Spinning and singing: Exploring memory and gender non-conformity through screenwriting for publication first | Intellect Skip to content
1981
Textual Perspectives: Screenwriting Styles, Modes and Languages
  • ISSN: 1759-7137
  • E-ISSN: 1759-7145

Abstract

This article discusses a short screenplay written for publication first, rather than production, and how this approach enabled the writer to explore fringe or non-commercial topics, specifically male gender non-conformity and queer identity formation. Shifting the focus of screenwriting from the sole goal of production to a twin goal of publication first and then production opened up a number of creative and scholarly avenues for the writer and means that the script will find an audience (a readership) irrespective of production. It also means that the textual qualities of the script are foregrounded. The script and this article explore the notion of effeminacy as a non-normative gender of considerable discursive potency that simultaneously disrupts both masculinity and femininity. The screenplay and this article also explore the relationship between memory and identity, arguing that interventions into memory contribute to the shaping of queer identity. The screenplay foregrounds dialogue as a textual strategy to enhance the readability of the screenplay and position it firmly as a textual or literary artefact.

Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journals/10.1386/josc_00104_1
2022-12-02
2024-04-25
Loading full text...

Full text loading...

References

  1. Baker, D. J.. ( 2013;), ‘ Scriptwriting as creative writing research: A preface. ’, TEXT: Journal of Writing and Writing Courses, Special Issue: ‘Scriptwriting as Creative Writing Research’, 19, pp. 18, http://www.textjournal.com.au/speciss/issue19/Baker_preface.pdf. Accessed 1 October 2021.
    [Google Scholar]
  2. Baker, D. J.. ( 2016;), ‘ The screenplay as text: Academic scriptwriting as creative research. ’, New Writing: The International Journal for the Practice and Theory of Creative Writing, 13:1, pp. 7184.
    [Google Scholar]
  3. Baker, D. J.. ( 2017a;), ‘ Ghosts of Leigh: Scripting the monstrous effeminate. ’, New Writing: The International Journal for the Practice and Theory of Creative Writing, 14:3, pp. 32747.
    [Google Scholar]
  4. Baker, D. J.. ( 2017b;), ‘ (Re)scripting the self: Creative writing, effeminacy and the art of subjectivity. ’, Writing in Practice: The Journal of Creative Writing Research, 3, n.pag., http://www.nawe.co.uk/writing-in-education/writing-at-university/writing-in-practice/current-issue.html. Accessed 1 November 2021.
    [Google Scholar]
  5. Baker, D. J.. ( 2018a), Ghosts of Leigh and Other Plays, Charleston, SC:: LineWright;.
    [Google Scholar]
  6. Baker, D. J.. ( 2018b;), ‘ Hallwalkers: Queering gender and attraction through/in scriptwriting. ’, TEXT: Journal of Writing and Writing Courses, Special Issue: ‘Screenplays as Research Artefacts’, 48, pp. 127.
    [Google Scholar]
  7. Baker, D. J.. ( 2018c;), ‘ Playwriting as research special section. ’, New Writing: The International Journal for the Practice and Theory of Creative Writing, 15:2, pp. 175297.
    [Google Scholar]
  8. Baker, D. J.,, Batty, C.,, Beattie, D., and Davis, S.. (eds) ( 2015), TEXT: Journal of Writing and Writing Courses, Special Issue: ‘Scriptwriting as Creative Writing Research II’, 29, http://www.textjournal.com.au/speciss/issue29/content.htm. Accessed 1 October 2021.
    [Google Scholar]
  9. Baker, D. J., and Beattie, D.. ( 2013;), ‘ Scriptwriting as creative writing research: An introduction. ’, TEXT: Journal of Writing and Writing Courses, Special Issue: ‘ Scriptwriting as Creative Writing Research. ’, 19, n.pag., http://www.textjournal.com.au/speciss/issue19/content.htm. Accessed 1 November 2021.
    [Google Scholar]
  10. Batty, C.. ( 2014;), ‘ Introduction. ’, in C. Batty. (ed.), Screenwriters and Screenwriting: Putting Practice into Context, London:: Palgrave Macmillan;.
    [Google Scholar]
  11. Batty, C., and Baker, D.. ( 2018;), ‘ The role of fiction in screenwriting (as) research. ’, TEXT: Journal of Writing and Writing Courses, 48, pp. 110.
    [Google Scholar]
  12. Bell, D.. ( 2000;), ‘ Farm boys and wild men: Rurality, masculinity, and homosexuality. ’, Rural Sociology, 65:4, pp. 54761.
    [Google Scholar]
  13. Bergling, T.. ( 2001), Sissyphobia: Gay Men and Effeminate Behavior, Binghamton, NY:: Haworth Press;.
    [Google Scholar]
  14. Butler, J.. ( 1990), Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity, New York:: Routledge;.
    [Google Scholar]
  15. Butler, J.. ( 2004), Undoing Gender, New York:: Routledge;.
    [Google Scholar]
  16. Castiglia, C., and Reed, C.. ( 2004;), ‘ Ah, yes, I remember it well: Memory and queer culture in Will and Grace. ’, Cultural Critique, 56, pp. 15888.
    [Google Scholar]
  17. Cerankowski, K. J.. ( 2013;), ‘ Queer dandy style: The cultural politics of Tim Gunn’s asexuality. ’, Women’s Studies Quarterly, 41:1&2, Spring/Summer, pp. 22644.
    [Google Scholar]
  18. Couser, G. Thomas. ( 2012), Memoir: An Introduction, New York:: Oxford University Press;.
    [Google Scholar]
  19. Foucault, M.. ( 1986), The History of Sexuality Volume 3: The Care of the Self (trans. R. Hurley), New York:: Pantheon;.
    [Google Scholar]
  20. Harper, G.. ( 2012), Creative Writing: Interviews with Contemporary Writers, London:: Palgrave Macmillan;.
    [Google Scholar]
  21. Herdt, G. H.. ( 1999;), ‘ An extract from A Comment on Cultural Attributes and Fluidity of Bisexuality (1984). ’ in M. Storr. (ed.), Bisexuality: A Critical Reader, London:: Routledge;, pp. 16266.
    [Google Scholar]
  22. Hill, P.. ( 1957;), ‘ Truman Capote, the art of fiction. ’, The Paris Review, 17, n.pag., http://www.theparisreview.org/interviews/4867/the-art-of-fiction-no-17-truman-capote. Accessed 10 November 2021.
    [Google Scholar]
  23. Ingelstrom, A.. ( 2014;), ‘ Narrating voices in the screenplay text: How the writer can direct the reader’s visualisations of the potential film. ’, in C. Batty. (ed.), Screenwriters and Screenwriting: Putting Practice into Context, Basingstoke and New York:: Palgrave Macmillan;, pp. 3045.
    [Google Scholar]
  24. Kosofsky Sedgwick, E.. ( 1992), Between Men: English Literature and Male Homosocial Desire, New York:: Columbia University Press;.
    [Google Scholar]
  25. Kosofsky Sedgwick, E.. ( 1994), Tendencies, London:: Routledge;.
    [Google Scholar]
  26. Mahon, M.. ( 2004;), ‘ Catholic sex. ’ in J. Bernauer, and J. Carrette. (eds), Michel Foucault & Theology: The Politics of Religious Experience, Farnham:: Ashgate;.
    [Google Scholar]
  27. Meslow, S.. ( 2011;), ‘ How Hollywood chooses scripts: The insider list that led to Abduction. ’, The Atlantic, 23 September, https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2011/09/how-hollywood-chooses-scripts-the-insider-list-that-led-to-abduction/245541/. Accessed 10 November 2021.
    [Google Scholar]
  28. Money, J., and Block, D.. ( 1971;), ‘ Speech, sexuality and the temporal lobe: An analysis of spontaneous speech of thirteen male transsexuals. ’, The Journal of Sex Research, 7:1, pp. 3541.
    [Google Scholar]
  29. Money, J., and Epstein, R.. ( 1967;), ‘ Verbal aptitude in eonism and prepubertal effeminacy: A feminine trait. ’, Transactions of the New York Academy of Sciences, 29:4, pp. 44854.
    [Google Scholar]
  30. Murdock, M.. ( 2003), Unreliable Truth: On Memoir and Memory, New York:: Seal;.
    [Google Scholar]
  31. Nandy, A.. ( 1983), The Intimate Enemy: The Psychology of Colonialism, Delhi:: Oxford University Press;.
    [Google Scholar]
  32. Parker, P. A.. ( 1989;), ‘ On the tongue: Cross gendering, effeminacy and the art of words. ’, Style, 23, pp. 44565.
    [Google Scholar]
  33. Pratt, G.. ( 2009;), ‘ Heteronormativity. ’, in D. Gregory,, R. Johnston,, G. Pratt,, M. J. Watts, and S. Whatmore. (eds), The Dictionary of Human Geography, Oxford:: Blackwell Publishers;, http://www.credoreference.com.ezproxy.scu.edu.au/entry/bkhumgeo/heteronormativity. Accessed 1 November 2021.
    [Google Scholar]
  34. Price, S.. ( 2010), The Screenplay: Authorship, Theory and Criticism, Basingstoke:: Palgrave Macmillan;.
    [Google Scholar]
  35. Sánchez, F. J.,, Blas-Lopez, F. J.,, Martínez-Patiño, M. J., and Vilain, E.. ( 2016;), ‘ Masculine consciousness and anti-effeminacy among Latino and white gay men. ’, Psychology of Men & Masculinity, 17:1, pp. 5463.
    [Google Scholar]
  36. Schatzberg, A. F.,, Westfall, M. P.,, Blumetti, A. B., and Birk, C. L.. ( 1975;), ‘ Effeminacy: I: A quantitative rating scale. ’, Archives of Sexual Behavior, 4:1, pp. 3141.
    [Google Scholar]
  37. Scheff, T.. ( 2006;), ‘ Hypermasculinity and violence as a social system. ’, 2006 Workshop on Humiliation and Violent Conflict, New York:: Columbia University;, 14–15 December.
    [Google Scholar]
  38. Sinfield, A.. ( 1994), The Wilde Century: Effeminacy, Oscar Wilde and the Queer Moment, New York:: Continuum;.
    [Google Scholar]
  39. Sternberg, C.. ( 1997), Written for the Screen: The American Motion-Picture Screenplay as Text, Transatlantic Perspectives, Tübingen:: Stauffenburg Verlag;.
    [Google Scholar]
  40. Taylor, S.. ( 2018;), ‘ Sluglines: A ghostly presence. ’, TEXT: Journal of Writing and Writing Courses, Special Issue: ‘Screenplays as Research Artefacts’, 48, pp. 114.
    [Google Scholar]
  41. Taylor, S.. ( 2019;), ‘ Scripted explorations of gender and sexuality offer a rich sense of place. ’, TEXT: Journal of Writing and Writing Courses, 23:2, n.pag.
    [Google Scholar]
  42. Waldrep, S.. ( 2004), The Aesthetics of Self-Invention: Oscar Wilde to David Bowie, Minneapolis, MN:: University of Minnesota Press;.
    [Google Scholar]
  43. Williams, P.. ( 2013;), ‘ Writing the memoir of self-erasure: A practice-led exploration of constructing and deconstructing the coloniser-who-refuses. ’, TEXT: Journal of writing and writing Courses, 17:1, n.pag.
    [Google Scholar]
  44. Yagoda, B.. ( 2010), Memoir: A History, New York:: Riverhead Books;.
    [Google Scholar]
  45. Baker, Dallas John. ( 2022;), ‘ Spinning and singing: Exploring memory and gender non-conformity through screenwriting for publication first. ’, Journal of Screenwriting, 13:3, pp. 32946, https://doi.org/10.1386/josc_00104_1
    [Google Scholar]
http://instance.metastore.ingenta.com/content/journals/10.1386/josc_00104_1
Loading
This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was a success
Invalid data
An error occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error