Remembrances past...

I was chatting online with someone who had purchased a fine copy of Tom of Finland's work, published by Taschen, and it was nice conversation. Discussing what Tom's drawings  meant in the history of the LGBTQ+ community. Other gay artists we appreciated...and writers.

He had a huge influence on the look of gay men in the 70s and 80s. There's a foundation dedicated to his work in LA, in Echo Park, that has a lot of his materials on display.

Turns out the person was based in Germany, which where Taschen is headquartered. They've done a number of lovely books, but you cannot rely on them for accurate information. I bought three of their books on film...Noir, Horror, and 100 Great Films...and I've found occasionally the descriptions are just plain wrong.

Turns out they've just reprinted reviews written back when the films either came out or were in retrospectives, pre-1980, for the most part. So some of the writers were relying on memory, which is not reliable. But still...the mistakes could have been corrected.

For example, in Jörn Hetebrügge's discussion of Francois Truffaut's Les Quatre Cents Coups he claims Antoine's father catches him stealing a typewriter then it's actually the night guard who catches him as he's returning the typewriter he and a friend had stolen. Not because they felt guilty but because they couldn't sell it. 

A small point, but still raises questions about the accuracy of everything they publish.

BA-4 is working in my head, again. And Gabrielle came up with a comment I find quite awkward and yet honest. If Léonidès hadn't been gay, he'd have made a perfect mate for her. Never mind them being brother and sister. 

"We're Blood Angels," she tells him. "That's immaterial. We're all related to an extent."

His response is, "I'm glad to be who I am." And means it.