The imperfect text: bisexual transgression in Score (1974) and Both Ways (1975)

Abstract

Pornographic cinema would seem perfect for producing unambiguous images of bisexual attraction, as it makes explicit what non-pornographic cinema implies through stereotypes, tropes, and narratives: that is, subjectivity neither homosexual nor heterosexual. Yet, in spite of this advantage, the imaging of bisexuality in pornographic cinema remains entrenched in cultural frameworks that shape its construction and signification. To examine this claim, we perform a close reading of two erotic movies from the 1970s, a historical moment in which bisexuality emerges in American mass media as a force to be reckoned with. We find that bisexuality functions as a transgression in these texts, but that its transgressive value depends on the sexual economy organizing the story. Together, Score (1974 Metzger, Radley, dir. 1974. Score. USA. [Google Scholar]) and Both Ways (1975 Douglas, Jerry, dir. 1975. Both Ways. USA. [Google Scholar]) illuminate the attraction of – and repulsion to – bisexuality in American culture of the 1970s, and demonstrate how the transgressive value of bisexuality remains contingent and limited, even within the explicit world of pornography.

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