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Unsung Heroines: Queer Women Who Deserve Their Own Biopics

In the cinematic summer doldrums, our choices are usually limited to bloated, noisy action movies (Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen), mostly wholesome family fare (Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince) and glaringly heterosexual comedies that feed on the lamest of stereotypes about male/female relationships (The Ugly Truth).

What’s usually lacking this time of year is the epic biographical film that can fulfill the viewer’s need for real life drama but do so in a spectacular way. Who wouldn’t like to see their life story set to a soaring score and photographed in the kindest (and most diffused) of lights? In recent years, films like Ray (about Ray Charles), Walk the Line (about Johnny Cash), Milk (about murdered gay hero Harvey Milk) have received critical and popular acclaim.

But this Oscar-bait genre is only rarely devoted to the lives of remarkable women, and even more rarely to the lives of remarkable lesbian and bisexual women.

Yes, Frida (about bisexual artist Frida Kahlo) was an exception, but it also came out seven years ago and garnered Oscars for makeup and score, not Best Actress (star and producer Salma Hayek) or Best Picture. There are glimmers of hope on the horizon. It was recently announced that a new biopic of Swedish movie legend Greta Garbo is in the works, and that it will include depictions of her romantic relationships with both men and women.

Two different biopics about bisexual singer Janis Joplin have been in development for years, with everyone from Melissa Etheridge to Pink, Brittany Murphy, Renée Zellweger, Britney Spears, Nikka Costa, Scarlett Johansson, Lindsay Lohan and Zooey Deschanel rumored to star as the self-destructive blues legend.

Likewise, Nicole Kidman and Kristin Chenoweth are currently said to be playing bisexual British pop singer Dusty Springfield in dueling biopic projects. Whether the bisexuality of Joplin or Springfield will make the final cut in any of the films remains to be seen.

In the meantime, we’ve decided to grant ourselves a theoretical development deal and plan the biopics of some of the more interesting lesbian and bisexual women in recent history. In this first article of a series, we suggest subjects, plot lines, stars and directors for the biopics we’d like to see about some deserving queer women. Mercedes de Acosta (1893 — 1968) BIOPIC-WORTHY BECAUSE: She was a poet, playwright, and lesbian lover to the stars of Old Hollywood. THE SUPPORTING CAST: All of her alleged celebrity conquests, including (and certainly not limited to) Marlene Dietrich, Greta Garbo, Tallulah Bankhead, and Isadora Duncan.

In terms of modern day star-power, that’s like one woman seducing Angelina Jolie, Kate Winslet, Meryl Streep, and Jennifer Lopez. Who wouldn’t want to see that movie?

SHOULD STAR: Everyone already finds half-Spanish actress Sarah Shahi (The L Word) utterly believable as a seductive siren, so it won’t be much of a leap to convince us that her de Acosta is a lover so irresistible that some the most famous women in the world might put their careers at risk to share her bed. While we’re at it, why not cast her lovers as well? Franka Potente (Run Lola Run) as German actress Dietrich (maybe we’ll even get a shot of her playing the musical saw!), Elisha Cuthbert (24, The Girl Next Door) as the elusive Garbo, and Drew Barrymore as mouthy southerner Tallulah Bankhead. After witnessing Barrymore’s surprising mastery of the bizarre New England cadence of Little Edie in Grey Gardens, I’d love to hear what she could do with an Alabama drawl.

PLOT POINTS: We should definitely get a glimpse of de Acosta’s formative years in New York City, where she was raised by a Spanish mother and Cuban father, and then fast-foward to 1916, when at the age of 23, she began her “career” as paramour to the stars with a scandalous affair with actress Alla Nazimova.

Of course, we’ll need to see some evidence of her affairs with Dietrich, Garbo, Bankhead and Duncan, as well as the reaction shots of her famous former lovers when she publishes her tell-all memoir, Here Lies The Heart, in 1960. (Think of The L Word gang’s response to “Lez Girls,” multiplied by 1,000.)

TAKE A POPCORN BREAK: During de Acosta’s travels through India in the 1930s, when she was became interested in Eastern spirituality (Indian mystic Meher Baba once assured her that she and Garbo had been married in a previous life). As a friend once told me when I complained about our decidedly non-interactive tour of Graceland (listening to a pre-recorded guide on our headsets), “Most truly spiritual experiences are private anyway.”

SHOULD BE DIRECTED BY: Julie Taymor, the woman who brought us into the lush worlds of Titus and Frida should be able to capture the decadence of old Hollywood and the larger-than-life stars who invented the term “glamour.”

Del Martin (1921 — 2008) and Phyllis Lyon (1924 — present) BIOPIC-WORTHY BECAUSE: They were an influential lesbian feminist activist couple for nearly 60 years. THE SUPPORTING CAST: The man who eventually conducted the marriage ceremony for Martin and Lyon and opened the door for other lesbian and gay couples to marry in San Francisco, Mayor Gavin Newsom, leading feminists of the 1970s, including Dianne Feinstein, Shirley Chisholm and Bella Abzug.

SHOULD STAR: Hilary Swank as Phyllis Lyon, out actress Clementine Ford (The L Word) as Del Martin, and Edward Norton as the dashing Mayor Newsom. Swank aces the biopic genre (Boys Don’t Cry, Amelia) and brings heart and depth to every performance, while Ford deserves a chance to show off her acting chops alongside a master of the craft.

Plus, an out lesbian actress playing a lesbian character? Outrageous! PLOT POINTS: After a quick look at their individual lives, we should cut to the chase when Lyon and Martin meet on Valentine’s Day in 1950 on a magazine job in Seattle. We should also follow their move to The Castro, where they founded the Daughters of Bilitis (DOB), the first social and political organization for lesbians in the United States, in 1955.

Later, we’ll need to watch as they join the National Organization for Women, which was not always welcoming to lesbians. In fact, Martin was first openly lesbian woman ever elected to NOW.

As with the LGBT movement, the 1970’s were an exciting time for feminist politics, with battles over abortion and the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) (which was, incidentally, reintroduced before Congress yet again this week). Like the story of Martin and Lyon, the feminist political scene of that era is well overdue for the big-screen treatment.

Of course, the film would not be complete without depicting their eventual legal marriage in San Francisco in 2008. When Martin died two months later with Lyon by her side, Newsom ordered that San Francisco flags be flown at half-mast.

TAKE A POPCORN BREAK: Duck out during the montage of Lyon and Martin working on their books about lesbian politics. It’s more interesting to watch activism than to watch people writing about activism.

SHOULD BE DIRECTED BY: Katja von Garnier, who captured the heart and spirit of feminist politics with her powerful film about the women’s suffrage movement, Iron Jawed Angels.

Just as Iron Jawed Angels should be required viewing for all high-school seniors (especially the girls), the Martin-Lyon biopic should be automatically placed in the Netflix queue of any newly out young lesbian who doesn’t care about feminism or who thinks Bette and Tina’s turbulent relationship is the sole pop culture depiction of a lesbian romance of epic proportions.

Bessie Smith (1894 – 1937) BIOPIC-WORTHY BECAUSE: The bisexual singer (dubbed “The Empress of the Blues”) was the most popular and talented blues singer of her time and influenced generations of jazz and rock vocalists that followed. THE SUPPORTING CAST: Smith’s first husband Jack Gee (whom she never bothered to divorce), and “The Mother of the Blues” Ma Rainey.

Rainey, who was also bisexual, is deserving of her own biopic. The legendary singer was arrested in Chicago in 1925 for hosting an “indecent” party (full of half-naked naked women). “Prove It On Me Blues,” her 1928 song celebrating lesbianism, makes today’s “I Kissed A Girl” sound positively chaste. (Can you imagine Katy Perry singing Rainey’s song “Bull Dyker’s Dream?” Me neither.) SHOULD STAR: This project practically screams for the many talents of Queen Latifah (Chicago), who has long been rumored to be interested in playing the role of Bessie Smith on film. But who would have the chops to share the screen with the Queen and also embody the larger-than-life personality of Ma Rainey?

I nominate Grammy-winning singer Jill Scott, who has already played one blues legend, Big Mama Thornton (in Hounddog), and has proven she can act with as much charisma as she sings. PLOT POINTS: The movie would require depiction of Smith’s early impoverished life in Chattanooga, Tennessee, where she and her brother worked as street performers to help support their family. In 1912, Smith joins the Stokes troupe as a dancer (where she meets Rainey) and eventually develops her own stage act with which she tours the South.

In 1923, Smith is signed by Columbia Records. After that, Smith became the biggest headliner on the black Theater Owners Booking Association (T.O.B.A.) circuit and was the highest-paid black entertainer of her day. Her star would have likely continued to rise if not for the Great Depression, which nearly bankrupted the recording industry. That, along with the rise of “talkie” films, ruined the careers of many vaudeville players, including Smith

Smith’s short life had all the dramatic elements needed for a good biopic, from her tragic death in a car accident at the age of 43 and her first husband’s theft of the money raised for her proper burial, to bisexual rocker Janis Joplin’s 1970 purchase of a tombstone for Smith’s long unmarked grave.

TAKE A POPCORN BREAK: When Smith joins the cast of bad Broadway musical, Pansy, in 1923. The critics probably panned it for a reason.

SHOULD BE DIRECTED BY: Cheryl Dunye, whose 1996 Watermelon Woman has already set the stage for a journey back through history to find the truth about the life of a famous queer black performer from the 1930s.

Chavela Vargas (1919 – present) BIOPIC-WORTHY BECAUSE: The native Costa Rican lesbian singer relocated to Mexico and became famous for crossing gender lines with her masculaine clothing and romantic ranchera songs. THE SUPPORTING CAST: Bisexual artist Frida Kahlo (supposedly the great love of Vargas’s life), out Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodovar (Volver), who rediscovered Vargas in 1991 and began using her music in his critically acclaimed films, are integral to the telling of Vargas’s story.

SHOULD STAR: Rebellious actress and occasional ne’er-do-well Michelle Rodriguez is perfect for the role of Vargas. Can Rodriguez sing? Who cares! If her resume and rap sheet are any indication, she’s already skilled at fisticuffs and gunplay so lip-synching should be a cinch. And if Salma Hayek is too busy with directorial duties to reprise her role as Kahlo, why not hire Melonie Diaz (Itty Bitty Titty Committee) for the job? PLOT POINTS:The epic story will begin in Costa Rica in 1919, when Vargas is born and suffers from polio and blindness as a child, later claiming to have been cured by shamans. We’ll follow her relocation to Mexico where she sings on the streets until the age of 30. There she becomes notorious for wearing men’s clothes and singing a type of romantic folk song (the ranchera) usually reserved for men.

Throughout her career, Vargas runs afoul of the law, always packing heat and even accused of kidnapping a woman

Vargas publicly comes out as a lesbian in 2000 at the age of 81, the same year she is awarded Spain’s highest honor for artistic production, the Great Cross of Isabel la Católica.

TAKE A POPCORN BREAK: Take a break during her decade-plus long slide into alcoholism which forced her to retire from singing professionally. But hurry back for her triumphant return to musical stardom in 1991, at the tender age of 72!

SHOULD BE DIRECTED BY: The Mexican actress/director/producer Salma Hayek would be the natural pick for the Vargas biopic. She knows a thing or two about bucking the system, as she was thrown out of a convent as a teenager for “behavioral problems” and is today an outspoken advocate for women in Mexico. She also knows a thing or two about Frida Kahlo.

Martina Navratilova (1956 – present) BIOPIC-WORTHY BECAUSE: The repeat Wimbledon champ is arguably one of the greatest athletes of all time and one of the first to publicly come out as a lesbian. THE SUPPORTING CAST: Navratilova’s former lovers novelist Rita Mae Brown and (then-married mother of two) Judy Nelson, fellow tennis champs Billie Jean King and Chris Evert are all essential players in the Navratilova biopic.

SHOULD STAR: The naturally athletic actress Missy Peregrym (Stick It) already has the six-pack and zero-body fat ratio to play the role of Navratilova, so we wouldn’t need to delay shooting in order for her to get into shape. Let’s add to the mix Mia Kirshner (The L Word) as one of her early lovers, the temperamental novelist Rita Mae Brown (Rubyfruit Jungle), and Kristen Bell (Veronica Mars) as Navratilova’s fierce tennis rival and off-court straight BFF Chris Evert. And how about Tina Fey as fellow out lesbian tennis great Billie Jean King? Fey’s already got the glasses and feminist sensibility, and she can supposedly do anything. Let’s see if rushing the net is among her many skills.

Just for kicks, we’d cast Heroes cheerleader Hayden Panettiere as alleged gold-digger Judy Nelson, if for no other reason than to see if Panettiere could replicate Nelson’s questionable hairdo. PLOT POINTS: Born in Prague, Navratilova defects from Communist Czechoslovakia at the age of 18 after competing in the U.S. Open. We’ll follow her career as she breaks multiple tennis records and finally lands the ranking of Number 1 tennis player in the world in 1978.

She begins an affair with novelist Rita Mae Brown in 1979, then in 1981 is granted U.S. citizenship and publicly comes out. Navratilova wins the 1984 French Open, and that year simultaneously holds all four Grand Slam singles titles. She goes on to win the Wimbledon singles title nine times, a record that remains unbeaten.

From 1984 to 1991, Navratilova has a long-term relationship with partner Judy Nelson. When they split in 1991, Nelson sues for palimony (aka “galimony”) to the tune of $15 million. They eventually settle out of court and Nelson writes two tell-all books about their relationship and break-up.

In 1992 Nelson briefly dates Navratilova’s ex, Rita Mae Brown. Depicting that development in the biopic will help bring home the message that lesbian drama is indeed universal.

Navratilova is inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2000 and continues to compete and win at Wimbledon until 2006

TAKE A POPCORN BREAK: In 1992, Navratilova plays Jimmy Connors in a Battle of the Sexes tennis match at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, and Connors wins 7—5, 6—2. Nobody needs to see that again.

If you need a beverage refill, make a run for the concessions stand when Navratilova appears on the reality scholckfest I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! in 2008 (she comes in second).

SHOULD BE DIRECTED BY: Though she’s currently developing a biopic about controversial German filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl, actor/director Jodie Foster could easily put it on hold to make a movie about this more obviously heroic European celebrity.

Like Fey, Foster rises to every challenge, but aside from some teenaged skateboarding and waterskiing in Freaky Friday (1975) she hasn’t really tried her hand at sports films in front of or behind the camera. Plus, putting lesbian icon Foster at the helm of a movie about lesbian icon Navratilova would guarantee a cinematic win in, er, straight sets.

That’s it for the first installment of our biopics series, but stay tuned for future articles which will include development plans for films about bon vivant and womanizer Natalie Barney, pioneering filmmaker Dorothy Arzner, civil rights activist Angela Davis, and more!

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