Sixty years after it premiered, I saw the West German film, «Different from You and Me (Article 175)». Made in 1957 by "Nazi-friendly" filmmaker Veit Harlan, it is also known as "The Third Sex", which was its original title. Despite the time elapsed, it was like travelling in a time machine and listening to stone-age notions about human sexuality. Moreover, I felt I was watching a portrait of the repressive Panamanians who had recently marched in the streets with apocalyptic hatred in their hearts to exterminate all that does not fit in their 1957 notions of sex life. I do not doubt that the origins can be found even further back in time.
By 1962 when I was about 11 years old, "The Third Sex" was still in the local cinema circuit. I never saw the movie, and I did not even try in adolescence. By then I was more curious about Isabel Sarli's mega-bosom and her adventures in waterfalls and beaches, until the British Protestant boys appeared and seduced us all, with the Beatles and Malcolm McDowell leading hordes of rebels. Nevertheless, the influence of "The Third Sex" lasted everywhere.
The film was made as an argument against the 175 article, which criminalized homosexual acts, even in the privacy and with the consent of the adults involved. However it was mainly used to alert (straight) adults of the "dangers of homosexuality and its vectors", and to give parents, grandparents, great-grandparents and teachers basic instructions on how to "cure" the children of "the plague".
The leading characters are people that "moral majorities" always seem to follow and respect. Members of the petty bourgeoisie, social "wannabes" between being or not being, between having or not having, who go to mass but curse as soon as they exit the church, etcetera... you know them well. The film tells how a "decent" family mother (with the looks of not having sex in more than a decade, judging by the boredom inspired by her banker husband) "saves" her son from the grip of "homosexualism", inducing him to have sex with the maid.
The young man seems quite normal to me, a painter in the making, willing to live "la vida loca", but naïve enough to hang around with men who are either impertinent, foolish and corny, or depraved and corrupt. The wholesome proletarian girl serving the family is the perfect potion, according to mother, a practice that is still common in many homes, behind closed doors. Momma the Witch Doctor goes to trial accused of procuring and before a sentence is pronounced, we watch her story in flashback.
Despite being a piece that did not pass the test of time, «Different from You and Me» is fascinating to see, as not to forget how cruel we humans can be. In short, if we persist on reading only bibles and (disguised) Nazi manifestos to learn about our human essence, we will continue to live on this planet of the apes.
By 1962 when I was about 11 years old, "The Third Sex" was still in the local cinema circuit. I never saw the movie, and I did not even try in adolescence. By then I was more curious about Isabel Sarli's mega-bosom and her adventures in waterfalls and beaches, until the British Protestant boys appeared and seduced us all, with the Beatles and Malcolm McDowell leading hordes of rebels. Nevertheless, the influence of "The Third Sex" lasted everywhere.
The film was made as an argument against the 175 article, which criminalized homosexual acts, even in the privacy and with the consent of the adults involved. However it was mainly used to alert (straight) adults of the "dangers of homosexuality and its vectors", and to give parents, grandparents, great-grandparents and teachers basic instructions on how to "cure" the children of "the plague".
The leading characters are people that "moral majorities" always seem to follow and respect. Members of the petty bourgeoisie, social "wannabes" between being or not being, between having or not having, who go to mass but curse as soon as they exit the church, etcetera... you know them well. The film tells how a "decent" family mother (with the looks of not having sex in more than a decade, judging by the boredom inspired by her banker husband) "saves" her son from the grip of "homosexualism", inducing him to have sex with the maid.
The young man seems quite normal to me, a painter in the making, willing to live "la vida loca", but naïve enough to hang around with men who are either impertinent, foolish and corny, or depraved and corrupt. The wholesome proletarian girl serving the family is the perfect potion, according to mother, a practice that is still common in many homes, behind closed doors. Momma the Witch Doctor goes to trial accused of procuring and before a sentence is pronounced, we watch her story in flashback.
Despite being a piece that did not pass the test of time, «Different from You and Me» is fascinating to see, as not to forget how cruel we humans can be. In short, if we persist on reading only bibles and (disguised) Nazi manifestos to learn about our human essence, we will continue to live on this planet of the apes.