Vampires and Violets: Lesbians in Film

by Andrea Weiss

A revelatory survey of lesbian identity in film--from the crossdressing stars like Garbo, Dietrich, and Hepburn to the vampire movies of the late '60s, Silkwood and The Color Purple. With wit and political acumen, Weiss reveals the concealed world of a host of movies both popular and forgotten. 160 photos.

Genres: Film, Nonfiction, Queer, LGBT, Lesbian, History, Horror

184 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1992

About the author

Andrea Weiss is an internationally acclaimed documentary filmmaker and nonfiction author. Her books include Paris Was A Woman (Harper Collins, 1995), Vampires And Violets (Penguin, 1993), and, most recently, In The Shadow Of The Magic Mountain: The Erika And Klaus Mann Story (University of Chicago Press, 2008). They have been translated into French, German, Korean, Swedish, Japanese, and Croatian.

Source:
andreaweiss.net/bio/

Reviews

[Naima · Rating 5 out of 5]

if you don’t have access to a copy of this book, i’ve compiled all of the movies mentioned in it below:

https://boxd.it/g2EB6

i found it to be indispensable in its archival of lesbian movies, sentiment, and history, and encourage you to, if you can’t get a copy, to at least watch the movies listed

[Catherine · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is pretty outdated in that it was written 20 years ago and a lot has changed in relation to lesbians in film since then. Still, most everything Weiss writes about here is still relevant and/or interesting in some way. Instead of being a historical account this is all theoretically based. It has chapters on girls school films, Dietrich and Garbo, Post War Hollywood, Vampires, Art Cinema and Independent Films. I do not agree with everything she says as she finds every single lesbian that has ever been in a film problematic. Basically all of her concerns are completely valid (each type of woman portrayed it either seen as a victim, a mother-daughter connection, or titillating objectifcation for men specifically) but it also makes it seemingly impossible for anyone to do anything right which I think is just as problematic. Thankfully it is balanced out with the postivie aspects and also juxtaposed with medical information about how homosexuality was being thought of at specific points, what theories were around an dso forth so it is easy to compare those with the representations on screen. Every chapter was really interesting. Loved reading about Queen Christina and Morocco. Also Night of the Iguana which I had forgotten about entirely. Also many other interesting points and ideas. I want to find a more recent take on the issue/history of lesbians in film because its biggest flaw was that the most recent film written about in it was The Color Purple.

[Claire · Rating 5 out of 5]

I would kill for an updated edition of this book. I would consider it dated only because it was published in the early 90s and so much queer shit has happened in the last two decades!

[Joshua · Rating 5 out of 5]

THis was a fascinating exploration of the visibility of lesbianism in cinema and how lesbians have often been denied or else exploited in traditional cinema. Andrea Weiss is able to follow the path of representation, or far more often lack thereof, and how lesbianism has been portrayed by heterosexual and homosexual filmmakers. While the final conclusion is not necessarily a happy one, Weiss does manage to convey a sense of hope in this work by reminding her reader of the power of film a media to convey personal experience and desire and how lesbians have figured in that narrative. Lesbian voices are ones that have often been silent or used by horny heterosexual men leaving lesbians in a bizarre position of being figures of both threat and lust to men.

Weiss offers her reader then a figure of the lesbian as a quasi-mythic and sometimes self-parodying figure, yet still despite this a powerful icon in the sexual and cultural landscape. Lesbians are moving forward in the culture and claiming a space to express their desire unironically in cinema and so a book like this offers queer women a glimpse into the past to see where they were and how far they have come in being able to express their desires and realities.

Vampires and Violets is a wonderful book and well worth the time of any lover of film.

[L · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good overview of what lesbian film was like before 1990s. Read alongside the sapphorama series at film forum and it was such an essential experience to get to read about a film and get to see it playing right after finding out about it. I feel like it was such a key part of the experience because instead of just reading about the movie, or even going and watching on my own, I got to live through the movie specifically with a lesbian audience in mind. Favorite chapter has to be the lesbian vampire, obviously.

[Jessrawk · Rating 4 out of 5]

A tad dated now (understandably), but an okay overview of selected lesbian film texts. The analysis is a little suspect at times, but that is to be expected. Worth it to mine for some golden films to watch.

[Sucre · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars - definitely preferred the first half of this to the second, but the whole thing introduced me to a lot of films i definitely need to check out. really loved the photos included, and as usual despaired over how some of the issues written about are not any better 30+ years later. it is true that we have more options for lesbians in film nowadays, though they are typically cloaked behind "sapphic" "wlw" "queer" wording. at the end it talks about how it's entirely possible that in the future, lesbians will have a sense of longing for something that never truly existed, a depiction of lesbianism in film that feels more true and real than any current day offerings, and that's going to sit with me for a bit. it's always easy to look back at the old days and long for a romanticized version, and it's something that has become a lot more commonplace in ppl my age who long for a more radical gay past, but it's important to recognize and remember what we have now and how difficult the past truly was.

[cee · Rating 3 out of 5]

it turns out i am not actually interested in film studies even if there are lesbians. i'm sure as a work in its field this is a good book but i did fall asleep during the chapter on art house films (probably this is natural). i love to read anyone being described as a "renowned" or "notorious" lesbian tho that's great

[Jason · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating treatise on the history of lesbian images in film. Likewise, a fascinating history on lesbian images not in film. I was really struck by the author's ability to explain the phenomenon of finding the images of lesbians/lesbianism in film by their absence. Really, a compelling read for film buffs and anyone interested in film history, and LGBTQI history.

[Lethe · Rating 4 out of 5]

But even given Hollywood's limited alternatives (and also given the steady decline in the quality of the movies since the advent of television), lesbians can and do find pleasure in the mainstream cinema. [...] (If all else fails, there is always the girl sitting next to you in the theater.)

[lina · Rating 4 out of 5]

even though this was published thirty years ago, its analyses of these iconic lesbian films feel pretty contemporary. would love to read an updated version with weiss’ thoughts on lesbian cinema of the past three decades. had a lot of fun with this and added a lot of movies to my watchlist :)

[J Evans · Rating 5 out of 5]

Outstanding.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

prepping for lesbian book club

[Alaina · Rating 3 out of 5]

In our current wave of widespread lesbian representation on TV and film, this book is outdated as an analysis of contemporary lesbian theory. However, it still functions well, both as an artifact and a history. The scholarship is still sound, and Weiss's interpretation of lesbianism in early films is especially interesting. One of her main premises is that lesbians did, and still can, take positive, enjoyable images from films that outwardly appear to criticize lesbianism.

The book is short and readable, but isn't a "fun" read, with its frequent forays into theory and art criticism jargon.

[M.E. Logan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A bit dated, it was written in 1992. Still, a good resource for early films, early identification. Spoke of films that were new to me and where the invisible becomes visible. There is a wide range of films, Hollywood, European art cinema and modern (well at the time of the writing) independent work by lesbian filmmakers. Anyone who is a movie goer or interested in film history will find this a valuable resource.

[Bruce · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author analyzes films that have a lesbian content. Some content is subtle, e.g those of major Hollywood studios, and some not so subtle independently produced films. The author looks at the films from an audience perspective, i.e. how do lesbians feel about the films. It is an interesting read, even for a middle-aged male.

[Lucie · Rating 5 out of 5]

in the mid-90s there was practically nothing in the field, and then along came andrea weiss' groundbreaking & thorough book...well-written, documented & a good spring-board for further & more specific research.