Ed Wood Wednesdays, week 194: 'Jim's Introduction to Gender Identity' (2017)

An animated short film from 2017 deals with some of the same issues as Glen or Glenda.

As I was rewatching Glen or Glenda (1953) recently, I took note of just how many earnest heart-to-heart conversations this one film contains. Let's see here. Inspector Warren (Lyle Talbot) talks to Dr. Alton (Timothy Farrell). Glen (Ed Wood) talks to his fiancée, Barbara (Dolores Fuller). Glen's sister Sheila (Evelyn Wood) talks to her unnamed female coworker. Glen talks to Barbara some more. Two unseen foundry workers, Jack and Joe, talk to each other. Glen talks to his friend Johnny (Charles Crafts). Glen talks to Barbara a third (!) and fourth (!!) time. Finally, Dr. Alton talks to Glen and Barbara. That's a lot of conversation for a film that's barely feature-length.

Some Glenda-esque poster art.

Glen or Glenda deals with some sensitive and highly controversial topics, including cross-dressing and gender reassignment, and writer-director Edward D. Wood, Jr. obviously felt the best strategy was to have his characters sit down and exchange their thoughts and feelings about these things. In Cult Movies 3 (1988), critic Danny Peary even compares Glenda to old-fashioned soap operas in which women talk through their problems with friends over the kitchen table. It's a nice thought, isn't it? Maybe more of the world's problems could be solved if we'd just stop shouting at each other and started a calm, reasonable dialogue instead.

That's the theory, anyway. Your results may vary.

I thought about all of this as I watched Jim's Introduction to Gender Identity aka My Friend is Transgender (2017), a short film by New York-based animator K. Kypers. A video like this might have flown under my radar, despite garnering over 800K views, but Kypers recently began posting to an Ed Wood group on Facebook that I also frequent. In one thread, Kypers mentioned that the poster art for the short film was directly inspired by the iconic, instantly familiar Glen or Glenda poster. As I watched the film itself, I noticed that it contained numerous references to the Ed Wood canon, making it a prime candidate for coverage in this series.

Ed Wood Wednesdays: The Wood Magazine Odyssey, Part Eleven by Greg Dziawer

Get it? Washington? York?

The renowned Mr. York.

In a previous article, I closed by asking the cryptic question: Who wrote "The Legend of Washington York?"

It's a question that continues to haunt me. I additionally opined that solving the York Riddle would spill us beyond the "next and final frontier" of Woodology. That tall claim intimidates as much as it excites me. Once again unto the breach, this week's Ed Wood Wednesdays falls eagerly headlong into the darkest corners of Woodology: the uncredited pictorial text and the gay-themed Pendulum-family mag.

The pictorial "The Legend of Washington York," from the Apr/May issue of Pendulum's Male Lovers, Vol 2 No 1 (and reprinted in the 1971 Male Lovers Annual), runs a mere four pages and its accompanying text is only 10 lines long:

WE'D LIKE YOU TO MEET WASHINGTON YORK,
A MAN WHO'S FAMOUS FOR A FOOT-LONG DORK.

WASH USED TO WORK IN A WRESTLING RING,
TILL HE DECIDED TO GIVE MOVIES A FLING.

"SO WHAT'S YOUR ACT?" ASKED THE TALENT SCOUT;
WASH OPENED HIS FLY AND YANKED OUT HIS TROUT.

"SWEET MOTHER!" CRIED THE MAN, "I AIN'T SEEN A DONG
THAT LONG OR SCARY SINCE THE MOVIE KING KONG!"

NOW LIFE IS EASY FOR WASHINGTON YORK;
HE JUST SITS BEFORE THE CAMERAS, PREENING HIS PORK.

Any of the Pendulum mag staffers could have written these freewheeling rhymed couplets on a lark. At the time, staffers included Leo Eaton, Robin "Redbreast" Eagle and William D. "Bill" Jones... and, of course, Ed Wood.

Though we still lack an answer to the crucial question of who wrote these lines, I must confess that this has become one of my favorite poems. Its accompanying pictorial achieves the pinnacle of Pendulum's authenticity.

Beyond that, I'll let it speak for itself.

Ed Wood Wednesdays: The Wood Magazine Odyssey, Part Ten by Greg Dziawer

The bonds of matrimony.

Two areas of Woodology still remain to be more fully explored: (1) Ed's work for the gay-themed Pendulum-family magazines and (2) identifying texts accompanying pictorials in those same mags as Ed's work. Both tall orders.

In this week's Ed Wood Wednesdays, we present a few choice excerpts from a short piece that covers both of these areas. This pictorial text, "married & in love............." (and yes, this is how the title is appears in the mag, with 13 ellipses), is from Pendulum's Gay Studs, vol. 3 no. 3 from 1971, one of four such uncredited texts in this issue (as it appears with no corrections):

They simply wanted to get married and that's what they did. Paul became the husband in the affair and Gene the wife or the passive one. Although Gene is not a drag queen, he arrived in the small town wearing a pink sweater set and light brown skirt and a dark, shoulder length wig which matched his own hair. And Paul, the anxious husband, wore his light brown business suit and brown tie. They searched out a Justice of the Peace, paid the license and went through with the ceremony. Gene used a feigned falsetto voice which sounded a bit strained but he was able to talk that off as a hang over from a recent cold. He made up as a good looking girl so there was no denying what the eyes could see.  

It was simple to change the "G" to "J" so that he became Jean for the entrance into the village, the marriage and the exit to an edge of the town where they took a honeymoon motel cottage and there Jean became Gene again. Neither one of them like anything on their bodies when they are having an affair. It's all a very naked. very real happening.  

Most of the GAY crowd don't stay together very long with any one partner because they are a fickle bunch. They are always on the look out for some new trade. But that isn't and hasn't been the intentions of Paul and Gene from the very first when they met at a GAY gathering in one of the local taverns. Both being short of money they were always on the look out for bars which had cocktail hours in which they served hors d' oeuvres or other free foods. In that way they could buy a beer or two and partake of the free meal. Most of the GAY BARS have such offerings quite often and each one attempts out doing the other in order to get the trade. 

The same issue contains a short story by Ed, the classic "I , Warlock" (misidentified as "The Warlock" on the contents page, and the only piece in the mag with a credit). We previously identified a few snippets of pictorial texts that possess an Ed-like ring, without making a claim. I have a stronger feeling about this one, but I'll keep it to myself for now.

Eddie or not? Tell us what you think.

NOTE: Due to the explicit nature of the material from Gay Studs, the photos accompanying this week's article have been posted to the Ed Wood Wednesdays Tumblr.

Ed Wood's BLOOD SPLATTERS QUICKLY: 'Superfruit' (1971)

An artist who dubbed himself "El Warpo" illustrated Ed Wood's story "Superfruit" in 1971.

NOTE: This article is part of my ongoing coverage of Blood Splatters Quickly: The Collected Stories of Edward D. Wood, Jr.

5585 W. Pico Boulevard today - a strip mall.

The story: "Superfruit," originally published in the premiere issue of Meatrack magazine, 1971, from Libra Press. Curiously, the magazine's editorial page indicates that the title of the publication is Luscious. 

Although Libra may seem to be a new or different company, it shares an address (5585* W. Pico Boulevard) with all the other Calga/Pendulum/Gallery magazines put out by Bernie Bloom.

*some magazines say 5583.

Synposis: Freelance writer Rance Hillborn is confined to his Los Angeles penthouse during an uncharacteristically lengthy rainy spell. But he has enough food, cigarettes, and booze to tide him over for days. He receives a call from a distraught friend, Lawrence, and invites him over. 

Once at Rance's place, Lawrence begins to ruminate about his problems. He's distraught over the very recent death of his lover, William, and his half-million-dollar fruit business is in the doldrums. Lawrence thinks that Rance, being a professional writer, might give him some guidance. Rance tells him that the truly successful professionals are those with specialties. Lawrence should gear his advertising to homosexuals: selling fruit to the fruits. "The whole population," says Rance, "will know you as the SUPER FRUIT."

Wood trademarks: 

• alcohol (whiskey sodas mainly, but also gin and vodka)

• homosexuality

• character named Rance (cf. this collection's "Epitaph for the Village Drunk")

• expression "for love nor money" (cf. For Love and Money)

• reference to freeway accident rates (cf. Night of the Ghouls)

• looking down on vehicles and speculating about the lives of the drivers (cf. Glen or Glenda:"All those cars, all going someplace" speech)

• the life of a successful writer (cf. Orgy of the Dead)

• disparaging reference to marijuana (it's "no fun" and brings on "law problems")

• completely gratuitous reference to women's boots and how they complement the female form

• fur fetish (in this case, a white nylon fur-covered chair)

• fixation on death ("How many winters and summers do we have?")

• dialogue "I've got a problem." "Haven't we all?" (taken verbatim from Glen or Glenda)

• speculation about the word "conventional" (cf. Necromania)

• going to a friend for help with a personal problem (cf. Glen or Glenda, Drop Out Wife)

Excerpt:"The whole point is that you haven't tried everything. You've stayed conventional. Conventional ads. Conventional business practices. Conventional this and conventional that. To hell with conventions. That's why my books are not conventional. They have a lot of startling happenings which drag my readers in by the score and the publishers are begging for the next sheet as it comes out of my typewriter."

Editorial page from Luscious.

Reflections: It was certainly not my intention when I started analyzing Blood Splatters Quickly, but this project has developed into an exploration of Ed Wood's views on homosexuality. 

Because of his work for Bernie Bloom's Pendulum Press and its many, many subsidiaries, Eddie had to write a lot of stories about homosexual characters. Sometimes, these were for straight publications (Gold Diggers); other times, they were for gay titles (Male Lovers). 

Luscious seems to be a straight magazine, since its inaugural cover featured a "young lady" who "could cause an unwary male a lot of heartache." Its focus seems to be on the erotic possibilities of food, with particular emphasis on fruits and vegetables. Its contents page describes it as being "dedicated to all that is especially delicious, particularly edible." 

I can imagine Bernie telling Eddie, "Give me something about sex and food, maybe fruits." Ed Wood's response was to write a story which essentially hinges on a pun: the double meaning of the word "fruit." This makes it a first cousin to "Missionary (Position) Impossible," whose entire reason for being was a play on the double meaning of the word "queen." At least here, Wood does not make the two main characters into swishy stereotypes, the way he did with the "white queen" from "Missionary." I wonder, though, why Eddie felt it necessary to give Rance a "Princess phone" rather than some other kind.

But even though this story could be interpreted as another extremely convoluted setup to a silly punchline, there is something personal and humane about Eddie's writing in "Superfruit." Once again, as in "The Autograph," he has written a story about gay people coming out of hiding and being honest and open about their sexuality. "What do you have to hide from?" Rance tells Lawrence. 

Beyond that, it seems obvious to me that Ed Wood envies the cozy life of gay writer Rance Hillborn, whose very surname seems to suggest privilege and superiority. "His freezer," Ed writes, "was well stocked, his cigarette box was full and the wet bar was housed by a goodly collection of gins, whiskies, vodka and the other drinks his guests preferred." 

And if that's not enough, Rance seems to be all set, career-wise: "Work, however, was no problem for Rance Hillborn. He was a freelance writer and he worked out of his apartment and when finished there was the apartment mail drop and the postman could brave all kinds of weather from there on in." I'm sure there were many times when Ed would have gladly switched places with Rance, "fruit" or not.

Next: "Flowers for Flame LeMarr" (1973)

Ed Wood's BLOOD SPLATTERS QUICKLY: 'The Autograph' (1974)

Well, that's one way of getting an autograph: one of Ed Wood's later short stories.

NOTE: This article is part of my ongoing coverage of Blood Splatters Quickly: The Collected Stories of Edward D. Wood, Jr.

Congrats, Ed. You made it into Boy Play.

The story: "The Autograph," originally published in Boy Play magazine, January/February 1974, from Gallery Press.

Synopsis: Reporter Harry has been sent to interview cowboy star Tex Warren and is embarrassed when he farts loudly in front of the actor, but the genial celebrity laughs it off. The reason for Harry's visit is that Tex has recently announced his homosexuality. After confirming that Harry, too, is homosexual, Tex explains his reason for coming out of the closet. For years, he's been forced to date women and even marry a few of them to maintain his "butch" screen image. It's been great for his career, but it has played havoc with his love life. He's had to hire the services of "call boys" and even kept a long-term lover on as his personal secretary so people wouldn't be suspicious. But the women's lib movement has given him the incentive to be honest about his sexual identity... at least in real life. He'll continue playing straight characters onscreen. That said, Tex takes his "monster" penis out and shows it to Harry, whose first impression is to go into a bathroom and masturbate. But with a little encouragement from Tex, the nervous reporter agrees to perform oral sex on the movie star.

Wood trademarks: Alcohol (martinis mostly, but beer and whiskey soda are both mentioned); cowboy actor (not only did Ed idolize cowboy stars, he hired a few to be in his 1950s movies); reporter sent to investigate a manly screen star's homosexuality (exact plot of The Beach Bunnies); phrase "behind the locked doors" (cf. Glen or Glenda? whose working title was Behind Locked Doors); "not my bag" used as an excuse (cf. Fugitive Girls); extensive use of ellipses (cf. virtually every story in this book); prostitution (male this time); character named Tex (cf. Crossroads of Laredo, the Story Ad films).

Excerpt: "There are no longer any long-term contracts. Only picture by picture. I doubt if anybody in all of Hollywood any longer has a long-term contract. So to HELL with the morals clauses. Besides I'm already signed for three more pictures due to the announcement I made about myself...being homosexual I mean. I suppose they figure the audiences will pile into the theater just to see what kind of freak I am..."

Reflections: "What a curious vanity it is of the present," wrote novelist Julian Barnes in Flaubert's Parrot, "to expect the past to suck up to it. The present looks back on some great figure of an earlier century and wonders, Was he on our side? Was he a goodie? What a lack of self-confidence this implies." 

Insecurities aside, this is what I am forced to do when I write about Edward Davis Wood, Jr., who to many was "a great figure of an earlier century." Especially when dealing with Wood's treatment of sensitive issues like LGBT rights, I feel obligated to examine Wood's writing from a modern perspective and indulge in what Barnes calls "adjudicating on its political acceptability." 

On the one hand, a story like "The Autograph" may attract scorn from modern readers since its characters use now-frowned-upon terms like "homos," "fairies," and "faggots," while furthering the stereotype that the women's liberation movement consists largely of "butch" lesbians who want to be "truck drivers and high steel workers." These same critics may point out that "The Autograph" presents its gay characters as absurdly indiscreet and promiscuous, transitioning too quickly and casually from a professional interview into sexual intimacy. One might even take umbrage at the fact that Ed Wood undercuts the eroticism of this story by beginning it with a lengthy anecdote about farting and by using such silly-sounding phrases as "He unzipped his fly and took out his giant dork." 

But throughout Eddie's gay-themed stories, there is the motif of homosexuals being normal members of society and wanting to be treated as the equals of heterosexuals. In "Island Divorce," one character claiming to be gay says, "We come in all walks of life my friend. The wife and the kids came along before I even knew my own mind." In "The Autograph," meanwhile, Tex Warren gives several long speeches about the acceptance of homosexuality. The actor is tired of pretending to be straight, and he's not going to do it anymore. Tex actually seems to anticipate the modern LGBT movement when he says:

Those lesbians are standing up to be counted... that's the only way to get changes. You know this sexual revolution is a young thing... it's got a long way to go, but because it has started and there are those, like myself, who are standing up to be counted, it is going to remain with us. It's not going to be put down behind the locked doors again.

Ed Wood wrote those words, my friends. How much of his own opinion is in them, I do not know. I do find it significant that he uses the phrase "behind the locked doors" here, because that's the very same way he described the plight of transvestites in Glen or Glenda? back in 1953.

It is impossible to forget that "The Autograph" is a product of another time. It was written 40 years ago, and there are aspects of the story which must have seemed quaint even then. Tex, for instance, is written as a traditional cowboy star from the 1940s or 1950s. I pictured him looking and talking like John Wayne. (Like Wayne, whose real name was Marion Morrison, "Tex Warren" also works under a pseudonym. We never learn his real name.) By 1974, however, new-style stars like Robert Redford, Al Pacino, and Dustin Hoffman were on the rise. 

"Improved with DDT": A Flit ad with art by Dr. Seuss.

Tex Warren's man-out-of-time quality is highlighted when he makes this joke after Harry's loud fart: "Get the Flit, I do think there's a bug in the place." I'll admit this was something I had to look up. Flit turns out to be an incredibly-unsafe insecticide which was on the market from the late 1920s to the 1950s. It was already quite obsolete (and rightly so, given its tragic history) by the time this issue of Boy Play hit newsstands. If Flit is remembered for anything today, it's a long-running ad campaign with whimsical artwork by Dr. Seuss and the catchphrase, "Quick, Henry, the Flit!" This, it would seem, is what Ed Wood was trying to reference here. I don't know what exactly I expected when I decided to read some of Eddie's attempts at gay porn, but I surely wasn't anticipating a crash course in the history of pesticides.

Next: "Superfruit" (1971)

Ed Wood's BLOOD SPLATTERS QUICKLY: 'Missionary (Position) Impossible' (1971)

Ed Wood ventures into the jungle for "Missionary (Position) Impossible."

NOTE: This article is part of my ongoing coverage of Blood Splatters Quickly: The Collected Stories of Edward D. Wood, Jr.

The cast of Mission: Impossible.
(Note Martin Landau on the right.)

The story: "Missionary (Position) Impossible," originally published in Gold Diggers magazine, September/October 1971, Pendulum.

Synopsis: A pair of English-speaking missionaries, Martin and Fartheringay, venture into the darkest, densest jungle in Africa in search of the legendary "white queen," a fair-skinned, blonde-haired woman who supposedly rules over a native tribe. Besides being terrifically expensive, the expedition is difficult and perilous, beset by snakes and quicksand. 

The missionaries also experience communication problems with their African guides, who speak not a word of English. Eventually, though, Martin and Fartheringay come across a village whose inhabitants move gracefully and speak perfect English. At last, they have discovered the realm of the white queen! It's the find of the year! Not quite. The "queen" turns out to be a flamboyantly homosexual man, and the missionaries depart in disgust. The young man, however, is nonplussed: "I've always found the missionary position impossible."

Wood trademarks: A "swishy" gay stereotype; the phrase "the understatement of the year" (cf. Glen or Glenda?); snakes (in this case, adders); many morbid references to death, rotting, and the grim reaper (the jungle is described as "a monument to death," just like Lake Marsh in Bride of the Monster); non-white tribe ruled by blonde-haired, light-skinned queen (cf. "Yellow Gold" in Revenge of the Virgins).

Excerpt: "Martin and Fartheringay nearly fell through the bottom of their shoes as the blonde haired, youthful white man, covered in jewelry, earrings, arm and leg bracelets minced out through the door and greeted them with a wide, white-toothed grin. 'Darlings,' he crooned."

Reflections: Traditionally, a "shaggy dog story" is an anecdote or joke characterized by irrelevant details and ending in a deliberately silly or anticlimactic punchline. The point of such an endeavor is to play upon the audience's expectations. Readers or listeners will pay attention to the twists and turns of a story, thinking these will eventually be important, only to have their expectations playfully thwarted by the narrator. 

"Missionary (Position) Impossible" is Ed Wood's typically loony attempt at the form. The payoff here is a simple, schoolboy joke based on the double meaning of the word "queen." That's really all there is to this. But before we get there, Eddie takes us on a ridiculously meandering safari, filled with incidents which ultimately have nothing to do with the "true" purpose of the story. We are treated, for instance, to an inordinate amount of background information about the expedition, including how it was mocked by the media and how a group of "beautiful young ladies" raised money for the trip by going door to door, asking for donations. 

Then there are the cliffhanger-type mini-adventures, as when Fartheringay sinks into a pool of quicksand or when the missionaries are almost bitten by adders when they stop to rest. Ed even tries to find biblical significance in the latter incident: "The serpent in their religion was always a representative of evil, and by no means were they going into the other world through the sting of evil."

A "native" scene from Glen or Glenda?

Were it not for the story's lewd, punning title, a reader might be forgiven for thinking at first that this was a sincere "jungle adventure" yarn. In some ways, perhaps, it was. Despite being an elongated dirty joke, "Missionary (Position) Impossible" gives Ed Wood a chance to write an African adventure in his own signature style. He'd been to the Dark Continent before with his script for The Bride and the Beast (1958), plus a brief cutaway to dancing "natives" in Glen or Glenda? and even an early Wesson Oil commercial in which cannibals use the product to help cook a couple of white explorers in a big black kettle. 

There is no record of Ed Wood actually traveling to Africa, and it seems likely that he drew from movies and pulp novels while writing this story. In fact, "jungle movies" are twice referenced in the text. The missionaries talk the way Stanley and Livingstone would in a Bullwinkle cartoon and pepper their conversation with quaint expressions like "old bean," "old fellow," and "I dare say." 

The depiction of the natives is, as you might guess, unenlightened. Their language is described as "monkey-like jabbering" and "monkey chatter," and the missionaries complain that their dark-skinned guides, once dubbed "raving maniacs," take too many breaks. It is perhaps some consolation that one of the missionary's lives is saved by the Africans. It is less comforting to read a sentence like: "Anyone who would want to remain in this stink hole would have to be mad."

And then, there is the nearly ever-present theme of homosexuality, which is treated with the queasy combination of fear, fascination, and disgust one might expect from an uptight straight man. Before we ever get to the "white queen," the text is littered with double entendres. Wood goes out of his way to use words like "erected," "crotch," "groaned," "open legs," and "penetrated." Even the name "Fartheringay" (Ed's alternate spelling of the more-common Fotheringay) coquettishly suggests homosexual penetration. Wood makes sure to present the story's one (openly) gay character as a laughable, sissy-boy stereotype, one who "minced" and "swished." He even has a stunned Fartheringay exclaim: "A faggot, a queer, a lavender lad, a pinky boy..." Even here, though, there may be some subversion. After all, the "white queen" does get the last word in the story, while the missionaries literally run away like cowards.

By the way, despite its title, there is no connection between "Missionary (Position) Impossible" and the television spy series Mission: Impossible (1966-1973), which would have been in the middle of its run when Wood's story was published. It is amusing, however, to note that one of the show's stars, Martin Landau, would win an Academy Award for appearing in Ed Wood two decades later.

Next: "Dracula Revisited" (1971)

Ed Wood's BLOOD SPLATTERS QUICKLY: 'Island Divorce' (1969)

"Island Divorce" is one of Ed Wood's lesser-known, gay-themed stories.

NOTE: This article is part of my ongoing coverage of Blood Splatters Quickly: The Collected Stories of Edward D. Wood, Jr.

Male Lovers Annual 1970

The story: "Island Divorce," originally published in Male Lovers Annual 1970, Gallery.

Synopsis: Wealthy but aging homosexual Jerry Hall has reached a point in his life where he has to pay his young male "tricks" for sex. Although rather disappointed by this, he has accepted it as reality. Besides, he can afford it. He is astonished and delighted when, while playing a round of golf at a country club, he meets handsome Robert Grant, who seems willing to volunteer his services despite having a beautiful wife named Shirley and two young children. Jerry then escorts Robert to his own private island, situated somewhere in one of Michigan's Great Lakes. Jerry invites his new acquaintance into his home, and the two strip down in preparation for lovemaking. As Jerry kneels down in front of Robert, however, a red-headed woman suddenly appears and takes a couple of incriminating photos of the men. Robert and his accomplice tell a dazed Jerry that they'll meet him at the bank the next day.

Wood trademarks: Homosexuality; a blackmail scheme perpetrated by a hetero couple (cf. The Class Reunion); alcohol (in this case, martinis); anti-drug message (in this case, "narcotics"); snakes (another cobra metaphor); emphasis on the color pink; libidinous older fop with younger lovers (cf. Killer in Drag, The Love Feast); sexual proclivity as life-sustaining force (cf. Glen or Glenda?); a character named Shirley (Ed's own drag name) presented as a paragon of female beauty.

Excerpt: "From the very beginning of his own realization, the homosexual form of sexual deviation was a life-giving motivation for actually living. He was proud then. But age has a way of catching up with all life. Jerry found himself in that category with the suddenness of a striking cobra."

Some of the magazines for which Ed wrote.

Reflections: Was Edward D. Wood, Jr. gay or at least bisexual? It's a question that comes up occasionally when people examine his life and work, since homosexuality is a rather common theme in his writings. Would-be biographers toy with the idea, batting it around like curious cats playing with a particularly attractive ball of yarn. Many viewers have noted that that Ed's own character in Glen or Glenda? (1953) is clearly, repeatedly defined as a transvestite but not a homosexual. Is Ed Wood protesting too much here? It feels like overcompensation. What are we to make of the stereotypical, lisping "sissy" characters in Wood-scripted films like The Class Reunion (1972) and The Beach Bunnies (1976)? On the other hand, how do we account for Ric Lutze's complicated character from The Snow Bunnies (1972)? This man is outwardly masculine, after all, but sexually impotent and prone to rage when his hetero status is questioned.

It's true that Ed contributed stories to a number of gay-themed publications in the early 1970s, such as Bi-Sex, Boy Play, Boy Friends, Man to Man, and the source of today's story, Male Lovers. What most of these magazines have in common is that they belong to the Gallery/Pendulum/Calga adult publishing mini-empire, which produced X-rated magazines and novels under a wide variety of titles and employed Ed Wood again and again during the Nixon years. (A terrific pocket history of the company can be found in Tom Brinkman's 2008 book, Bad Mags.) It is well within the realm of possibility that Ed wrote homoerotic fiction simply because he was a "company man" and was eager to prove that he could handle any assignment that editor Bernie Bloom threw his way. If they wanted a "gay thing" this month, by god, that's what he'd give them. Nothing more complicated than that. You could almost say that Ed Wood was the literary equivalent of "gay for pay." Notice that the homosexual in "Island Divorce" is punished at the end of the story. In fact, he receives exactly the same punishment as Ron Darby's character in The Class Reunion: humiliation and blackmail at the hands of a scheming, scoffing heterosexual couple. In both cases, however, I have to wonder why the supposedly straight men in these stories are so comfortable with homosexual foreplay.

And then there is the matter of Ed Wood making each of his stories, including "Island Divorce," so specific and personal. There is no getting around the fact that fumbling, lecherous, always-on-the-prowl Jerry Hall bears a strong resemblance to Ed Wood himself. In fact, the character seems like the gay equivalent of Eddie's tragicomic Mr. Murphy from Love Feast (1969). The first description we get of Jerry could also be of Mr. Murphy or Eddie himself: "He was too pudgy and his cheeks were almost an unhealthy pink, although his face wasn't unpleasant... at one time in the not too distant past he might actually have been called handsome." Even though Jerry Hall is ultimately revealed as a frivolous fool (Ed has him literally fall flat on his ass), there is an undercurrent of poignancy to the character, as if the author understood him on a deeper level.

Next: "Missionary (Position) Impossible" (1971)

Q is for Queer (Day 17)

Look at the queer monster.

Who knows what goes through kids' minds? I sure as hell don't. If I did, I'd write a book on the subject, promote it on the daytime talk shows, and make a fortune from frustrated mothers across the country. I can tell you, though, that the word "queer" merely meant "unusual" to me as a kid, so no subtext can or should be implied. As for this creature's passing resemblance to Lord Vishnu, I can tell you with some surety that Hinduism was well beyond my ken at that age. Perhaps I'd seen a picture of the deity, and it had made an impression upon me. Draw your own conclusions. And your own pictures for that matter.