for embodying a restrictive and outdated stereotype. Or, something else -- I don't know what. You are my queer informants: what do you make of the man? Is he a relevant reference point for you? (Comments by non-queer persons on Coward's significance today also very welcome.)
Sondheim's small essay on him in his lyric collection Finishing The Hat is well worth reading.
posted by PinkMoose at 11:56 AM on April 28, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by PinkMoose at 11:56 AM on April 28, 2017 [1 favorite]
Surely this depends on which cadre of queer subculture you poll, in my circle he's remembered in rosy tones. There's a bartender in Seattle who has a Coward tattoo, who loves showing Coward material on the screens in his bar, so you can imagine how he feels--his audience, too. Few people hold him closely enough to quote his material verbatim, but you'll still see his works in camp and burlesque shows. And maybe that's a hint of where he's still remembered at all: people in nightlife, theater, performance, and a good number of self-styled dandies.
posted by late afternoon dreaming hotel at 12:43 PM on April 28, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by late afternoon dreaming hotel at 12:43 PM on April 28, 2017 [3 favorites]
Ah, who speaks for queer culture today?
As a reasonably well-read gay man, I can say that Noel Coward might not have much standing in some segments of queer culture today. See, Coward was a cisgendered white gay male, which is enough to make him an un-person in many queer circles. There's not nearly enough intersectionality or oppression in his story and far too much hobnobbing with the élite.
Check back in 15 years and see if the cultural reference points have shifted.
posted by A. Davey at 6:41 PM on May 1, 2017 [1 favorite]
As a reasonably well-read gay man, I can say that Noel Coward might not have much standing in some segments of queer culture today. See, Coward was a cisgendered white gay male, which is enough to make him an un-person in many queer circles. There's not nearly enough intersectionality or oppression in his story and far too much hobnobbing with the élite.
Check back in 15 years and see if the cultural reference points have shifted.
posted by A. Davey at 6:41 PM on May 1, 2017 [1 favorite]
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by Juliet Banana at 10:33 AM on April 28, 2017 [2 favorites]