When Paul Aaron’s A Different Story opened in 1978 it did more than divide critics — it provoked organized protest from gay rights activists who saw the film as a dangerous and stereotyped depiction of homosexual life. Several contemporary reviewers condemned the picture for exploiting its central conceit — that a gay man and a lesbian could, effectively and quickly, become a conventional heterosexual family. Seattle Gay News columnist Bill Alpert blasted the picture as “a cheap bit of exploitation” that trafficked in “an unending selection of homosexual stereotypes,” while New York Times critic Janet Maslin accused the film of being “exploitative, insensitive, and offensive” and even singled out the central idea that Albert’s sexuality was “nothing but a gimmick.”
Preparing the daily feature…
AI concept artworkArchive Record · 1970s
1978 Backlash: Gay Rights Groups and Critics Rally Against A Different Story’s 'Conversion' Narrative
A Different Story (1978) / 1970s
When Paul Aaron’s A Different Story opened in 1978 it did more than divide critics — it provoked organized protest from gay rights activists who saw the film as a dangerous and stereotyped depiction of homosexual life. Several contemporary reviewers condemned the picture for exploiting its central conceit — that a gay man and a lesbian could, effectively and quickly, become a conventional heterosexual family. Seattle Gay News columnist Bill Alpert blasted the picture as “a cheap bit of exploitation” that trafficked in “an unending selection of homosexual stereotypes,” while New York Times critic Janet Maslin accused the film of being “exploitative, insensitive, and offensive” and even singled out the central idea that Albert’s sexuality was “nothing but a gimmick.”
The daily feature is taking an intermission. There’s still an entire archive to explore.