In 1971, Pink Narcissus redefined queer eroticism
- Text by Miss Rosen
- Photography by Pink Narcissus stills (James Bidgood)
Camp classic — A new restoration of James Bidgood’s cult film is showing in US theatres this spring. We revisit its boundary pushing aesthetics, as well as its enduring legacy.
In 1971, James Bidgood’s kaleidoscopic film Pink Narcissus set the underground ablaze with its hypnotic scenes of queer desire unleashed. Crafted over seven years inside his Manhattan tenement flat, Bidgood cast Bobby Kendall as a young male prostitute living by the code ‘all day I dream about sex’. Lost in reverie, the hustler imagines luminous encounters as a matador, Roman slave, and master of a harem, abandoning himself amid a hypnotic swirl of pink, blue, and yellow gels, sequins, chiffon, satin, and supple flesh.
But amid artistic differences with the producer, Bidgood walked away, refusing to put his name on what would become a timeless classic of queer cinema. It wasn’t until the 1999 publication of Bruce Benderson’s iconic monograph that the record was finally set straight, and Bidgood’s rightful place in the LGBTQ+ pantheon was reclaimed.
This spring, Strand’s new restoration of Pink Narcissus sweeps across America, fearlessly flouting fascism just as Bidgood did in life. Born in 1933 at the height of the Great Depression, Bidgood arrived in New York at age 18 and got his start as Terri Howe at the legendary East Village drag club, Club 82, at a time when both crossdressing and being homosexual were criminalised.
But Bidgood could not be cowed; instead, he did it all, working as a window dresser, photo stylist, photographer, filmmaker, fashion, costume, and graphic designer with equal aplomb – his vision rivalled only by Busby Berkeley’s Technicolor films. Unlike the Hollywood director, Bidgood was woefully underfunded, though you might not know it from the spectacular productions built inside his humble apartment.
Kelly McKaig, Manager and Executor of the James Bidgood Estate, first met the artist in 1999, helping him to produce a benefit party for God’s Love We Deliver at Bowery Bar in New York’s East Village. Bidgood recreated the sets he used for 1960s shoots for Photoplay Magazine, each room a hand-crafted fantasia of sequins and glitter. “He recreated the pan shot that’s so famous,” McKaig says. “He hand-painted the background, built the throne, and for the willow tree, we cut out 1000s of chiffon leaves. The best part was that all of the Go Go boys were from Honcho magazine.”
At 67, Bidgood had finally had his moment in the spotlight, his influence on reigning queer image-makers like Pierre et Gilles and David LaChappelle simply undeniable. “Jim had a photo exhibit at Paul Morris, which was one of the first Chelsea galleries, he was being profiled in the New York Times, and everything was going great, but I could see it wasn’t going to last,” says McKaig.
“I stepped in, not really as a manager, but just as a protector and somebody who wanted to preserve his legacy,” he continues. “I was able to get him food stamps and on Medicaid, help him pay his rent so he wouldn’t get evicted, and just stabilise him. He was an artist, and the work came before everything.”
Pink Narcissus will be screening on April 4 at MDC’s Miami Film Festival; April 7 at BAMcinématek in Brooklyn; April 11 at Metrograph in New York; and June 26 at the AFI Silver Theater and Cultural Center in Silver Springs, Maryland.
Miss Rosen is a freelance arts and photography writer, follow her on X.
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