How do you move in a world of fog that's always changing things?

[sovay]

I don't know what the photographer intended this composition to signify, but it looks like a male-male Little Mermaid to me:



I haven't seen Hans Christian Andersen (1952) since I was in middle school at the latest. It was almost certainly one of my introductions to Danny Kaye, the other, more lasting imprints being The Court Jester (1956) and my grandmother's stories. I recognize but do not entirely remember most of the songs by Frank Loesser, although I make an exception for "Wonderful Copenhagen," which can get stuck in my head for weeks. I don't know if it would hold up to rewatch (I worry less about the Suck Fairy per se than the Twee Fairy). In any case, while I know the musical explicitly represents itself as fantasia rather than biography, from the time I learned anything of Andersen's actual biography it has always burned me that the film has Kaye's Andersen composing "The Little Mermaid" out of unrequited love for the ballerina played by Zizi Jeanmaire, when the real-life Andersen found some romantic fulfillment with the ballet dancer Harald Scharff. I recognize it's not every day that someone's life gets more tragic when it gets more straight, but still.

It's not that I am not aware of the current politics; I am not posting much about them because I am trying to survive most of them. In things I have read today in news outlets which pleased me, Anthony Lane has checked his usual distaste for anything resembling science fiction or fantasy and loves The Shape of Water (2017).

Comments

[sovay]

If you ever rewatch Hans Christian Andersen, you may be surprised by how queer it is.

Say more?

[kindkit]

I'm thinking mostly of Hans's boy assistant (he seems to be about 15), who can very very easily be read as in love with him. He insists on accompanying Hans to Copenhagen and looks after him there, despite his jealousy over Hans's obsession with the ballerina. And when it's all over, he gladly takes Hans home and it seems very much like they'll be each other's companions for the rest of their lives. This is all subtext, of course, but subtext of the blatant, perhaps even coded kind. The boy's a little young for me to want to imagine them getting together right away, but I like to think happiness is in store for Hans in a few years' time.

There's also a gay joke during the buildup scene to "The Emperor's New Clothes" that I am amazed got past the studio. And that I think is deliberate coding, perhaps to point the knowledgeable 1950s viewer towards the subtextual queerness.

Plus, I think Danny Kaye brings the queer subtext wherever he goes, but that could just be me.

[sovay]

This is all subtext, of course, but subtext of the blatant, perhaps even coded kind. The boy's a little young for me to want to imagine them getting together right away, but I like to think happiness is in store for Hans in a few years' time.

I had forgotten everything about Peter except that he was in the plot. That does sound notable.

There's also a gay joke during the buildup scene to "The Emperor's New Clothes" that I am amazed got past the studio.

*rummages around on YouTube*

"You'd be surprised how many kings are only a queen with a mustache."

Okay, points to you, Moss Hart.

Plus, I think Danny Kaye brings the queer subtext wherever he goes, but that could just be me.

It's not just you. Danny Kaye did.

[kindkit]

Did you ever read Michael Korda's roman à clef about Danny Kaye? It's called Curtain, and it is truly terrible in every respect, not least its pervasive homophobia. It's based on the rumors that Kaye and Laurence Olivier were lovers, but due to the aforementioned homophobia it makes Kaye a child-molesting villain. There's something horribly fascinating about it all.

[sovay]

It's based on the rumors that Kaye and Laurence Olivier were lovers, but due to the aforementioned homophobia it makes Kaye a child-molesting villain. There's something horribly fascinating about it all.

No, holy blap. The only roman à clef I have ever read about Olivier is Angela Carter's Wise Children (1991), and most of the people in that are fictional. This sounds like "trainwreck" doesn't begin to cover it.