It Is Not the Homosexual Who Is Perverse, But the Society in Which He Lives (1971)

It Is Not the Homosexual Who Is Perverse, But the Society in Which He Lives (German: Nicht der Homosexuelle ist pervers, sondern die Situation, in der er lebt) is a 1971 German camp film directed by Rosa von Praunheim. The plot follows the adventures of a young gay man from the province that arrives to Berlin. He gradually leaves behind his innocence led by his increasing appetite for excitement in the big-city gay scene. He moves from one gay milieu to another caught in his addiction for fashion and sexual experiences.

Scenes from Daniel's life and the various milieus he frequents are accompanied by voice-overs that are sometimes commentaries about the different gay life’s styles and sometimes represent dialogue or narrations. There is no synch sound. The voice over and dialogue recorded do not match what is on the screen.

The reception of the film was controversial. Many viewed the harsh view of gay men culture depicted as such attack that it prompted the videotaping of a short, Audience Response to Its not the Homosexual…, shot during a screening and discussion interview with von Praunheim in 1973 at New York’s Museum of Modern Art, and currently precedes many of the film’s screenings.

Synopsis

Daniel, a young man from the provinces come to the city and moves from one gay subculture to the next. His adventures begin on the streets of Berlin, where the shy brunette Daniel meets the blonde Clemens, who invites him home for coffee and offers him a place to stay. Soon Daniel is living with Clemens and believes he has found the love of his life. The two try to imitate a bourgeois marriage and its lifestyle.

Actors