MovieChat Forums > Bill Cunningham New York (2011) Discussion > Was it Disrespectful.....?

Was it Disrespectful.....?

posted 9 years ago by josepawlowski
7 replies | jump to latest

Clearly, many people were interested in knowing if Bill was gay. Was it disrespectful to show the emotional conversation toward the end of the movie almost as a climax? If the documentary was presented in the same chronological order that it was filmed, I have no problem with it, but the fact that Bill's sexuality reveal serves as a highlight to the film seems disrespectful.

side note: If Bill were Jewish I might think he just had a very deep Jewish New Yorker accent, but knowing that he was Irish Catholic, I suspected that he was gay. (and I know this may very well sound disrespectful)

[–] catbookss 8 years ago

No, I don't think it was disrespectful.

Honestly, I was more interested in the way he reflected so long before answering if religion was important to him or not, than whether or not he's gay.

This was a wonderful, amazing documentary. I enjoyed every minute, and only regret I haven't met him.

[–] cervantes-4 7 years ago

Yes, his religion appeared to be very important to him, so much so possibly even trumping his sexuality. He was raised in an era when Catholics were taught that homosexual acts were a mortal sin. Isn't a person who sublimates what his moral compass considers his demons a very honorable person, just as is, to go to the extreme, a person born with a pedophile nature who sublimates and never acts on it?

The most interesting people one meets in life are rogues.

[–] nightwishouge 8 years ago

I don't think the point of that scene was to clear up the question of whether or not Bill was gay. I think it was to establish that he's never had a romantic relationship his entire life. The filmmakers establish the thread early on that nobody knows anything about Bill's personal life, even the people who work with him and see him every day. That scene seemed to solidify the notion that he didn't HAVE a personal life, at least not one separate from his photography. Even the people he interacts with throughout the film seem to be exclusively people he's photographed. And he seems perfectly happy about that.

The scene can do a couple of different things, depending on what the viewer brings to it. Either it can sow doubt in their minds that Bill really is as happy as he seems to be (these are the viewers that can't believe anyone can be fulfilled without indulging in romance and passing on the genetic line by squirting out a couple of kids) or it challenges the notion that a human being CAN indeed be content, even invigorated, by a life free of those things which most people unquestioningly assume to have the most intrinsic value--"someone to grow old with", for example, or an aversion to money beyond that which is necessary to survive. Which would make Bill sort of the anti-Taylor Swift, I suppose.

[–] LetThemEatCake01 8 years ago

I loathe children so I don't believe that brings happiness but if it's like you say then why did he cry?=

[–] LetThemEatCake01 8 years ago

How is it a reveal that he was gay? I thought he obviously was and spent his entire life denying himself, one of the many facets of this very, very tragic man. But how is it a reveal?

[–] ppjunky 8 years ago

I wish they had left that scene out. His social life, or lack there of, was already noted throughout the documentary. Not that I wasn't curious, but his discomfort and maybe even humiliation showed through despite his airy attempt to brush it off. He seemed to cry in between the questions.

What was apparent throughout the film that he was a lovely man, humble, kind, hard working, and deeply passionate about his work. Someone I would aspire too. Wish I had the chance to meet him in person.

[–] WarpedRecord 8 years ago

That was a highlight of the film to you? It felt like more of a footnote to me. It seems to me that asking someone whether they've ever had a significant relationship would have been a mandatory question in a feature-length profile regardless of their sexual orientation.

I don't think asking the question was disrespectful, but Mr. Cunningham's awkwardness with providing an answer made him look rather sad and conflicted. I guess, to that extent, it was an honest answer.