Activity
Activity
This activity offers four postwar films from both West and East Germany about gay men and their lives in the city: how they inhabit and shape the city as gay men, and how the city shapes their own behaviors, identities, and communities. The four films are: Nicht der homosexuelle ist pervers, sondern die Situation, in der er lebt (1971, dir. Rosa von Praunheim—this film was the catalyst for the gay liberation movement in West Germany), Faustrecht der Freiheit (1975, dir. Rainer Werner Fassbinder), Taxi zum Klo (1981, dir. Frank Ripploh), and Offenbarung – Coming Out (1989, dir. Heiner Carow—this was the first and last film to be made about homosexuality in the DDR; you can find more information for the activity for this film here).
Each film depicts individual gay lives and their communities within large German cities, be it Munich or Berlin, and brings the viewer to the main public spots of gay life: parks, public bathrooms, bars, and clubs. Instructors can choose which of these films to show in full, or select clips from each to create a diorama of different spots in the city, such as mini-units on the park or the bar, for example.
A warning: all of these films feature explicit male nudity, and Taxi zum Klo depicts unsimulated sex between men and S&M practices. It is crucial that you warn students before they view them, and offer students in the case of Taxi a list of timeframes which feature the most explicit sexual content so that they can decide whether or not to watch them.
Materials
Alongside the films, instructors are encouraged to use the vocabulary list here with words culled from the films to help understand the materials and be prepared to discuss them:
Moreover, students will benefit from two worksheets: one is a listening activity about Rosa von Praunheim, in which students fill in the blanks as the instructor reads the complete version aloud (although seemingly tedious, this activity is often the most popular):
The second worksheet is a list of important quotes from Praunheim’s film to help students concentrate on the political implications and effects the film had (the film is very wordy, so transcribed dialogue is very helpful for comprehension):
Learning Goals
Because this activity incorporates four very different films from different countries and cultural-historical moments, the goals are variable. As always, students should be challenged to improve their linguistic fluency and accuracy. Because the focus of this activity is the city, is is a particularly good opportunity to set the students the goal of learning how to describe the city in German and practice pertinent grammar, such as commands for giving directions.
Thematically, the learning goals are rich. Students should be guided in discussion to think about the ways in which cities foster minority communities and reflect on the different ways public spaces shape their own identities and lives. Since these films span 1971 to 1989, from the beginning of gay liberation to the AIDS epidemic, another goal is for students to track historical change in the way that these gay men describe themselves, their sexuality, and their worlds.
Another direction would be to compare the three West German films with the one East German film, as they portray very different gay communities and notions of identity, civil rights, and freedom. What is the importance of sex for (gay) identity and notions of community? What does it mean to be free? What is the relation between individual and society?
Future Development
A number of these films have other discussion-based lesson plans elsewhere in this database that you could pair with these materials.
Since this activity is about cities, it could be developed outward toward the real city. Have the proprietor of a gay bar, club, or community center come to the classroom to have a discussion about the questions and issues mentioned above. If there are gay students in the classroom who are comfortable talking about their private lives, they can lead a discussion or give a presentation comparing their own experiences with those in the film.