It’s Not the Homosexual… Panel Speaker Profile – Lizzie Soden

Today’s Q&A is with filmmaker Lizzie Soden who will be joining us on Saturday for discussion at our screening of Rosa Von Praunheim’s It’s Not The Homosexual Who Is Perverse But The Society In Which He Lives.  Make sure you book your ticket and come along to witness this revolt of the perverts.

James Marcus Tucker: Are you now, or have you ever been a homosexual? If not, why not?

Lizzie Soden: I am not a lesbian, but I do have a great deal of pride in the fact that in my life, I have on occasion, been one of the gateways to the gay world. I’ve spent a lot of my life seriously wishing I wasn’t straight for a number of reasons, not least of all, my intermittent dealings with some nasty heterosexual men. (But hey, some of them are my best friends.) I have always felt much more at home and comfortable in gay culture. I’m very comfortable with being a ‘fag hag’ and chilling with lovely lesbians. The “outsider” element of that world resonated strongly with me when I was younger. I always felt like an outsider and never wanted to adhere to the heterosexual norms of the society I grew up in. Although I’m now a married woman, I despise the fact people are pressured to get married for the wrong reasons. I am definitely queer.

JMT: Are you at all perverse? If not, why not?

LS: “Perverse” is a very strange word because it signifies something which is directed away from what is ‘right or good.’ My problem is that most of sexuality that people approve of probably isn’t right or good. I definitely deviate in all aspects of my life from what is understood to be orthodox or normal. So I guess I am perverted, according to most of the population.

JMT: Tell me something about the society in which you live.

LS: The society in which I lived is fucked in very many ways. The sort of things that are valued are things that shouldn’t be valued. The sort of things that aren’t valued are things that should be valued. Unfortunately, there is a distinct lack of justice or fairness. There seems to be an aversion to any kind of indivudality or uniqueness. There’s too much complacency with people remaining oblivious to things. People need to wake up and see things as they are, while deliberating about how things should be and fighting for change.

JMT: What’s your favorite perverted film or film about perverts?

LS: Hmmm, the problem is that films that are labelled perverted by the mainstream are not films I would see as perverted. The most perverted film I’ve seen recently is one I accidentally came across and watched last night; the famous Hollywood blockbusting bunny boiling movie by the name of “Fatal Attraction.” This film is very, very disturbing to me for all the reasons no one else seems to find disturbing. This film celebrates the nuclear family, and heterosexuality, and the premise of the film is you have to keep disruptive, ‘out of control’ psyches and sexualities out of your home. On top of that you don’t have to take any responsibility for any of the unethical things you may do in order to keep this deranged force outside of your home, even if you are partly responsible for its existence. Ultimately it’s all about the fight against the perceived metaphoric sexual evil, and victory is gained by violence and eventually a sadistic murder, (contributed to by both the male and female in the lovely respectable couple.) The state then condones this in the guise of policemen shaking the victors hand, and leaving him to go back to his nuclear suburban family. That was so fucking disturbing.

JMT: What can or should straight people be learning from the queers?

LS: As much as possible.