Thank you so much for sharing these stories and providing context. I saw the Carol Doda film and left with many questions; loved your take on it and your commitment to elevating what else was going on and to telling the truth. So important.
Thank you for saying so! Of course many people must have left the screening scratching their heads. I wonder if it came up in the Roxie screening with the directors, who appeared to do a Q&A afterward.
Right? I honestly wondered how the filmmakers could be so cheap/dismissive/ignorant. The only place this movie is trending is San Francisco, which would have welcomed the full (gay) story, the real story of sex-biz in North Beach, how it integrated with the rest of the neighborhood scenes… and last but not least, the real story of Carol’s origins. I think the first thing that popped into my head was, “How can I possibly know more about Carol Doda that her film biographers!”
Honestly, as someone who lives in the middle of nowhere, I wonder if it would have more appeal done the way you would do it and with the subtitle - how gay subculture ran the entire porn industry. Or something like that.
This was great. It filled in some missing history for me, and I’m always keen to ponder what gets left out of the narrative and why!
My introduction to Carol Doda was a gray market copy of “Honky Tonk Nights.” (She was billed as “winner of 1979 Dolly Parton lookalike contest,” although IMDB suggests the film was made in the year prior. Doda, Spelvin, Serena, Ramblin’ Jack, more. Now that’s what I call a cultural artifact!) I’d always been curious about her and had picked up bits here and there, but I know more than ever thanks to this podcast. I hope she gets a proper consideration someday.
Talk about a movie I’d like to see! I’m so glad you found my take enlightening. I really am still floored, for this reason. It takes SO much determination to make any documentary. The money is so hard to raise. If the key to your script is interviewing the people related to, and close to your subject, then why not just DO THAT? I mean, look at what Jack Boulware found, in his essay, in a matter of weeks. What’s next? A doc about the Castro that says, “Many fine films and Scandinavian foods can be found!”
I met Carol Doda when I was working on my teaching credential in the '70s. I was observing a class in which she was a guest. At the time she was a counselor to teenagers and the kids in this class paid close attention to her wise words. ( I don't think they knew about her past). I paid attention, too. She was intelligent and literate and never talked down to the students. A revelation! That's when I had a hint about who she was. By the way, the teacher who invited her was a gay man whose name I honestly don't recall.
Thank you so much for sharing these stories and providing context. I saw the Carol Doda film and left with many questions; loved your take on it and your commitment to elevating what else was going on and to telling the truth. So important.
Thank you for saying so! Of course many people must have left the screening scratching their heads. I wonder if it came up in the Roxie screening with the directors, who appeared to do a Q&A afterward.
I get so tired of being erased. I can only imagine other groups feel the same. Too much erasure goes on in an attempt to “market to the middle.”
Right? I honestly wondered how the filmmakers could be so cheap/dismissive/ignorant. The only place this movie is trending is San Francisco, which would have welcomed the full (gay) story, the real story of sex-biz in North Beach, how it integrated with the rest of the neighborhood scenes… and last but not least, the real story of Carol’s origins. I think the first thing that popped into my head was, “How can I possibly know more about Carol Doda that her film biographers!”
Honestly, as someone who lives in the middle of nowhere, I wonder if it would have more appeal done the way you would do it and with the subtitle - how gay subculture ran the entire porn industry. Or something like that.
This was great. It filled in some missing history for me, and I’m always keen to ponder what gets left out of the narrative and why!
My introduction to Carol Doda was a gray market copy of “Honky Tonk Nights.” (She was billed as “winner of 1979 Dolly Parton lookalike contest,” although IMDB suggests the film was made in the year prior. Doda, Spelvin, Serena, Ramblin’ Jack, more. Now that’s what I call a cultural artifact!) I’d always been curious about her and had picked up bits here and there, but I know more than ever thanks to this podcast. I hope she gets a proper consideration someday.
Talk about a movie I’d like to see! I’m so glad you found my take enlightening. I really am still floored, for this reason. It takes SO much determination to make any documentary. The money is so hard to raise. If the key to your script is interviewing the people related to, and close to your subject, then why not just DO THAT? I mean, look at what Jack Boulware found, in his essay, in a matter of weeks. What’s next? A doc about the Castro that says, “Many fine films and Scandinavian foods can be found!”
I met Carol Doda when I was working on my teaching credential in the '70s. I was observing a class in which she was a guest. At the time she was a counselor to teenagers and the kids in this class paid close attention to her wise words. ( I don't think they knew about her past). I paid attention, too. She was intelligent and literate and never talked down to the students. A revelation! That's when I had a hint about who she was. By the way, the teacher who invited her was a gay man whose name I honestly don't recall.