Cruising & Basic Instinct

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Continuing our celebration of queer cinema for Pride 2021, we're turning our attention to some controversial films. Both Cruising (1980) and Basic Instinct (1992) take the Killer Queer stereotypes to stylish if problematic heights. Each was protested heavily throughout production, with queer activists not just disrupting filming, but at the multiplex, with signs giving away the ending in an effort to cut into profits. But, all these years later and they've earned a spot in the queer canon. Cruising offers a snapshot of a community on the brink of disaster, proudly cooperating with Hollywood elites to live their truth, despite the protests of their peers. Basic Instinct veers into camp, with depictions of queer women written by men who were terrified of them. Len and Max join this week to discuss two of queer cinema's most divisive films.