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Tropiano examines queer representation during the late 1960s and early 1970s through the lens of legal shows. Issues of identity in these decades were less cut-and-dried than they were in the more conservative earlier decades, and queer representation loosened up as well, swinging wildly between portrayals of gays and lesbians as perpetrators of vicious crimes such as murder and molestation, to images of homosexuals as pitiable victims of society.

With the appearance of AIDS in the 1980s, queer characters were heavily represented on dramatic shows, but generally as a character to which the main characters react, albeit more sympathetically than they would have in the past.

It is not until the late 1990s that gays and lesbians become main characters in comedies, having an audience to laugh with us, rather than stare at us.

Prime Time Closet presents a wealth of information, but Tropiano restricts his discussion to gays and lesbians presented in the media, and doesn't spend much time on who got these queers on the screen and how or why they bothered to do so. William J. Mann's book, Behind the Screen, rounds out the picture, delving in detail into the on- and offscreen lives of gays and lesbians working in Hollywood from 1910-1969.

Mann spends a great deal more time on the stories of gay men than those of lesbians and bisexual women, but what he does include about women is fascinating and tantalizing. The story of Countess Dorothy Di Frasso's “infamous tape-recording party,” where she secretly recorded the private exchanges of known and suspected queers Marlene Dietrich, Claudette Colbert, Betty Furness, Clifton Webb and Cary Grant at a party in her home, and tales of bold lesbian directors cornering studio heads' wives for trysts in the women's room, are emblematic of the strange and sliding lines between public and private information in an industry that practically invented the open secret.

Clifton Webb's discussion of the press and how the studios as well as gay and lesbian celebrities manipulated their coverage in fan magazines is particularly thought-provoking. Statistics imply that there are many more gay film and television stars today than those who are out, and Behind the Screen gives the reader a glimpse into how well-practiced Hollywood is at directing fans' attention toward only what they want them to see.

If Prime Time Closet is heavy on facts, and Behind the Screen is heavy on gossip, Queer Images: A History of Gay and Lesbian Film in America, by Harry M. Benshoff and Sean Griffin, brings the entire picture into clear and excellent focus. The book chronicles the past 100 years of queer characters onscreen and queer filmmakers behind the cameras. Most importantly, it brings in the queer audience, weaving an exciting discussion around and through these three groups, and bringing the conversation about queerness and popular culture begun in The Celluloid Closet up to date for a 21st-century queer audience.

For those interested in examining the ways that gays and lesbians have been portrayed by Hollywood — and have worked behind the scenes in Hollywood as well — all three books are recommended reading.

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