She's Real, Worse Than Queer
She's Real, Worse Than Queer is a seminal documentary film of the mid 1990s period of the queercore movement.
Directed by Lucy Thane, who has also made It Changed My Life, a documentary of the Huggy Bear and Bikini Kill tour of the U.K. and its effects on the young women in the audience, She's Real, Worse Than Queer talks similarly about the creation of the queer punk scene and its impact on the lives of the women interviewed.
Released in 1997, the film features performances by Tribe 8, Ce Be Barns Band, Fifth Column, Cheesecake, Team Dresch, The Third Sex, Phranc, Cypher In The Snow, Sister George, Sta Prest and Anti-Scrunti Faction. Interposed between the concert segments are shots of various band members working at their everyday jobs such as waitressing or construction work, with Phranc speaking about earning enough money as a swimming instructor to pay for her first record. The film continues to offer a view of a down-to-earth approach of creating culture as the musicians talk about buying second hand equipment and learning to play an instrument and Team Dresch member Jody Bleyle talks about starting and running her own independent record label Candy Ass Records. The director emphasises her commitment to the do-it-yourself philosophy by stating in the credits that "She's Real has been made by borrowing and working in exchange for equipment." Particular songs are integrated with themes that arise in interviews with members of the bands and other women, such as self defense instructor Alice Stagg, who talks about touring with Team Dresch for the Free To Fight tour, giving instructions on self defense to the audience and promoting the double LP of the same name released on Candy Ass Records, which addresses the issue of women's safety.
Interviewees include Leslie Mah, Lynn Breedlove and Lynn Payne of Tribe 8, Phranc, Ellyot Dragon of Sister George, Donna Dresch and Jody Bleyle of Team Dresch, G.B. Jones, Rachel Carns of Kicking Giant, Radio Tragedy of the Ce Be Barns Band, Joanna Brown, who co-ran the queer punk venue Homocore Chicago, and many others. Director Lucy Thane has stated, "Women, especially dykes, have been central to the development of Queerpunk, finding in it a mode of expression that can be accessed without privilege, can speak an uncompromising message, and is revolt against the exclusive and mainstream face of lesbian culture which desires assimilation and acceptance."
Excerpts from the Super 8 films Lady Faggots and Wannabe Outlaws by Tammy Rae Carland and The Yo-Yo Gang by G.B. Jones are utilized, as well as work by fanzine makers, to provide a full spectrum of the scene in all its manifestations and mediums at that time. Filmed in the U.K. and across the U.S. between the years 1994 and 1996, She's Real, Worse Than Queer is a panoramic view of Queercore.
External Link
Categories: Queercore | LGBT-related films