Haynes 1

1. Stan Brakhage's work interested him in experimental film. Apparatus productions was started to encourage putting genre elements to use in experimental filmmaking.
Superstar's structure is very formulaic of the biopic but the use of dolls gives it an experimental side.

2. Haynes' quote suggests that he is a proponent of the theory that an author's work is simply a recombination of the elements and factors around him to create a sort of personal voice. Citation and expected knowledge of other works which interest him are a part of his creative process.

3. Pop culture in the 50's was largely comprised of duality. Lucille Ball's character and Douglas Sirk's explorations of leading a public life and a private life separately were of intellectual interest to Haynes in his college years.

4. Genet's Un Chant D'Amour was a direct influence to the Homo section of Poison. Kenneth Anger's Scorpio Rising is also cited as an influence in Haynes' work. The controversy was that the American Family Association was in opposition to the National Endowment for the Arts financial support for the film, claiming that the subject matter should not be supported by public money.

5. Haynes uses the coldness and detachment of postmodernist characterization along with the overt emotion found in melodramas to counterpoint actions and character.

6. Fassbinder, Almodovar, Haynes, and Sirk. Postmodern melodrama utilizes the emotional current of melodramas and places it within the context of the cold postmodernist characterization of people.

7. Haynes uses illness to mix melodramatic pathos with postmodern characterization. Illnesses are typically depicted as environmentally motivated.

8. It was Genet's last fictional work concerned with homosexuality. Genet could not identify with the Gay Liberation movement since homosexuality was illegal and he could not understand why coming out of the closet was necessarily positive.

9. "Horror" parodies 50's B-films. A science experiment goes wrong, causing the protagonist to become a monster.
"Homo" is inspired by the stories of Jean Genet and their explorations of homosexuality. It also employs techniques seen in Hollywood melodrama.
"Hero" is an faux-documentary about a 7 year old boy who shoots his father.
The stories use each other to create an overall message and relative theme.

10. If put in a specific order, the three short films appear to be commenting on homosexuality and the views surrounding it in the early 90's.