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It Is Not the Homosexual Who Is Perverse, But the Society in Which He Lives

Name: It Is Not the Homosexual Who Is Perverse, But the Society in Which He Lives
Director: Rosa von Praunheim
Released: 1971
Duration: 67 min

Representation Score

8.4/10

Excellent

1971

Director

Rosa von Praunheim

Runtime

67 minutes

Average Rating

No ratings yet

New Showbiz Analysis

Rosa von Praunheim’s landmark film is a radical deconstruction of the social structures that pathologize queer identity. By blending staged narrative with documentary elements, it shifts the focus from individual behavior to systemic oppression. It serves as a foundational text for challenging the legitimacy of state-imposed morality. The film excels in its profound critique of the assumption that everyone is straight or cisgender and institutional power. It successfully reframes the queer experience as a political struggle against a repressive society rather than a medical issue. However, the film lacks broad characters who reflect more than one aspect of diversity. The focus remains largely on the white, urban queer experience, leaving a gap in racial and ethnic diversity.

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Category Breakdown

Does It Is Not the Homosexual Who Is Perverse, But the Society in Which He Lives have LGBTQ+ representation?

Excellent

The film centers entirely on the queer experience, moving beyond simple visibility to critique the assumption that everyone is straight or cisgender. It reframes perversion as a byproduct of a repressive social environment rather than an individual trait.

How does It Is Not the Homosexual Who Is Perverse, But the Society in Which He Lives portray gender?

Excellent

The narrative disrupts traditional hierarchies by showing how bourgeois marriage attempts to domesticate queer identities. It portrays these traditional roles as performative constructs that lead to alienation.

How racially and ethnically diverse is It Is Not the Homosexual Who Is Perverse, But the Society in Which He Lives?

Limited

The film focuses primarily on the internal dynamics of the white, urban queer community. It lacks significant multi-layered racial diversity within its primary cast and setting.

How does It Is Not the Homosexual Who Is Perverse, But the Society in Which He Lives represent religion and culture?

Excellent

The work offers a sophisticated critique of Western institutional power, including the state and medical professionals. It prioritizes subjective truth over traditional Christian morality.

Does It Is Not the Homosexual Who Is Perverse, But the Society in Which He Lives include disability representation?

Fair

While physical disabilities are not a focus, the film analyzes mental health as a tool of social control. It critiques how psychiatric institutions use diagnoses to marginalize queer individuals.

Present on Screen

Provides a profound, nuanced critique of the assumption that everyone is straight or cisgender and systemic oppression.
Radically reframes queer identity by rejecting the medicalization of homosexuality.
Offers a sophisticated deconstruction of Western institutional and judicial power.

Limited or Absent

Lacks significant multi-layered racial and ethnic diversity within the cast.
Focuses primarily on the dynamics of the white, urban queer community.

Official Synopsis

Daniel, a young man from the provinces come to the city and moves from one gay subculture to the next. His adventures begin on the streets of Berlin, where the shy brunette Daniel meets the blonde Clemens, who invites him home for coffee and offers him a place to stay. Soon Daniel is living with Clemens and believes he has found the love of his life. The two try to imitate a bourgeois marriage and its lifestyle. But after four months of tedium, Daniel is cruised by a rich older man who entices him to move into his villa, where he encounters a group of older gays, pretentious in their appreciations of fine art and classical music, who fawn over him.

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