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Stonewall: The Movie
- Thread starter tampa24
- Start date
mikeyank
Long time forumite
During June 1969, I turned 19, was home from my first year of college, but was not "out" and remember watching the news of what had happened several miles from my Brooklyn home, but not relating. Later that summer I went to other gay bars with my childhood friend David. They were mostly unidentified from the outside as being obvious gay bars, but I did not realize that several months earlier I might have been beaten or arrested for going there.
The bar I went to with David and his friends Mark and Robert was called The Sanctuary and was in an old church. I found this image and description of The Sanctuary.
address: 407 West 43th Street
(between Ninth and Tenth Avenue)
New York City
active years: 1969 - April 1972
DeeJays: Francis Grasso (1948-2001) (photo)
Steve D'Aquisto (1943-2001)
Michael Capello
websites: The Sanctuary
information: — founder Arnie Lord, later owner Shelley
— located in an old German Baptist church
— initially named "The Church"
— legal maximum occupancy was 346 people; mostly was more than a thousand
per night
— was the first totally uninhibited gay discotheque in America
— DJ booth was the altar
— the crowd was a mix of conservative wealthy men, street kids and even hookers
— Sanctuary is also shown in the movie "Klute" (starring Jane Fonda / 1971)
— from 1973 the church was used as a Methadone clinic
— since late 70's is it an Off-Broadway theatre "The WestSide Theatre" which has been running the popular "The Vagina Monologues" since 1999
identify: hotdiscomix
The bar I went to with David and his friends Mark and Robert was called The Sanctuary and was in an old church. I found this image and description of The Sanctuary.
address: 407 West 43th Street
(between Ninth and Tenth Avenue)
New York City
active years: 1969 - April 1972
DeeJays: Francis Grasso (1948-2001) (photo)
Steve D'Aquisto (1943-2001)
Michael Capello
websites: The Sanctuary
information: — founder Arnie Lord, later owner Shelley
— located in an old German Baptist church
— initially named "The Church"
— legal maximum occupancy was 346 people; mostly was more than a thousand
per night
— was the first totally uninhibited gay discotheque in America
— DJ booth was the altar
— the crowd was a mix of conservative wealthy men, street kids and even hookers
— Sanctuary is also shown in the movie "Klute" (starring Jane Fonda / 1971)
— from 1973 the church was used as a Methadone clinic
— since late 70's is it an Off-Broadway theatre "The WestSide Theatre" which has been running the popular "The Vagina Monologues" since 1999
identify: hotdiscomix
That's pretty cool Mikey.
The story of all the building's incarnations reminds me of something from my own childhood. There was a neighborhood grocery store close to the home I lived in from the age of 4-10. My family and I went to that local grocery store a minimum of once a week for the entire 6+ years I lived there. My family then moved to another part of the city quite a ways away from there. Fast forward 5 years and I'm 15 y/o. My friends invite me to go to a new club, with a driver who was 16 and old enough to take us.
We pull up in front of this place and sure enough, it's the same grocery store parking lot which is now the new home of a discotheque. haha I was floored at the irony of it.
The location meant nothing special to my friends. But for me as I entered the new club and the Donna Summer disco music blared I looked along the walls, the large cavernous room with a dance floor now totally devoid of grocery shelves and thought, "There's where the dairy section was...the meat aisle...the produce area where I can remember helping to pick out bananas from the time I was about 7 years old...the aisle that had potato chips was over there...my favorite Lucky Charms cereal was over in that direction..." It was quite surreal! LOL
To bring the thread back on topic though, I'm quite interested to see how this movie does and how accurately it depicts the era. Since I was too young in the late 60's to know for sure, I'll have to ask others how well the movie captures the period. I haven't seen the movie advertised on tv. Has anyone else seen ads for it? I imagine it's primarily marketed in gay magazines and other gay interest sites online.
The story of all the building's incarnations reminds me of something from my own childhood. There was a neighborhood grocery store close to the home I lived in from the age of 4-10. My family and I went to that local grocery store a minimum of once a week for the entire 6+ years I lived there. My family then moved to another part of the city quite a ways away from there. Fast forward 5 years and I'm 15 y/o. My friends invite me to go to a new club, with a driver who was 16 and old enough to take us.
We pull up in front of this place and sure enough, it's the same grocery store parking lot which is now the new home of a discotheque. haha I was floored at the irony of it.
The location meant nothing special to my friends. But for me as I entered the new club and the Donna Summer disco music blared I looked along the walls, the large cavernous room with a dance floor now totally devoid of grocery shelves and thought, "There's where the dairy section was...the meat aisle...the produce area where I can remember helping to pick out bananas from the time I was about 7 years old...the aisle that had potato chips was over there...my favorite Lucky Charms cereal was over in that direction..." It was quite surreal! LOL To bring the thread back on topic though, I'm quite interested to see how this movie does and how accurately it depicts the era. Since I was too young in the late 60's to know for sure, I'll have to ask others how well the movie captures the period. I haven't seen the movie advertised on tv. Has anyone else seen ads for it? I imagine it's primarily marketed in gay magazines and other gay interest sites online.
Spartans987
Well-known Member
Thank you for sharing this Tampa! I feel naive as I had not heard about this new movie and the trailer you shared looks amazing - I can't wait to see it.
This takes me back to a time when I was only 18 (the summer before I would leave the State and go away to college). A new bar had just opened up in Boonton, a neighboring town and my best friend told me they were looking to hire young good looking in shape guys to work Thursday - Saturday nights so we both went to fill out applications and the guy who interviewed us immediately asked for our ID learning that we had to be at least 18 years old and then much to our surprise he asked if we wanted to stick around for an interview (we were so naive) we had no idea what the hell we would be doing, we thought we were going to be busboys or valet drivers at best. Our interviews consisted of taking off our shirts and putting on the uniform which was a pair of really short shorts - we were so nervous but hell we wanted a job to make some money before going off to college so we complied. I'm sure you can see where this is going...The guy obviously liked what he saw and hired us both on the spot so we finally asked what our job was, he said "all you have to do is walk around and smile and at the end of the night help clean up"
We were that stupid that we really had no idea that we were going to be working at a gay night club and didn't find out until opening night 3 days later. We both had girlfriends and were having sex with them daily as most horny teenage boys do although I was curious I had never heard of the gay scene/bars. Opening night came and I must say it still ranks up there in my top five experiences of all times. The electricity in the room was amazing and I was hit on all night which boosted my self esteem, long story short within 2 weeks the manager wanted me to start dancing and eventually I was added to the stage schedule - having guys stick money in my underwear was an incredible experience not to mention the private dates to NYC from my regular guys - I made so much money that summer...
I can't wait to see this movie
mikeyank
Long time forumite
Fascinating and horny story to me Spartan. I am curious as to how your best friend reacted to the attention from the gay men. Did he stick the job out with you, and if he did not, did he question your sexuality for staying? And this leads me to other questions about you and your good looking, well built straight buddy, but I will be discreet and not ask, but if you want to share, I am all ears. lol
stowe1
Ye Olde Curmudgeon
I remember reading about this movie a while back in one of the gay magazines or on one of the plethora of gays news websites.
The trailer is great. I marked my calendar for 9/25. Thanks for the post, tampa!
The trailer is great. I marked my calendar for 9/25. Thanks for the post, tampa!
That's an amazing story Spartan!
While I also wouldn't mind hearing some of the more pervy details of that period of your life, I'd also be fascinated to know some of the many issues you were forced to reckon with at such a tender age. That may be something you would prefer to share in private (if at all) rather than the open forum - but here goes. Do you feel the experience "turned" you to the gay side? Or do you feel that the latent gay tendencies had been probably been buried there all along? I'm imagining that being so naïve about the situation you cluelessly found yourself in was also a tremendously flattering experience for a young guy who probably had sexual experience with only a limited number of partners of the opposite sex.
Once your brain processed what was really happening, and you got over the initial shock without finding yourself running in mortal terror for the nearest exit...the attention from hundreds of guys complimenting you, tipping you, wanting to touch you, telling you how sexy and handsome you were... It had to have been an extremely intoxicating moment that you would never forget. I bet that even when you went home that night/early morning totally exhausted, that you couldn't fall asleep for several hours as you mentally processed and re-lived all the events and emotions of that day.
Was it a slower process giving up women sexually or did you jump into the gay world pretty much from that point on? Although Mikey has already asked this, did your buddy go down a similar path? Or stay truer to the straight and narrow? haha Did he stick out the job for the rest of the summer as you did?
I just can't help but think that even for the straightest of guys, that if they "accidentally" found themselves in that situation, that the experience would be utterly intoxicating for them. What young guy with low to medium self-esteem would not be extremely flattered and overcome with positive emotion to have hundreds of people suddenly fawning all over him? To go in a matter of minutes from being a social nobody, to being mobbed and treated like some kind of rock star, is something only a few people on the planet can say they've experienced.
louis33705
BSB Addict
Not to distract from the anticipation of this movie, however, this movie is already meeting with criticism especially among the LGBT community.
http://news.yahoo.com/roland-emmeri...yb21tBGNvbG8DYmYxBHBvcwMxBHZ0aWQDBHNlYwNzcg--
http://news.yahoo.com/roland-emmeri...yb21tBGNvbG8DYmYxBHBvcwMxBHZ0aWQDBHNlYwNzcg--
mikeyank
Long time forumite
Interesting article, but we will have to see the film to judge. And while it may not be accurate, the trailer focusing on a handsome young white kid may help boost the box office, while hopefully the full film will show the real story.
johnny
BSB Addict
I just can't help but think that even for the straightest of guys, that if they "accidentally" found themselves in that situation, that the experience would be utterly intoxicating for them. What young guy with low to medium self-esteem would not be extremely flattered and overcome with positive emotion to have hundreds of people suddenly fawning all over him? To go in a matter of minutes from being a social nobody, to being mobbed and treated like some kind of rock star, is something only a few people on the planet can say they've experienced. [/QUOTE]
And that is what happened to Tyler White. From number one to page six in a matter of months.From being loved to being hated in a matter of months.
I think it must have been very hard to take. For a young boy with nothing to a Star in a matter of
months. I always felt bad for the kid. Blame Broke Straight Boys for that. They didn't HELP him. They let him talk and hang himself.
Used him up then just throw him to the wind. But that is just me. Just how I feel. It is true only a few people on the planet would be able to say they have experienced it.
[/QUOTE]And that is what happened to Tyler White. From number one to page six in a matter of months.From being loved to being hated in a matter of months.
I think it must have been very hard to take. For a young boy with nothing to a Star in a matter of
months. I always felt bad for the kid. Blame Broke Straight Boys for that. They didn't HELP him. They let him talk and hang himself.
Used him up then just throw him to the wind. But that is just me. Just how I feel. It is true only a few people on the planet would be able to say they have experienced it.
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That was my thinking too Mikey. The bad or perhaps "worried" reviews seemed to focus on the bits from just the trailer rather than concerns of professional critics of cinema who might have had the opportunity to preview the whole actual movie. I'm sure I'll see it at some point to decide for myself.
And that is what happened to Tyler White. From number one to page six in a matter of months.From being loved to being hated in a matter of months.
I think it must have been very hard to take. For a young boy with nothing to a Star in a matter of
months. I always felt bad for the kid. Blame Broke Straight Boys for that. They didn't HELP him. They let him talk and hang himself.
Used him up then just throw him to the wind. But that is just me. Just how I feel. It is true only a few people on the planet would be able to say they have experienced it.
I thought very much of Tyler when I wrote that Johnny. He didn't expect that instant fame and success when he first arrived. For the first time in his life maybe he felt special and really loved by so many people. Then when the rug was just as suddenly pulled out from under him, it had to have been very traumatic for his psyche. I agree with your assessment Johnny that the professionals there should have had enough foresight to know what would work and wouldn't work with their own audience. They could and should have done more to prevent his drastic slide in the ratings.
Nobody expects the staff to be omniscient of course. There are obviously things to be tried that really are a matter of trial and error as to what will and will not resonate with the audience. But if a scene in progress is obviously bombing on a director's set, as several of Tyler's mid-career scenes clearly were, the director has every right and even a responsibility to briefly halt production, conference with and counsel the models, and change course before finishing the scene.
In fairness to the staff though, Tyler did bring some other baggage to the table that made it difficult for them to help him. It still breaks my heart though that he suffered such a drastic slide in ratings and reviews after achieving so much instant success. It really affected him deeply.
The only other person I can point to in popular culture who knows something of what Tyler went through and could truly feel his pain, would be someone like Robert van Winkle. (AKA) Vanilla Ice
On a much happier note, I'm always pleased to see models who achieve so much success here who weren't expecting it. I can remember for instance when Colin Vanguard and Blake Bennett read their reviews and were just blown away by all the praise and love. They described how they would just blush and their cheeks would get so warm from communicating with fans and seeing so many compliments on their bodies and their scenes. It's also wonderful for us fans and members when we can talk to guys who are humble and living in relative obscurity, and shower them with some genuine love and positive attention.
In as many words, models such as these say things like, "I'm just an ordinary guy living my life. Then all the sudden I'm a porn star! I can't believe it. This is too much!! LOL"
Many times nobody other than girlfriends, partners or wives have ever told them they were incredibly handsome or charming. With the straightest models they may never have been told outright that they were handsome and sexy. Because a straight man is expected to give all those compliments to women...but women are not expected to feel any obligation to return some of those same compliments to the man.
In as many words, models such as these say things like, "I'm just an ordinary guy living my life. Then all the sudden I'm a porn star! I can't believe it. This is too much!! LOL"
Many times nobody other than girlfriends, partners or wives have ever told them they were incredibly handsome or charming. With the straightest models they may never have been told outright that they were handsome and sexy. Because a straight man is expected to give all those compliments to women...but women are not expected to feel any obligation to return some of those same compliments to the man.
rafe59
Well-known Member
Thanks Tampa....It surely will be on my list of movies to view.....I think people should realize it is a movie and not a Documentary, so it may not be Historically accurate in everything that you see !!!
Spartans987
Well-known Member
I just can't help but think that even for the straightest of guys, that if they "accidentally" found themselves in that situation, that the experience would be utterly intoxicating for them. What young guy with low to medium self-esteem would not be extremely flattered and overcome with positive emotion to have hundreds of people suddenly fawning all over him? To go in a matter of minutes from being a social nobody, to being mobbed and treated like some kind of rock star, is something only a few people on the planet can say they've experienced.
And that is what happened to Tyler White. From number one to page six in a matter of months.From being loved to being hated in a matter of months.
I think it must have been very hard to take. For a young boy with nothing to a Star in a matter of
months. I always felt bad for the kid. Blame Broke Straight Boys for that. They didn't HELP him. They let him talk and hang himself.
Used him up then just throw him to the wind. But that is just me. Just how I feel. It is true only a few people on the planet would be able to say they have experienced it.
[/QUOTE]Very well said Johnny and so true! The effects of instant stardom mixed with the wrong people, influences and drugs can lead to a tragic ending. In the story that I shared, my best friend growing up who told me about the opportunity and worked along side of me experiencing a sort of sudden stardom took his own life at the age of 19. Unfortunately we kept our experiences a secret from our families and with me moving out of state for college I was unable to help him in time when he made some really bad decisions
Spartans987
Well-known Member
On a much happier note, I'm always pleased to see models who achieve so much success here who weren't expecting it. I can remember for instance when Colin Vanguard and Blake Bennett read their reviews and were just blown away by all the praise and love. They described how they would just blush and their cheeks would get so warm from communicating with fans and seeing so many compliments on their bodies and their scenes. It's also wonderful for us fans and members when we can talk to guys who are humble and living in relative obscurity, and shower them with some genuine love and positive attention.
In as many words, models such as these say things like, "I'm just an ordinary guy living my life. Then all the sudden I'm a porn star! I can't believe it. This is too much!! LOL"
Many times nobody other than girlfriends, partners or wives have ever told them they were incredibly handsome or charming. With the straightest models they may never have been told outright that they were handsome and sexy. Because a straight man is expected to give all those compliments to women...but women are not expected to feel any obligation to return some of those same compliments to the man.
you are a very wise man
peterh6308
BSB Addict
I was/am a Tyler fan as well, but he never came across to me as a naive innocent little boy. He was an arrogant loud mouth little punk who thought his shit didn't stink. Now this is what I liked about him (same as Damien Kyle) but he pushed the wrong peoples buttons somewhere and he's where he put himself. I hope for the best for him also.....
Oh my gosh Spartan. The revelation about the fate of your friend literally made me gasp. I'm so sorry. For you, for him and for his family.
Well Peter,
I agree with you on most of this stuff. Naïve and innocent are not the best descriptors for Tyler when he arrived. But I also picked up on the fact that much of the cockiness of young guys (like Damien Kyle too) who use the macho bravado or chip on the shoulder have developed it as a defense or coping mechanism for a rough childhood and a tough life of hard living. Some of the bravado of these young guys is a false façade used to put up a tough exterior in order cover up deep past hurts and hopefully prevent new ones.
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