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We'll have a special guest as we navigate disability in cinema, classic horror, and more. https://twitter.com/ticklish_biz/status/1180533199610400775
In fact, join me in just 30 MINUTES as I do my delayed live-tweet of FREAKS. (Gotta prep for the episode anyway!) #TCMParty @tcm #disabilitymovies
Feel free to mute me because for the next 70 minutes we're talking about Tod Browning's FREAKS, a feature I still cite as a landmark film regarding disabled representation. #TCMParty @tcm
Browning came from a circus family and wanted to create this tribute to the people he knew and worked with. MGM wanted a horror movie. #TCMParty @tcm
Hans and Freida were played by brother and sister Harry and Daisy Earle aka the Doll Family. It explains why their romantic interactions were so stilted, but also the studio would not have wanted to show TOO much romance between disabled folx. #TCMParty @tcm
Whether you believe Cleopatra is good at all at the beginning, the way she pinches Hans' cheek says a lot. #TCMParty
This scene with the microcephalics at the river is bittersweet. One of several scenes that was trimmed by force by the studio when it wants to show the characters are innocent people who just want to be outside.
I'm always fascinated by how the able-bodied people are portrayed. Some, like Phoroso and Venus are good allies. Others, like Cleo and the Strongman and the others are bad. It's pretty authentic.
Can I just say FREAKS, in 1932, is actually MORE progressive than modern movies. It still boasts one of the biggest cast of disabled performers in an American movie I know of. #TCMParty @tcm
Actually, Phroso' stereotyping of Venus is worse because it's so casual. It's more ingrained than the mistreatment of the disabled cast. #TCMParty @tcm
Our introduction of Daisy and Violet Hilton! I LOVE these two the best because they're conjoined twins presented as sexual objects and one gets married in the movie.
These two have a fascinating story (shout-out to THE LIVES & LOVES OF DAISY AND VIOLET HILTON, a must-read). They were child stars who tried desperately to avoid exploitation only to fall into poverty. A true rags to riches to rags tale. #TCMParty @tcm
Notice that Venus isn't surprised that Cleopatra is interested in Hans BECAUSE he's disabled. She notices that she's interested in Hans because she's stealing another woman's man. #TCMParty @tcm
Browning definitely had frustration making this, more so because the circus performers weren't professional actors and it is evident who had worked in Hollywood previously. #TCMParty @tcm
Our introduction to another long-term circus performer, Johnny Eck. He was multi-talented as a singer, photographer, and more. #tcmparty @tcm
I don't know what it says about me as an audience member that I know the lives and personalities of disabled performers from 1932 than I do disabled performers of 2019. I think it shows just how marginalized they remain. #TCMParty @tcm
There's valid criticism about the implication that disabled people are their own cabal, but I think it speaks more to the close-knit nature of the circus at the time. These performers were often taken advantage of & were forced to work together to protect each other. #TCMParty
It can't be stressed enough, FREAKS is one of the few movies to show the minutiae of disabled living. Characters eat, talk about their life, and you see how they ADAPT to the day-to-day (the woman eating with her feet, etc). Browning shoots it for what it is: natural. #TCMParty
I recall being a young girl and watching this kissing scene with the Hilton sisters and the young man. It was probably the first (and only time I can recall) seeing a disabled woman being so overtly romantic with an able-bodied man. And her sister "feels" it! #TCMParty
"To me, you're a man. But to her, you're just something to laugh at." Freida is so true! And, again, this discussion isn't exclusively about disability but about the character's relationship. And Hans, like a dude, assumes he's worthy dammit! #TCMParty @tcm
In any other movie this would be an on-the-nose eye-roll. But because we've seen disabled performers (the Hiltons) be loved and show love with able-bodied men, it takes on added poignance. There ARE people that see the disability as just a trait. #TCMParty @tcm
Cleopatra almost exclusively refers to Hans in baby terms. He's "cute," she pinches his cheeks, she calls him a baby. She may be after his money but she exhibits overt ableist behavior (even before we had a word for it!). #TCMParty @tcm
I'm sure audiences in 1932 responded much like Cleopatra did to this wedding scene, with laughter and derision, but Browning shoots it so matter-of-factly. You watch everyone's reactions and see it's a joyous party and Cleo is the problem. #TCMParty @tcm
I've seen so many movies do the "one of us" scene with able-bodied actors (looking at you WOLF OF WALL STREET) and that REALLY shows how able-bodied audiences interpret the movie. #TCMParty @tcm
Why does Cleo respond so horribly? She doesn't want to drink after them but more importantly she wants to emphasize the superiority of her position as an able-bodied person. She is not one of them because, for her, they are a scourge.
And then Hercules has to gaslight Hans, to both make Hans believe that he's not into Cleo, but to make Hans believe they are allies. #TCMParty @tcm
I was saying this to someone yesterday, as a disabled person I naturally try to be more diplomatic and not show my anger because I know the assumption from able-bodied people is that I'm entitled and expect everyone to defer to me. #TCMParty @tcm
This movie was a hard shoot. Not only was Browning fighting with the studio over content, but the MGM stars also REFUSED to eat with the circus actors in the commissary and got them banned. The question is which stars? #TCMParty @tcm
Okay, as good as Venus is - and in this movie for the time she's an decent ally - notice she still falls into the trap of referring to Hans as a "freak." #TCMParty @tcm
We're coming to the point where much of the movie was hacked up and lost. The original cut of this was 90-minutes cut down to its eventual 64. #TCMParty @tcm
I do think the horror would be more effective if the characters just straight up went to Cleopatra instead of having to crawl through mud, but I see the appeal. #TCMParty @tcm
There was A LOT cut from Cleopatra's demise. The attack was portrayed and Hercules was castrated. Of course the studio would never have shown such violence and, as a disabled person, I think it's classier for them to be shown NOT committing atrocities. #TCMParty @tcm
You can tell by how washed out this final scene is that it was reshot, but I like that the camera's last moments are on Hans and Freida, not the able-bodied lovers walking out. #TCMParty @tcm
The missing footage has never been found but it's on my wishlist of things I'd love to be discovered someday. The movie finished filming in December of '31 but tested it in January and it was a DISASTER. #TCMParty @tcm
I don't know if it's apocryphal or not, but supposedly a woman threatened to sue MGM after seeing the movie because it gave her a miscarriage. I wouldn't be surprised if Louis B. thought a story like this would up the horror factor of FREAKS. #TCMParty @tcm
FREAKS came out in February of '32 and was a commercial and critical disaster (no surprise). Unfortunately, it killed Browning's career. He did 4 more movies after (but only credited for 2) and was labeled poison. @tcm #TCMParty
Both Leila Hyams and Olga Baclanova (Venus and Cleopatra) worked throughout the '40s and '50s though never got as high as the actresses rumored to originally play the roles: Jean Harlow and Myrna Loy, respectively. #TCMParty @tcm
FREAKS was one of Harry Earles' last roles. He'd end his career playing a member of the Lollipop Guild in The Wizard of Oz. Daisy Earles would appear in WIZARD OF OZ also, as well as play a circus performer in THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH. #TCMParty @tcm
And Daisy and Violet Hilton would make one other feature film, the weirdly atrocious CHAINED FOR LIFE, engage in multiple marriage publicity schemes, and eventually have a quiet life working a grocery store. #TCMParty @tcm
I understand all the criticisms about FREAKS but I maintain I absolutely love it. It's vital for disabled history on-film and remains progressive in so many ways. Hopefully you'll listen to my upcoming @ticklish_biz episode on it and that you enjoyed this live-tweet! #TCMParty
If you're interested in me doing more of these live-tweets regarding disabled cinema of all stripes, let me know! It seems people like to hear about these things and I watch A LOT OF movies about disability (some that are so bad). Would you want me to make this a regular thing?
