Subcultures & Countercultures - Essay Example

The gay subculture in the film La Cage Aux Folles (Molinaro 1978) will be explored in this paper. 2) a. Gay Subculture The film illustrates the gay subculture through the drag queens and transvestites of the 1970’s nightclubs in France. Acting like women, the male club performers in the film wore make-up and gowns. Subcultures maintain a safe distance from the dominant culture by exhibiting distinctive styles, behaviors, and beliefs (Hebdige as qtd. in Carey 243). The gay subculture in this film differentiates itself from the dominant heterosexual culture through its manner of speech, clothes, gender, and sexual preference. 3) a. Dominant Culture Dominant culture encompasses the prevailing customs, religion, norms, and all things that constitute a society.

Mediated by ideological representations, members of society live the dominant culture’s reality without questioning its origins. The dominant culture in the film was characterized by loyalties in the institutions of family, marriage, and moral standards. The family of the bride was traditional and ideal in the sense that the mother, father, and daughter fulfilled their stereotypical roles. The father, who was a deputy of the Cultural Order, symbolizes crumbling morality as represented by the broken marriage of the groom’s parents, and the president who slept with a black prostitute. b. Subculture Subculture refers to a societal group that embodies the resistances and deviations from the dominant culture.

This segment of society possesses its own style, language, norms, and beliefs. In the film, gay men wore make-up, corsets, silk robes, and high heels. Albin (Michel Serrault) spoke in high-pitched voice and considered herself a woman. In one scene, Albin and Renato (Ugo Tognazzi) were in a bar crowded with heterosexual men. The gay subculture in that scene manifested how sexually and physically distant it was from the dominant culture. c. Language/Argot Language refers to the linguistic devices that a particular group in society appropriates to both assert and differentiate themselves from other groups.

Language includes the spoken and written word, slangs, connotations, and even inflections in the tone of voice. Words like whore, witch, and fag were constantly heard in the film. Albin referred to himself as fag (a derogatory term for gay men) but was agitated when other people call him as such. Albin also considered himself ‘ridiculous’ and a ‘monster’ many times in the film. The use of these words somehow reflected the characters’ idea of the gay subculture. d. Norms Norms are about the prescribed and expected behaviors for members of society.

Like the dominant culture, norms work by setting a certain standard of behavior, appearance, or speech to be followed by members of society. In the film, norms were expressed in the transformation of Renato’s and Albin’s house, and their transformation into being heterosexuals as well. Nude sculptures, figures with protruding sex organs, and colorful tapestries were removed in time for the visit of the bride’s family. As a norm, the definition of a man in the film involved manly actions, dress, and sexual preference.

The scene in the bar showed Renato teaching Albin how to eat and walk like a man. e. Material Culture Material culture refers to the artifacts which possess certain meanings to a specific segment of society. The meanings ascribed to different artifacts differ from one society to another. Nude sculptures and figures showing butts and male sex organs were displayed in the film. The meanings of these images were attached to the gay subculture. While other cultures may find the images offensive, gay subculture flaunted these images. 4) I think the film, however critical of the dominant moral culture, captured the essence of the 1970’s gay subculture.

The film portrayed the gay characters like any ordinary person who loved their children, longed for lifetime partnership, and searched for true love. Some of them even had wives and children of their own. Since the gay movement was gaining support during that period, the film captured that spirit with the energy and vigor of the gay characters in the nightclub. The juxtaposition of the crumbling moral order and the seemingly intact gay subculture was also interesting. The film exposed the vulnerabilities of the dominant culture as symbolized by the broken marriage of the groom’s parents and the president who had an affair with a prostitute.

The marginal gay subculture, on the other hand, presented itself as a viable alternative in case the dominant culture collapses. The 20-year relationship of Renato and Albin contrasts the failed marriage of Renato to his first wife. The promiscuity of the president was contrasted with the chaste lives of the gay characters. The film accomplishes its critique of the prevailing moral order then and does so with so much humor. Works Cited Carey, James. “Communication as Culture.” Sources: Notable Selections in Mass Media. Eds. Jarice Hanson and David Maxcy.

Connecticut: Dushkin Publishing Group/Brown & Benchmark Publishers, 1996. 233-242. Molinaro, Edouard, dir. La Cage Aux Folles. Perf. Ugo Tognazzi, Michel Serrault, and Remi Laurent. Da Ma Produzione, 1978. Film.