Ah, the 80s. ANY excuse for a dance battle.
Once Bitten
Oooh boy. I had watched this a million years ago when it came out in the 80s. I had fond memories of it as a goofy horror comedy with a young Jim Carrey, a smoldering Lauren Hutton, and (be still my heart!) a dance battle in the middle of it all.
I still loved the slapstick humor. I still guiltily enjoyed the ridiculous dance battle. I was prepared to cringe for the homophobic and sexist humor that was prevalent during the 80s. I was pleasantly surprised by the butler/chauffer character Sebastian (played delightfully by Cleavon Little) who was quite clearly gay and treated with respect and affection (and silly but not hurtful "closet" jokes.) And then we turn right around and use really nasty homophobia for laughs. Looking back it's hard to get that disconnect. I suppose we could assume that it goes along with the queer coding of "evil" characters- but Sebastian is always a very sympathetic character, and he has one of the sweetest moments in the film when he promises to take care of the Countess after she loses her youth and beauty. It's just a really weird contrast, even though homophobia for laughs was an unfortunate staple in the 80s.
I still loved the slapstick humor. I still guiltily enjoyed the ridiculous dance battle. I was prepared to cringe for the homophobic and sexist humor that was prevalent during the 80s. I was pleasantly surprised by the butler/chauffer character Sebastian (played delightfully by Cleavon Little) who was quite clearly gay and treated with respect and affection (and silly but not hurtful "closet" jokes.) And then we turn right around and use really nasty homophobia for laughs. Looking back it's hard to get that disconnect. I suppose we could assume that it goes along with the queer coding of "evil" characters- but Sebastian is always a very sympathetic character, and he has one of the sweetest moments in the film when he promises to take care of the Countess after she loses her youth and beauty. It's just a really weird contrast, even though homophobia for laughs was an unfortunate staple in the 80s.
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