The Long Good Shower

Screening of the 1980 British gangster classic The Long Good Friday with a few surprises in store…

The tough-as-nails 1980 British gangster classic is reviewed through it's connection to the gay 'bear' community - it's lead actor (and star of a very lingering shower scene!) Bob Hoskins celebrated as a touchstone figure to men for whom admitting a fondness for the 'full-figured, furry fellow' would often mean 'coming out twice'.

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Near the climax of John Mackenzie's hugely influential East End crime masterpiece, rescued from a proposed (heavily cut) television slot by George Harrisons' Handmade Films and released to theatres at Easter time forty years ago, gangland boss Harold Shand is involved in a particularly nasty (and Shakespearean) bit of business. It requires that he take a long, contemplative shower - and as Francis Monkman's incredible music score drowns out the gushing spigot, we're invited to contemplate every twist and turn of playwright Barrie Keeffe's plot which has bought Bob Hoskin's ambitious criminal entrepreneur to this bloody crossroads. We watch in real time (and again during the films' astonishing lengthy final closeup) as Shand awakens to the various betrayals and machinations which have destroyed his empire over the last forty eight explosive hours. But this screening is also a celebration of Hoskins' hidden role (and that of this particular scene) in a different kind of awakening...
Scott Johnston, co-programmer.

In the early 80s as a young not-yet-out gay man, self-acceptance was a long challenging process. In a pre-internet age it was very rare to see any positive images of gay people - deviant, puff, homo, queer etc were common playground insults used to belittle and shame, and the only images of gay men in popular culture tended to be effete feminised versions of pantomime camp. The only openly gay man I knew of was Quentin Crisp.

In the culture I was brought up in these images represented the 'other', 'them'. Those that are not us. I didn't understand my own lack of attraction to men or women. All of the conventional images of what was regarded as 'attractive', from page three models (used to sell tawdry tabloids) to conventional male heroes such as football players and pop stars did nothing for me. I had begun to accept that I was, in fact, asexual.
This all changed during the shower scene in The Long Good Friday.

Something occurred deep within me, grumbling, confusing and unknown - both exciting and frightening. I was forced to confront the fact that I was a fan of the Fuller Figured Furry Fellow. Perhaps this sensation is what other people experienced as "sexuality"? I had no words for this feeling, no language to help me come to terms with what I was experiencing. It was impossible to talk to anyone about it... weren’t all 'queers' limp-wristed feminised figures of ridicule?

When you are attracted to this type of man you have to come out twice: first as gay, and then again as an admirer of what are now known as “bears”.

The bear community began in the USA during the early 80s as a breakaway group tired of the perceived body fascism of the gay scene, a rejection of the stereotypical Adonis or the statue of Michelangelo’s David as the only idealised male form to be admired or aspired to. By the mid 80s bear clubs and social events were becoming more common and the bear scene had its own publication - Bulk Delivery, unashamedly celebrating all that was burly and furry.

In the early 90s I heard rumour of a bear community in the UK, and 'Bear Hug' - a monthly social event at The Empire in Holborn. I travelled to London and stood outside the pub, nervous and in awe as big bearded bears stood outside in the street chatting and drinking. It was wonderful. But I was too scared to enter. A year later I returned and stirred the courage to go in. That night I discovered there was also a bear club in London called Bulk, and on my first visit I read their sign above the door which announced “Liberty Equality Fraternity” from the French Revolution and was welcomed inside by Eddie, the kind and chubby door host. I knew I had at last found my tribe.

I was surprised to discover that for many gay bear lovers of my age Bob Hoskins had also been a touchstone for them, representing this same “OMG I’m Gay” moment of revelation and self-acceptance. Of course along the way there were other beary figures glimpsed in popular culture - Ed Asner, Rod Steiger, Bud Spencer, and of course King of the Hawk Men Brian Blessed in Flash Gordon!

But for many of us Bob Hoskins still holds a special place in our hearts, a place of revelation, gradual self-knowledge and acceptance.

Thanks Bob for being a gay bear culture touchstone, and for helping so many of us come to terms with the true nature of our sexuality x
Brian Duffy, co-programmer.

Brian Duffy is a musician and artist, founder of The Modified Toy Orchestra. You can hear his version of the infamous 'shower scene' music in the theatre this evening.

Scott Johnston is a filmmaker and musician, under the name Haunted Screen.