queerness in cinema

In interviews, Araki has addressed the connections between his filmmaking style, ongoinginfluences of the punk movement, and thesomewhat limited opportunities for realizingradical/subversive intentions in a highly commercialized society. As he explained in a 1997interview, ". .. my sister became an accountant, my brother became a computer... See more

Over time, as has been the case with somany avant-garde cultural phenomena, thepunk aesthetic-which initially caused socialoutrage and hysteria both in the United Statesand abroad-was incorporated to a substantialdegree into mainstream culture. The subcultural signs of the punk movement (fashions,songs, etc.) were soon converted into massproduced... See more

other words, punks consciously created a musical and visual aestheticthat distinguished them from mainstream expectations, appropriating established musicalstyles (e.g., rock) and fashion styles (e.g.,ripped t-shirts covered with profanity, guerillastyle outfits, modified school uniforms, outrageously dyed hair) in order to subvert theirmainstream... See more

k music, its makers,and its followers challenged hegemonic conceptions of ideology and social order, producing a potentially powerful form of resistance todominant social groups and establishments, aswell as to repressive social expectations andgender roles