Gender Bending Through the Ages: The Birdcage

In his brilliant performance as "Albert" aka "Starina", in the 1996 film comedy, The Birdcage, Nathan Lane gives us an insight into the life of a drama/drag queen in South Miami Beach who meets head-on with right-wing conservative American politics.

The Birdcage met with mixed reviews ranging from praise to condemnation in both the mainstream press and the gay press for the portrayals of its gay characters.

The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) praised the film for "going beyond the stereotypes to see the character's depth and humanity. The film celebrates differences and points out the outrageousness of hiding those differences."

Hal Conklin and Denny Wayman, writing at cinemainfocus.com, said, "though the film is a comedy and could be excused as just a way to make people laugh, the humor is in fact the ultimate facade. Underlying the comedy, The Birdcage is a deeply disturbed representation of humanity. This film is a vacuum of spiritual values as depicted by the characters whose extreme behaviors are played out for their comic appeal. In reality, acting out a facade rather than being honest in relationships robs those who do so of their intimacy as well as their integrity."

Gay writer Michael Bronski, writing in Z Magazine, said, "The Birdcage is simple-minded, uninformed, laugh-track Hollywood junk and trades on the trendiness of certain aspects of gay male culture without ever understanding them. It also trivializes and diminishes gay lives by refusing to take them — or homophobia — seriously."

Information Source: Wikipedia

I've featured one of my favorite scenes from this comedy classic, also starring Robin Williams as Albert's partner, Armand. This is actually one of the few films that I could watch over and over again and never grow tired of it. If you've never seen The Birdcage, go out to your favorite video store and rent it. It's a must.