April 17 is the birthdays of Lindsay Anderson, Billy Fury, and Pete Shelley of Buzzcocks fame. All three are essential figures in my cultural life, reminding everyone of the only life I have. Anderson’s film If…. had an emotional and intellectual hold on me when I first saw the movie in 1968. I was 14 and at Parkman Junior High School. I was miserable at that school because there was a lot of hostility in the school to people from Topanga Canyon. The gym teachers had it in for me and taunted me whenever I was alone with them. As I was leaving the showers one day, one of the teachers in the P.E. department kept calling me a fag. It was odd because he didn’t call me a fag in front of the other students or teachers, but only when I was in a room or hallway by myself that he would call me out as a fag. Soon after that, I was called into the P.E.office where all the gym teachers were there when I entered the room. All three Physical Education teachers were there, and basically like a trio of barbershop crooners, they called me a fag in unison. Afterward, they marched me into the shower and requested that I take a shower. I did so, and as I started to leave, one said, “get your hair wet.” So I had to go back in and get my hair wet, which was long, of course.
Saturday, April 17, 2021
Saturday, April 17, 2021
Saturday, April 17, 2021
April 17 is the birthdays of Lindsay Anderson, Billy Fury, and Pete Shelley of Buzzcocks fame. All three are essential figures in my cultural life, reminding everyone of the only life I have. Anderson’s film If…. had an emotional and intellectual hold on me when I first saw the movie in 1968. I was 14 and at Parkman Junior High School. I was miserable at that school because there was a lot of hostility in the school to people from Topanga Canyon. The gym teachers had it in for me and taunted me whenever I was alone with them. As I was leaving the showers one day, one of the teachers in the P.E. department kept calling me a fag. It was odd because he didn’t call me a fag in front of the other students or teachers, but only when I was in a room or hallway by myself that he would call me out as a fag. Soon after that, I was called into the P.E.office where all the gym teachers were there when I entered the room. All three Physical Education teachers were there, and basically like a trio of barbershop crooners, they called me a fag in unison. Afterward, they marched me into the shower and requested that I take a shower. I did so, and as I started to leave, one said, “get your hair wet.” So I had to go back in and get my hair wet, which was long, of course.