But
above all, Go Fish offered a ground-breaking
portrayal of lesbians on the big screen, and it should be recognized
for its contributions to the history of lesbian filmmaking.
Finding
very few overtly lesbian characters on the big screen, queer
women have long resorted to reading between the lines (consider
Fried Green Tomatoes) and imagining alternate endings
(think Thelma and Louise). Characters who are explicitly
identified as lesbians have often been killed off, abused, abandoned
or thrown out of school/camp/the convent etc., and until recently,
they just didn’t play major roles in anything likely to
be seen by the general public.
The
’80s ushered in such classics as Personal
Best and Desert
Hearts and many lesbians could finally see something
of themselves on screen. But Go Fish was unabashed
about its lesbian subject matter, featured a multiethnic cast,
and voiced a diversity of experiences and backgrounds. Moreover,
its directors were traditional Hollywood outsiders: not only
female but both are out lesbians, and one is a woman of color.
When
Go Fish arrived on the scene, it appealed to young
audiences in a way that Claire of the Moon (1992) never
could. It was lighthearted and humorous, urban and hip, quirky
and witty. Above all, it takes a positive approach to sex.
The
movie may feature more talk about sex than actual displays of
it, but the sex in Go Fish is unapologetic. On the
morning after they finally get together, Max and Ely give their
respective friends a blow-by-blow account of the night, and
the accompanying montages are graphic embellishments of the
real story. Even the closing credits are intercut with images
of women devouring each other’s faces and running their
hands over each other’s bodies. The sexual element is
tasteful but overt; lesbian sexuality isn’t denied or
left to the imagination.
Maybe
it was simply the right time and the right cultural
climate for lesbian cinema to take off, but a flurry of lesbian-themed
films reached theaters in the mid-’90s, after Go Fish
was released. There was The
Incredibly True Adventure of Two Girls in Love, Heavenly
Creatures and When
Night is Falling in 1995, then Fire
and Watermelon Woman in 1996. Before
the decade was over we got Bound
(1997), High Art
and Gia (both
in 1998) as well as Better Than Chocolate, Chutney
Popcorn, But I’m a Cheerleader and Boys
Don’t Cry (all in 1999).
And,
of course, the more lesbians making movies, the wider the spectrum
of our representations on film.
Go
Fish helped to make it possible for these movies to get
made. Filmmakers shopping for distribution could point to its
success, a new generation of filmmakers were inspired by it,
and studios were willing to take a risk on similar material.
More importantly, it provided proof that there was not only
a lesbian market, but a mainstream market for lesbian films.
The
film opened doors for its creators, too. Turner went on to write
for TV and film, and her credits include the screenplay for
the movie American Psycho and the first two seasons
of The L Word
(where she also had a small on-screen role, as Alice's bitchy
ex Gabby). The upcoming big-screen version of the popular video
game Bloodrayne (January 2006), starring Kristanna
Loken and Michelle Rodriguez, was written by Turner, as was
The Notorious Bettie Page, starring Gretchen Mole,
which makes its world debut at the Toronto International Film
Festival later this month. She has also written and directed
several short films.
Troche
has become a prolific director in the last decade. Her television
credits include Six
Feet Under and several episodes of The L Word,
and she has also directed the movies Bedrooms and Hallways
(1998) and The Safety of Objects (2001), which she
also co-wrote.
Go
Fish now seems quaint and nostalgic,
with its corded phones and cassette tapes—a relic from
a time when lesbian films had no budgets to speak of. But the
fact that it now seems unrefined or clumsy at times is testament
to its trailblazing role. Go Fish has enabled other
filmmakers to realize their own vision more authentically, with
better funding and less external resistance. And there’s
a lot more to that than lesbian chic.
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Go Fish on DVD
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