*DISCLAIMER* This video only covers the sexuality of the two main characters in Breakfast at Tiffany’s, with a heavy emphasis on the book, but it’s important to also be aware of the film’s horrific use of yellowface. Writer Jade Yong explains it best here- www.unpublishedzine.com/film-1/its-time-to-talk-about-mr-yunioshi-in-breakfast-at-tiffanys "By contextualising these portrayals amongst the broader strain of yellow-face in Hollywood, and American society’s views in the 60’s, we can continue to provoke discussions about these films that seek to expose the problematic narratives of gender and race which made them so appealing to audiences, and which have culminated in the forms of anti-Asian hate we see today."
@@BCSchmerker I think that a remake might be problematic because of Audrey Hepburns portrayal of Holly. I don't know how it may work with a different actress. But a remake could definitely change to reflect the actual book and cut out the racism and homophobia. Catch-22
I'm half-Chinese, and knew about the movie, but not the yellow-face in it. I tried to watch it once and was so completely shocked & horrified when Mickey Rooney appeared I had to stop, and can't see myself going back to it. Edit to add: that's not a knock on this video though, it was fantastic, and I loved learning about the true history of the story!
So when the film was completed, the studio executives all sat in a room watched the awful image of a Japanese man portrayed in a cartoonish manner by a white man and said "we're good". Seems to emanate from another universe a millennia ago. As for the sexual-orientation changes, Truman Capote was probably being pragmatic. Of course he wanted to be paid and also wished to get some of the message out there, even if it was not intact. The best way to remove a barrier is by poking holes, weakening it. While a sudden explosive change may be more tempting, avoiding collateral damage would probably make the final result have a better chance of being permanent.
Interesting fact, Truman Capote was a childhood and lifelong friend of Harper Lee. She based the character of Dill, from To Kill a Mockingbird, on him. She helped him research for his true crime novel, In Cold Blood
I have said since I read the book that this is one of the movies I am most shocked hasn't been remade. Here is this amazing book and a hugely famous movie IP that you could kind of ONLY make book accurate now that the concept of a gay man and a bisexual woman being close friends is more accepted than ever. And it could be so good! Hollywood, we are ready for it!!
Anyone playing Holly would be in Audrey's shadow though. And doomed to be compared unfavorably. They would need to sell the story under a different name.
@@rachelash6325 orrrr pull the ol' gender switcharoo & flip every character's gender: less likely for direct comparison/scrutiny of the actors + more wholesome lesbian content for us all.
Audrey Hepburn was also in The Children's Hour where Shirley McCLaine was a lesbian in love with her. Of course, in the 60's the relationship between the two was called "unnatural". I'm amazed it was even filmed.
It unfortunately fell victim to The Code, in that Shirley's character had to meet a bad end, but it was probably the most progressive take on female homosexuality that existed at the time. It is a gorgeous film, and I can still see Audrey in my head, frantically trying to open the door in time... It was just devastating, and even though it technically fulfilled the requirements of The Code, I feel that it really worked hard to engender a sense of sympathy for queer characters in a way that hadn't really been done before.
I'd say those times Audrey Hepburn gave ballet concerts in occupied Holland for the Nazis and then donated the profits to the resistance was pretty iconic
Ugh, if we consider him ace, his line from the movie: "People do fall in love. People do belong to each other, because that’s the only chance anybody’s got for real happiness" makes me even more uncomfortable ;__; Because that general perception, that loving another person romantically/sexually is the truest form of happiness and if you don't do that you're lacking something, has done me so wrong during my life. As an aroace myself, I had to fight through accepting my own self and kind of disassemble this mindset from my own brain, it took a lot of work :'( So it hurts to think he might have been ace and in the same desperate denial ditch that I was in for a long time. But then again, I'm interested in reading the book version, and seeing the differences :D In any case, I love the thought that the two main characters would be platonic best friends, that's something we surprisingly need represented quite desperately. No matter their sexuality! Just give us adult humans who are close without them immediately developing romantic tension! Especially in the case the two people's sexualities would be "compatible"! I don't enjoy how it seems that in media, only the people who have mismatching sexualities and "can't" be attracted to each other sexually, stay "just friends" (and what's that "just" for, anyway?). And everyone else just immediately develops a crush, with no regard to if their personalities and interests align in any way that would actually make chemistry between them happen... Hetero guy + hetero girl? Boom, crush. Gay guy + gay guy? Boom, crush. Hetero girl + gay girl? Boom, one-sided crush. It's... People can be platonic friends with each other even if they're attracted to the gender their friend is? Just please let me have representation of healthy adult friendships ;__;
It's subtly was done as good as they could get away with back then however i feel if it was made now it would not hold the weight that it does simply due to shock value now days. Part of its charm was the subtle not so subtle hints at the underlying reality. Still part of being the movie that it is from the era it is from is what makes the story iconic. Thank you for this Jessica! Happy Pride!🏳️🌈❤️🧡💛💚💙💜🏳️🌈
I would love to know what movie they would have made in the alternate universe where the Hayes Code didn't exist. What would the UNsubtle version look like? (Though the world may have been so different without a bunch of prides calling foul the book itself may not have been written in the same way anyway)
Tangent: My maternal grandparents slept in separate beds. As a child I had remembered my mom explaining the old rule about beds on television shows (I had seen it on I love Lucy), and assumed that my grandparents must be very conservative. Only when I was much older did I learn that actually, grandma insisted on separate beds because grandpa would otherwise pull all of the sheets to himself during the night!
i loved this video. i haven’t read the book but i knew most of what you shared about it. even still breakfast at tiffany’s is one of my favorite movies. not for the romance, high society, or iconic-ness, but because whenever i watch it i (shockingly so as a bi woman) see myself in her. i’m quite shy and guarded and though i’ve never been as flamboyant as she (holly) can be (when playing a part that isn’t truly her) i can palpably identify from the distractedness and running from self. i hate the whole “you belong to me” but everything else in that bit of the cab scene cuts deep. i’ve showed my therapist clips from this movie as i struggled to put into words how i felt/how i am/who i am. the difficult past, the dissatisfaction and fear of the vulnerable and present, the running towards anything that isn’t fulfilling just so that no one truly *see’s* me. i know you’re not slamming the movie. more so the codes and society at large but i thought this perspective might be of interest. plus mancini’s score and songwriting plus mercer’s lyrics for “moon river” have become a tonic or at least a catharsis for my “mean reds.” these dialogues are particularly meaningful for me: Holly Golightly: That’s right. I’m crazy about Tiffany’s. Listen. You know those days when you get the mean reds? Paul Varjak: The mean reds? You mean, like the blues? Holly Golightly: No the blues are because you’re getting fat or maybe it’s been raining too long. You’re just sad, that’s all. The mean reds are horrible. Suddenly you’re afraid, and you don’t know what you’re afraid of. Don’t you ever get that feeling? Paul Varjak: Sure. Holly Golightly: When I get it, the only thing that does any good is to jump into a cab and go to Tiffany’s. Calms me down right away. The quietness and the proud look. Nothing very bad could happen to you there. If I could find a real-life place that made me feel like Tiffany’s, then...then I’d buy some furniture and give the cat a name. i have major depressive disorder so i’m always depressed, so the “mean reds” / how i apply them to myself have been a very helpful distinction between my disorder and natural human ebbs. for me and how i internalize them, the “mean reds” are something i may talk to my therapist about but not my psychiatrist. they are periods or feelings i’m learning to embrace, even the gross, gritty bits. as where i don’t (or at least i work hard to not) embrace my depression. i accept it as part of my life but embracing (for me) would be a slippery slope into a nearly inescapable black hole of nothingness. Doc Golightly: You’re talking crazy, Lula Mae. Holly Golightly: Doc, stop calling me that. I’m not Lula Mae anymore. Doc Golightly: All right, Lula Mae. I guess you know what you’re doing…. Holly Golightly: …Please, Doc. please understand. I love you, but I’m just not Lula Mae anymore. I’m not. ………………… Holly Golightly: You know the terrible thing, Fred, darling? I am still Lula Mae-- 14 years old, stealing turkey eggs, and running through a briar patch. Except now I call it having the mean reds…. as someone with a complex and traumatic past this scene resonates so deeply. not knowing who i am, an inability to find myself, running from past versions of myself and my life, trying desperately to reinvent myself to survive, being loved but being unable to love in the way that person needs, needing space, needing a big old wall (or cage: see next dialogue) between past, present, and future. especially past and present. Paul Varjak: Holly, I’m in love with you. Holly Golightly: So what? Paul Varjak: So what? So plenty! I love you. You belong to me. Holly Golightly: No. people don’t belong to people. Paul Varjak: Of course they do. Holly Golightly: I’m not going to let anyone put me in a cage. Paul Varjak: I don’t want to put you in a cage! I want to love you! Holly Golightly: It’s the same thing. Paul Varjak: No, it’s not! Holly! Holly Golightly: I’m not Holly. I’m not Lula Mae, either. I don’t know who I am! I’m like Cat here, We’re a couple of no-name slobs. We belong to nobody, and nobody belongs to us. We don’t even belong to each other. Stop the cab. What do you think? This ought to be the right kind place for a tough guy like you-garbage cans, rats galore. Scram! I said take off! Beat it! Let’s go. Paul Varjak: Driver... pull over here. You know what’s wrong with you, miss whoever-you-are? You’re chicken. You got no guts. You’re afraid to stick out your chin and say, “o.k., life’s a fact.” people do fall in love. People do belong to each other, because that’s the only chance anybody’s got for real happiness. You call yourself a free spirit, a wild thing. And you’re terrified somebody’s going to stick you in a cage. Well, baby, you’re already in that cage. You built it yourself. And it’s not bounded in the west by Tulip, Texas, or in the east by Somaliland. It’s wherever you go. Because no matter where you run, you just end up running into yourself. again not for the “romantic” aspect (and no she doesn’t “belong to him” ughfnkljgdx) but for his ability to see her and tell her who she really is, who she is hiding from, to help her face herself. let’s be honest sometimes we can’t do it all by ourselves. i know it’s been said and i don’t know if it’s my place as a non-asian person to mention this, but as i have put highly how much (parts of) this film means to me i do want to say: mickey rooney (a very, very, white man) as mr. yunioshi (a japanese, not white man) is horrific. the stigmatization in the writing coupled with the casting/makeup/other bs was so terrible i didn’t even realize it was y*llow-face the first time i watched it as a teenager at first. it is a confusing, highly racist, and totally unnecessary character/depiction. i haven’t watch the movie in years for that very reason, however, through lots of moral and ethical agonizing i’ve come to accept that this movie means something to me in-spite of the overt racism. this may make me sound like an a$$hole and i’m genuinely sorry if this hurts anyone. 🥺 i’m trying my best to be good and do good things. most times life is messier than i wish it were.
I love this series! I’m a straight, cis-gendered woman - so your videos on LGBTQ+ topics and history really helps me learn more about the community and how to be a better ally. (Also, am I a total weirdo for never having seen Breakfast at Tiffany’s? 🤭)
Same, and I was utterly clueless that any of the characters in the movie weren't straight until I watched this video. Wow. I would've enjoyed the movie a whole lot more if I'd known this first!
I've never read the book and have only seen the film once. I remember liking their dynamic but eyerolling at the unnecessary romantic third act/ending. Welp, I guess I have to read the book now.
@@xzonia1 I remember reading the book as a queer teen and being totally surprised that Holly makes remarks about her queer sexuality considering the time it was made, and certainly saw the chemistry between the two as a friendship. Then watched the movie and knew what to expect, but it was still disappointing they left out that part entirely.
As an older subscriber, my time period for seeing BAT is different - different time, different age, with completely oblivious results. lol. I saw it young, probably around 17. Saw no gay references and didn't read the book. Loved the film, it was delightful. I did learn later in life about the gay undertones and your description helps a lot. It's fun and interesting to hear your astute (and learned) observations about film as I love film and enjoying performances from actors. Several films during that time were using original gay themes in the movie, like Reflections In A Golden Eye, and one scene in Spartacus. Very groundbreaking at the time. Society was slow to grow, but it did, and films did help.
Loved the video and always fascinating to learn more about queer history....but it felt incomplete without acknowledging the despicable racism and yellow face in the film.
i understand what you mean, and while I’d also like just a little comment about it, I think its fine because the focus of this video is the queerness in it and also Jessica may not have felt entitled to talk about it since she isn’t Asian and many many Asian people have condemned it already.
I've never read the book and have only seen the film once, but I remember liking their dynamic a lot but eyerolling at the unnecessary romantic third act/ending. Welp, I guess I have to read the book now.
Years ago I saw another video you made about Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Jessica! You were very young then, and I don’t see it still on your channel, but it was the reason I started watching your videos!
I never watched the film or read the book, but this is the FIRST time I have ever heard the character of Holly referred to as a call girl. I think the more apt term for her would be sugar baby, but like most things in this story, polite society refused to acknowledge what was there.
Oooh!! This video was so good, Jessica! Thank you💜 I happen to LOVE both the novella and the movie, despite their differences. (I also found a recording of the stage play, starring Emilia Clarke, here on UA-cam. I absolutely love it, too! It’s closer to the novella, story wise, and you can find it titled “BAT 9.3.2013 - Act 1” and “BAT 9.3.2013 Act - 2”. Worth watching!) Even though I didn’t know all of the LGBTQ lingo present in the story, I’ve always been aware of the queerness within it, and I love it for that- especially when you think about the time it was published, and when the movie came out. Representation matters! 💜 Breakfast at Tiffany’s is a book, and a movie, that I can reread & rewatch over and over. I’ve watched the movie so many times that I’ll often put it on while doing chores, and I can imagine each scene with near perfection, while only listening to it. And I love the way I imagined the characters and environments when reading the story. The way I see Holly with her beautiful hazel-blue eyes and her boyishly short, multi-hued blonde hair. Her preferred “esoteric” brand of cigarettes, Picayunes, her nearsighted, scrutinizing squint when not wearing her prescription sunglasses, the beloved Cat. And personally, I loved the platonic relationship between the narrator and Holly. The movie is an iconic classic, no question about that. But not everything in it has aged well. Particularly the character of Mr. Yunioshi. (I know this doesn’t have much to do with the subject matter of Jessica’s video, but it’s definitely something I’ve thought about a lot.) He’s not even a very big character in the story, just a fellow tenant Holly bothered on a few occasions. It’s another tenant, Madame Spanella, who really disliked Holly, constantly complaining about her & yelling at her. Mickey Rooney, as the goofy, irritable, Japanese neighbor, Mr. Yunioshi, was meant to be the comic relief in the film. But I don’t feel like I need to go on a long spiel about the racist overtones of the character, and the non-Japanese actor choice. It’s pretty apparent. They put Mr. Yunioshi in the place of Madame Spanella for the film, “Haha, let’s have Mickey pretend to be a Japanese man and we’ll laugh our asses off!” Sign of the times, I guess. What’s interesting, is that in a past interview with the movie’s director, when asked about Mr. Yunioshi, he said he honestly ended up regretting how they portrayed the character, and the fact that they didn’t even bother having a real Japanese actor. Putting Mickey Rooney in that role was pushed into the film because of how popular Rooney was as a comedian. Again, a sign of the times, so I don’t necessarily fault the director, especially with his apologies about that choice. I think they could have had Madame Spanella in that antagonistic, comedic role, just as she was in the novella, and it could have been just as comedic, while being *way less* offensive. But alas, it is what it is. And I still love it. 💗💗💗 But if done right, and kept true to the novella, I could imagine a remake being pretty darn good.
I am adding this along with Be Kind Rewind's broader analysis and background dig into my Breakfast At Tiffany's video library . While she did highlight the queer erasure (and oh yeah, the racist marketing campaign behind Mr. Yunioshi), your video definitely gives a deeper and welcome analysis of the book and its inherent queerness and erasure.
I always loved this book, because it was so different to any 'typical' story that I've read. I didn't like the movie, now that I'm older, I know why, they erased and changed everything that I loved about this story. Glad that you reminded me about this book Jessie, as I have currently nothing to read :)
The book is worth a read, and it's a quick one. It's very gay, but fyi along with questionable language around homosexuality, there are some quite racist bits as well.
as a huge audrey hepburn fan, i might add that, other than holly golightly, audrey played karen wright (the children’s hour) and sister luke (the nun’s story) that were both sapphics. obviously sister luke’s sexuality wasn’t portrayed onscreen, since she was supposed to be a nun, but the real woman who inspired the film actually lived with another woman for years until she died, and audrey was friends with them both.
I think the movie would be perfect with these minor changes. Paul is simply a writer, not a kept man. He and Holly never sleep together. Holly leaves at the end, and Mr. Yunioshi is played not as a stereotype, and is played by George Takai. I can imagine this version in my mind. I think George Peppard could have pulled off the gay innuendo easily. In fact, the romantic relationship always seemed forced at the end. They seem more like friends. He’s like a protective older brother. Also, Audrey played the heck out of this role. She’s perfect.
I've always loved BaT, and being a cis woman did miss a lot of those ques. I'll have to reread the book now with fresh eyes! I did always like the deep platonic relationship the characters share, and felt the "romance" was shoe-horned in the movie. Also, I need a jpg of "TV's always been trash" 🤣
Without exaggeration the most interesting video I've seen in months, and one of my favorites by you so far! ❤️ I didn't know all of this about BAT. I definitely am compelled to read the book now.
I knew some of this especially the business with her being suggested that she's queer and suggesting that he's queer but also getting this feeling like somehow it's being pushed aside like you get the feeling that they're under pressure from those around them to conform somehow or maybe that's just the way I took it. I never actually read the book so I wouldn't have known that there was that much gayness I guess you'd call it to it I need Truman Capote was gay there's no missing that. But I didn't know about the book. I think if the actor who plays her co-star in that the one who plays Paul if it had ever been suggested to him that he had to play gay I think he would have blown his top predominantly because he was a man who from everything I've read about him has no sense of humor in a sense so would have been interesting though if they had ever bothered to make it like the book would have loved to see how he handled that and I don't think he would have taken the part if it had been suggested he was. In fact in the '70s and even in the '80s a great many heterosexual actors when asked to play gay characters said no some people thought it was because of the AIDS crisis I don't think so I think they were afraid that might be suggested that they were gay. At least I get that impression from things they say and a few other things in interviews. Please bear in mind I’m using voice to text so punctuation is a problem and sometimes even the words I hope this makes sense I mean it would not let me use the word homosexual without messing it up several times so I went with queer because that was pretty much what the theme was on basically and yes when I was saying about the 80s 70s and 80s when eights came up they wouldn’t even adult men would not kiss another adult man if he if they knew in the slightest or suspected in the slightest that the guy was really gay many of them wouldn’t do it in because they were afraid to be typecast is getting I remember this because I was my school high schools reporter and like I said back then there was no word for somebody who wasn’t interested in sex and if you wanted to get by in high school or anywhere else you have to be pretend to be either heterosexual or gay heterosexual was easier. That’s where things get interesting when you think about it and it was a man who everybody thought was gay I’m not talking about this business of Truman Capote or what he wrote I’m talking about someone who is seen as a gay icon but he himself and when you hear what he says and you hear about people who he was even investigated OK I never had a boyfriend but he never had a girlfriend either he never got married and when accused of being gay went with it because of the fact that he was being falsely accused of something I need already been falsely accused of something namely being gay and what was he gonna do to dispute the fact that he wasn’t interested either way that would make you even worse in the eyes of people looking and we know this because if you look at how people today specifically for example the author of Harry Potter and this is why I knew this before any of the people who are actually gay they jumped on the bandwagon because she said Dumbledore was gay and I said no she writes it the way homophobes write it and I was proven right and that’s the problem here there was nothing there with you were either one of one of two things you were gay or you were heterosexual there was nothing in the middle and there is some thing I think that is some thing that I’d be interested to see as part of your history something about those of us were asexual and asexual icon I can think of one who is probably a sexual icon but bear in mind that until quite recently when the word came up I wouldn’t have had a word for it either. Because when I was growing up there wasn’t that choice to describe me my mother and you still had I told her how many times I wasn’t interested in getting married I wasn’t eating out wasn’t interested in living with anybody in that kind of way I wasn’t interested in women I’m female so you get the idea and I told her this but there was no and the joke was if I’ve been Catholic I’ve been a nun. But they would’ve gotten that wrong to. I do like the fact that in legends of tomorrow the first actual asexual person on television is a character in that show. And she herself doesn’t have a name for what she is until another character informs her there’s a name for it.
I loved Breakfast at Tiffany's so much when I was a kid that when my mom took me to San Francisco at 13, I insisted that we get donuts and coffee and go eat them at the Tiffany's. I still love the movie although I also lament its cringey elements (looking at you Mickey Rooney). Very curious to read the book now. I always thought the ending felt rather forced, now I understand why
I really enjoyed this video! ☺Thank you for the smile on the term "Nancy"...which is my name. LOL Breakfast at Tiffany is a great movie, and I've learned a lot from your video on this. ❤
Yay!!! After watching your videos over the past couple years I was hoping you would cover this Breakfast at Tiffany’s in your historic queer media series. Thank you! Much love to you and your adorable fam, from Canada
I read the book and saw the movie as a child of approximately 11 years. Even at that age I puzzled at the landlord character. It is interesting that while everyone is rightfully horrified at the Mickey Rooney "character" (MR. Yunioshi, even the honorific improper) in this movie, there is far less mention of how the character of George Peppard (Paul) was changed. In spite of all that, my memories of the film are fond and positive. As an adult, I am guessing that my opinions were formed by the beauty and charm of Audrey Hepburn that song that became resident in my brain for months and months. I most likely will leave this film as a childhood memory intact and not re-watch this film.
This was very interesting about the book and I guess they got away with things at the time when people didn’t know the slang. This was very informative and I enjoyed this video a lot as usual and thank you so much for sharing all this information.
Every time I think of capote I just remember how angry my teachers where that he made the killer in cold blood a not bad guy. We always covered the book because I'm from the same town as the killer
Part of me wants to ask, “Do you KNOW who Truman Capote was?” The MPAA bowdlerized a lot of book to movie translations. Authors would chortle to themselves when the censors missed a reference and left it in the script.
Yeah, as a non-US citizen (from a conservative third-world country), who was actually in Literature major in college..., that's not something that was EVER discussed nor common knowledge here.
I usually prefer the books, and I do prefer the majority of the book. But in the movie she finds the cat, and I just can't bear the thought of the cat never being found. It's just so sad. Also, can you imagine Holly as played by Marilyn Munroe? It would have been amazing. There was a huge thing of young women at the time pitting the two against each other, and Audrey managed this incredibly clean reputation. Mina Le has a great video on Audrey, and Be Kind Rewind has a great video on the adaptation from novel to film. Highly recommend both.
Growing up in the American South as I have, I have personal experience knowing women with very peculiar names and, in many cases, they were two name first names as if they should have actually been hyphenated in some cases. A lot of the old names from the early 20th century are starting to come back, I think, as well. Calling them "hick names" is very appropriate because a lot of them were never given to people who lived in cities or had money. For anyone who doesn't know by now, the Brady Bunch was the first TV show where a married couple was allowed to be seen in a bed together.
I specifically remember bisexual people growing up being very interested in this movie and her as an icon and the character as an icon. Not really as well covered as they thought. I think alot of people including Hepburn herself probably thought of the suppression as wrong and tried to find ways to lift it out a little. In hindsight I hope Capote realized she was a double agent. Maybe he knew all along.
A redoing of the the film closer to the book would be very interesting now that is could be done but I think I would need to be released under a different name otherwise it would never get out from under Hepburn’s (perfectly deserved) shadow.
4:57 so the Tennessee Williams school of writing queer characters 15:51 well I think you just solve the mystery of why I have such a complicated relationship with breakfast at Tiffany’s. Thank you.
My partner and I watched the film having no idea about it except that it was a cultural icon. Hearing the original characters' dispositions and motives makes SO MUCH MORE SENSE than whatever the film was trying for.
Hi Jessica. You looked really pretty in your outfit today. Live breakfast at Tiffany's it is one of my favourite films and I always thought Holly was a sort of hippy. I am glad you have done this video as you have made sense with Holly's character finally.. thank you.
This makes so much sense to me. My takeaway from the film was that the two characters had nothing in common that would make them romantically compatible, and so they must have just been together out of some strange social/internal pressure.
I love Breakfast at Tiffany’s and I had no clue about the gay subtext. That is so interesting to me and I’m glad that you brought this to light. Thank you for teaching me something new
This explains why when I first watched the film a few years ago, I thought it was so weird, and the point of the film and the characters’s motives were so vague. Maybe the book would make more sense to me.
For any other Critical Role fans who might also be fans of Jessica: the George Axelrod mentioned a few times in this video? Yeah, that's Taliesin Jaffe's grandfather. :D
I never read the book as I didn't care for the movie. Having you compare the book and movie was helpful and I might pick it up to see if I like this better
You know, I've heard terms like "Nancy Boy" before but I didn't actually make that connection until you mentioned it. Ironically the first trans person I ever knew, my father's cousin, took the name Nancy. I wonder if she realized the connotations.
I did not know anything about this film or book before and now I'm intrigued. Maybe I'll read it and watch it and maybe imagine a modern adaptation without the need to hide anyone's sexuality but with as much charme as the original.
My grannies favourite film. I know I’ve watched it numerous times, but that was in the 90s so that was really interesting to hear. I must watch it again
I'll admit I never knew there was a book, let alone one written by Truman Capote. Never seen but bits of the movie, and only have secondhand accounts of Mr. Capote in a singular environment (can't verify as it was before I was born, but studio 54, which is probably not the best environment for first impressions), I'll need to look up the book though.
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*DISCLAIMER* This video only covers the sexuality of the two main characters in Breakfast at Tiffany’s, with a heavy emphasis on the book, but it’s important to also be aware of the film’s horrific use of yellowface. Writer Jade Yong explains it best here- www.unpublishedzine.com/film-1/its-time-to-talk-about-mr-yunioshi-in-breakfast-at-tiffanys
"By contextualising these portrayals amongst the broader strain of yellow-face in Hollywood, and American society’s views in the 60’s, we can continue to provoke discussions about these films that seek to expose the problematic narratives of gender and race which made them so appealing to audiences, and which have culminated in the forms of anti-Asian hate we see today."
@@BCSchmerker I think that a remake might be problematic because of Audrey Hepburns portrayal of Holly. I don't know how it may work with a different actress. But a remake could definitely change to reflect the actual book and cut out the racism and homophobia. Catch-22
I'm half-Chinese, and knew about the movie, but not the yellow-face in it. I tried to watch it once and was so completely shocked & horrified when Mickey Rooney appeared I had to stop, and can't see myself going back to it.
Edit to add: that's not a knock on this video though, it was fantastic, and I loved learning about the true history of the story!
I watched Breakfast at Tiffany's today on Channel 5 and I don't remember seeing Yunioshi at all. Perhaps they have cut the scenes for TV now?
Hi! Could you maybe post your sources for your history videos in your description?
So when the film was completed, the studio executives all sat in a room watched the awful image of a Japanese man portrayed in a cartoonish manner by a white man and said "we're good". Seems to emanate from another universe a millennia ago. As for the sexual-orientation changes, Truman Capote was probably being pragmatic. Of course he wanted to be paid and also wished to get some of the message out there, even if it was not intact. The best way to remove a barrier is by poking holes, weakening it. While a sudden explosive change may be more tempting, avoiding collateral damage would probably make the final result have a better chance of being permanent.
Interesting fact, Truman Capote was a childhood and lifelong friend of Harper Lee. She based the character of Dill, from To Kill a Mockingbird, on him. She helped him research for his true crime novel, In Cold Blood
Oh, I remember this now! Thank you for reminding me.
I did not know this. Thank you for the information.
I love learning things in the comments. To Kill A Mockingbird is in my top 5 books. Thank you for this gem of a fact!
I have said since I read the book that this is one of the movies I am most shocked hasn't been remade. Here is this amazing book and a hugely famous movie IP that you could kind of ONLY make book accurate now that the concept of a gay man and a bisexual woman being close friends is more accepted than ever. And it could be so good! Hollywood, we are ready for it!!
Anyone playing Holly would be in Audrey's shadow though. And doomed to be compared unfavorably. They would need to sell the story under a different name.
@@rachelash6325 Exactly what I was thinking!
@@rachelash6325 yeah, I just don't think anyone could compete with Audrey Hepburn.
@@rachelash6325 orrrr pull the ol' gender switcharoo & flip every character's gender: less likely for direct comparison/scrutiny of the actors + more wholesome lesbian content for us all.
@@BattyButtercup That could work! And it would be nice to have a lesbian period drama that's not a tragedy.
Hard agree: bisexual erasure works SO hard to try to pretend we don't exist 😂Fabulous, fun vid, as always!
Audrey Hepburn was also in The Children's Hour where Shirley McCLaine was a lesbian in love with her. Of course, in the 60's the relationship between the two was called "unnatural". I'm amazed it was even filmed.
It unfortunately fell victim to The Code, in that Shirley's character had to meet a bad end, but it was probably the most progressive take on female homosexuality that existed at the time. It is a gorgeous film, and I can still see Audrey in my head, frantically trying to open the door in time... It was just devastating, and even though it technically fulfilled the requirements of The Code, I feel that it really worked hard to engender a sense of sympathy for queer characters in a way that hadn't really been done before.
I'd say those times Audrey Hepburn gave ballet concerts in occupied Holland for the Nazis and then donated the profits to the resistance was pretty iconic
Wait... so the joking stereotype that we queers can't drive extends to horseriding too? What a lark.
i just want to make sure you know better help is an extremely abusive company both to the therapists and the patients.
Bump
It's pretty expensive, and the financial aid doesn't really cover it
yes, this
@@GreenGiant96 definitely one of the many issues with it
I've personally had a really good experience with it. I guess it depends on the therapist you end up with.
I kinda thought of it as a story between an ace man and a bisexual woman, but gay works too!
Definitely got the ace vibes!
as an ace mlm, both can be true for the same person
@@ahhh4117 Good point!
Ugh, if we consider him ace, his line from the movie: "People do fall in love. People do belong to each other, because that’s the only chance anybody’s got for real happiness" makes me even more uncomfortable ;__; Because that general perception, that loving another person romantically/sexually is the truest form of happiness and if you don't do that you're lacking something, has done me so wrong during my life. As an aroace myself, I had to fight through accepting my own self and kind of disassemble this mindset from my own brain, it took a lot of work :'( So it hurts to think he might have been ace and in the same desperate denial ditch that I was in for a long time.
But then again, I'm interested in reading the book version, and seeing the differences :D In any case, I love the thought that the two main characters would be platonic best friends, that's something we surprisingly need represented quite desperately. No matter their sexuality! Just give us adult humans who are close without them immediately developing romantic tension! Especially in the case the two people's sexualities would be "compatible"! I don't enjoy how it seems that in media, only the people who have mismatching sexualities and "can't" be attracted to each other sexually, stay "just friends" (and what's that "just" for, anyway?). And everyone else just immediately develops a crush, with no regard to if their personalities and interests align in any way that would actually make chemistry between them happen... Hetero guy + hetero girl? Boom, crush. Gay guy + gay guy? Boom, crush. Hetero girl + gay girl? Boom, one-sided crush. It's... People can be platonic friends with each other even if they're attracted to the gender their friend is? Just please let me have representation of healthy adult friendships ;__;
It's subtly was done as good as they could get away with back then however i feel if it was made now it would not hold the weight that it does simply due to shock value now days. Part of its charm was the subtle not so subtle hints at the underlying reality. Still part of being the movie that it is from the era it is from is what makes the story iconic. Thank you for this Jessica! Happy Pride!🏳️🌈❤️🧡💛💚💙💜🏳️🌈
I would love to know what movie they would have made in the alternate universe where the Hayes Code didn't exist. What would the UNsubtle version look like? (Though the world may have been so different without a bunch of prides calling foul the book itself may not have been written in the same way anyway)
In the hands of a good screenwriter, director, and editor it could be done
“God works hard but bisexual erasure works harder” - damn, can I get that on a poster? 😂
I'm a simple ace/aro, I hear platonic relationship, I add book to my tbr
Studied the book at A-Level and I INSTANTLY SAW THE GAY
(whisper voice) *you see gay people* (dramatic pause) 😂
Edit - formatting
Tangent: My maternal grandparents slept in separate beds. As a child I had remembered my mom explaining the old rule about beds on television shows (I had seen it on I love Lucy), and assumed that my grandparents must be very conservative. Only when I was much older did I learn that actually, grandma insisted on separate beds because grandpa would otherwise pull all of the sheets to himself during the night!
i loved this video. i haven’t read the book but i knew most of what you shared about it. even still breakfast at tiffany’s is one of my favorite movies. not for the romance, high society, or iconic-ness, but because whenever i watch it i (shockingly so as a bi woman) see myself in her. i’m quite shy and guarded and though i’ve never been as flamboyant as she (holly) can be (when playing a part that isn’t truly her) i can palpably identify from the distractedness and running from self. i hate the whole “you belong to me” but everything else in that bit of the cab scene cuts deep. i’ve showed my therapist clips from this movie as i struggled to put into words how i felt/how i am/who i am. the difficult past, the dissatisfaction and fear of the vulnerable and present, the running towards anything that isn’t fulfilling just so that no one truly *see’s* me.
i know you’re not slamming the movie. more so the codes and society at large but i thought this perspective might be of interest. plus mancini’s score and songwriting plus mercer’s lyrics for “moon river” have become a tonic or at least a catharsis for my “mean reds.”
these dialogues are particularly meaningful for me:
Holly Golightly: That’s right. I’m crazy about Tiffany’s. Listen. You know those days when you get the mean reds?
Paul Varjak: The mean reds? You mean, like the blues?
Holly Golightly: No the blues are because you’re getting fat or maybe it’s been raining too long. You’re just sad, that’s all. The mean reds are horrible.
Suddenly you’re afraid, and you don’t know what you’re afraid of. Don’t you
ever get that feeling?
Paul Varjak: Sure.
Holly Golightly: When I get it, the only thing that does any good is to jump
into a cab and go to Tiffany’s. Calms me down right away. The quietness and the proud look. Nothing very bad could happen to you there. If I could find a real-life place that made me feel like Tiffany’s, then...then I’d buy some furniture and give the cat a name.
i have major depressive disorder so i’m always depressed, so the “mean reds” / how i apply them to myself have been a very helpful distinction between my disorder and natural human ebbs. for me and how i internalize them, the “mean reds” are something i may talk to my therapist about but not my psychiatrist. they are periods or feelings i’m learning to embrace, even the gross, gritty bits. as where i don’t (or at least i work hard to not) embrace my depression. i accept it as part of my life but embracing (for me) would be a slippery slope into a nearly inescapable black hole of nothingness.
Doc Golightly: You’re talking crazy, Lula Mae.
Holly Golightly: Doc, stop calling me that. I’m not Lula Mae anymore.
Doc Golightly: All right, Lula Mae. I guess you know what you’re doing….
Holly Golightly: …Please, Doc. please understand. I love you, but I’m just not
Lula Mae anymore. I’m not.
…………………
Holly Golightly: You know the terrible thing, Fred, darling? I am still Lula
Mae-- 14 years old, stealing turkey eggs, and running through a briar patch.
Except now I call it having the mean reds….
as someone with a complex and traumatic past this scene resonates so deeply. not knowing who i am, an inability to find myself, running from past versions of myself and my life, trying desperately to reinvent myself to survive, being loved but being unable to love in the way that person needs, needing space, needing a big old wall (or cage: see next dialogue) between past, present, and future. especially past and present.
Paul Varjak: Holly, I’m in love with you.
Holly Golightly: So what?
Paul Varjak: So what? So plenty! I love you. You belong to me.
Holly Golightly: No. people don’t belong to people.
Paul Varjak: Of course they do.
Holly Golightly: I’m not going to let anyone put me in a cage.
Paul Varjak: I don’t want to put you in a cage! I want to love you!
Holly Golightly: It’s the same thing.
Paul Varjak: No, it’s not! Holly!
Holly Golightly: I’m not Holly. I’m not Lula Mae, either. I don’t know who I
am! I’m like Cat here, We’re a couple of no-name slobs. We belong to
nobody, and nobody belongs to us. We don’t even belong to each other. Stop
the cab. What do you think? This ought to be the right kind place for a tough
guy like you-garbage cans, rats galore. Scram! I said take off! Beat it! Let’s
go.
Paul Varjak: Driver... pull over here. You know what’s wrong with you, miss
whoever-you-are? You’re chicken. You got no guts. You’re afraid to stick out
your chin and say, “o.k., life’s a fact.” people do fall in love. People do belong
to each other, because that’s the only chance anybody’s got for real
happiness. You call yourself a free spirit, a wild thing. And you’re terrified
somebody’s going to stick you in a cage. Well, baby, you’re already in that
cage. You built it yourself. And it’s not bounded in the west by Tulip, Texas, or
in the east by Somaliland. It’s wherever you go. Because no matter where you
run, you just end up running into yourself.
again not for the “romantic” aspect (and no she doesn’t “belong to him” ughfnkljgdx) but for his ability to see her and tell her who she really is, who she is hiding from, to help her face herself. let’s be honest sometimes we can’t do it all by ourselves.
i know it’s been said and i don’t know if it’s my place as a non-asian person to mention this, but as i have put highly how much (parts of) this film means to me i do want to say: mickey rooney (a very, very, white man) as mr. yunioshi (a japanese, not white man) is horrific. the stigmatization in the writing coupled with the casting/makeup/other bs was so terrible i didn’t even realize it was y*llow-face the first time i watched it as a teenager at first. it is a confusing, highly racist, and totally unnecessary character/depiction. i haven’t watch the movie in years for that very reason, however, through lots of moral and ethical agonizing i’ve come to accept that this movie means something to me in-spite of the overt racism. this may make me sound like an a$$hole and i’m genuinely sorry if this hurts anyone. 🥺 i’m trying my best to be good and do good things. most times life is messier than i wish it were.
❤
+
Thanks for sharing your very personal thoughts and journey. It was a compelling read.
I love this series! I’m a straight, cis-gendered woman - so your videos on LGBTQ+ topics and history really helps me learn more about the community and how to be a better ally. (Also, am I a total weirdo for never having seen Breakfast at Tiffany’s? 🤭)
That depends. How old are you?
Nope, not a total weirdo.
I haven’t either.
@@doctorblue7085 nearly 30 🤭
Rent it. Watching classic movies can be quite fun.
This makes so much more sense. I saw the movie as a young person soaked in a completely heteronormative background and it was just confusing
Jessica, I'm an old time gay, but sometimes you make me feel like a baby gay. I didn't know any of this... I'm mindblown
I haven't seen the film in almost 20 years and never read the book. This compelled me to start the audiobook immediately after this video. Thank you!
I am tempted too
Same, and I was utterly clueless that any of the characters in the movie weren't straight until I watched this video. Wow. I would've enjoyed the movie a whole lot more if I'd known this first!
I've never read the book and have only seen the film once. I remember liking their dynamic but eyerolling at the unnecessary romantic third act/ending. Welp, I guess I have to read the book now.
Heads up! If Y'all have audible it's included in your membership! Win!
@@xzonia1 I remember reading the book as a queer teen and being totally surprised that Holly makes remarks about her queer sexuality considering the time it was made, and certainly saw the chemistry between the two as a friendship. Then watched the movie and knew what to expect, but it was still disappointing they left out that part entirely.
As an older subscriber, my time period for seeing BAT is different - different time, different age, with completely oblivious results. lol. I saw it young, probably around 17. Saw no gay references and didn't read the book. Loved the film, it was delightful. I did learn later in life about the gay undertones and your description helps a lot. It's fun and interesting to hear your astute (and learned) observations about film as I love film and enjoying performances from actors. Several films during that time were using original gay themes in the movie, like Reflections In A Golden Eye, and one scene in Spartacus. Very groundbreaking at the time. Society was slow to grow, but it did, and films did help.
the way you said "oh because that's supposed to be a man thing" had me cracking up
Loved the video and always fascinating to learn more about queer history....but it felt incomplete without acknowledging the despicable racism and yellow face in the film.
i understand what you mean, and while I’d also like just a little comment about it, I think its fine because the focus of this video is the queerness in it and also Jessica may not have felt entitled to talk about it since she isn’t Asian and many many Asian people have condemned it already.
She addresses it in her pinned comment.
@@jennifers5560 glad to see she added that!
@@eveuhk yeah, I don’t think it was posted with the video. I did not see it until later.
It went out with the acknowledgement in the video's description but also the pinned comment is older than the publishing time ☺️
us bisexuals were just too fabulous for the big screen then, they knew we would steal the show lmao
They hate us cause they ain't us! ✨✨ 💗💜💙
This made me laugh 😊
I've never read the book and have only seen the film once, but I remember liking their dynamic a lot but eyerolling at the unnecessary romantic third act/ending. Welp, I guess I have to read the book now.
Years ago I saw another video you made about Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Jessica! You were very young then, and I don’t see it still on your channel, but it was the reason I started watching your videos!
I never watched the film or read the book, but this is the FIRST time I have ever heard the character of Holly referred to as a call girl. I think the more apt term for her would be sugar baby, but like most things in this story, polite society refused to acknowledge what was there.
I knew the character of Paul was supposed to be game, but did not know about the Hollie character. This was a great analysis!
Oooh!! This video was so good, Jessica! Thank you💜 I happen to LOVE both the novella and the movie, despite their differences. (I also found a recording of the stage play, starring Emilia Clarke, here on UA-cam. I absolutely love it, too! It’s closer to the novella, story wise, and you can find it titled “BAT 9.3.2013 - Act 1” and “BAT 9.3.2013 Act - 2”. Worth watching!)
Even though I didn’t know all of the LGBTQ lingo present in the story, I’ve always been aware of the queerness within it, and I love it for that- especially when you think about the time it was published, and when the movie came out. Representation matters! 💜
Breakfast at Tiffany’s is a book, and a movie, that I can reread & rewatch over and over. I’ve watched the movie so many times that I’ll often put it on while doing chores, and I can imagine each scene with near perfection, while only listening to it.
And I love the way I imagined the characters and environments when reading the story. The way I see Holly with her beautiful hazel-blue eyes and her boyishly short, multi-hued blonde hair. Her preferred “esoteric” brand of cigarettes, Picayunes, her nearsighted, scrutinizing squint when not wearing her prescription sunglasses, the beloved Cat. And personally, I loved the platonic relationship between the narrator and Holly.
The movie is an iconic classic, no question about that. But not everything in it has aged well. Particularly the character of Mr. Yunioshi. (I know this doesn’t have much to do with the subject matter of Jessica’s video, but it’s definitely something I’ve thought about a lot.)
He’s not even a very big character in the story, just a fellow tenant Holly bothered on a few occasions. It’s another tenant, Madame Spanella, who really disliked Holly, constantly complaining about her & yelling at her.
Mickey Rooney, as the goofy, irritable, Japanese neighbor, Mr. Yunioshi, was meant to be the comic relief in the film. But I don’t feel like I need to go on a long spiel about the racist overtones of the character, and the non-Japanese actor choice. It’s pretty apparent.
They put Mr. Yunioshi in the place of Madame Spanella for the film, “Haha, let’s have Mickey pretend to be a Japanese man and we’ll laugh our asses off!” Sign of the times, I guess.
What’s interesting, is that in a past interview with the movie’s director, when asked about Mr. Yunioshi, he said he honestly ended up regretting how they portrayed the character, and the fact that they didn’t even bother having a real Japanese actor.
Putting Mickey Rooney in that role was pushed into the film because of how popular Rooney was as a comedian. Again, a sign of the times, so I don’t necessarily fault the director, especially with his apologies about that choice.
I think they could have had Madame Spanella in that antagonistic, comedic role, just as she was in the novella, and it could have been just as comedic, while being *way less* offensive.
But alas, it is what it is. And I still love it. 💗💗💗 But if done right, and kept true to the novella, I could imagine a remake being pretty darn good.
I am adding this along with Be Kind Rewind's broader analysis and background dig into my Breakfast At Tiffany's video library . While she did highlight the queer erasure (and oh yeah, the racist marketing campaign behind Mr. Yunioshi), your video definitely gives a deeper and welcome analysis of the book and its inherent queerness and erasure.
I always loved this book, because it was so different to any 'typical' story that I've read. I didn't like the movie, now that I'm older, I know why, they erased and changed everything that I loved about this story. Glad that you reminded me about this book Jessie, as I have currently nothing to read :)
I like this film analysis side of the channel. You should critique A Silent Voice for its depiction of deafness.
Maybe you'd be interested in
'The Children's Hour'
It also has Audrey Hepburn & lesbianism.
Yes!! I can't believe I only recently found out about that movie! The gayness is much clearer in that one, but in a sad, heartbreaking way.
Wow! Loved this! Can't wait to look into this more. Makes me want to read the book ♡
The book is worth a read, and it's a quick one. It's very gay, but fyi along with questionable language around homosexuality, there are some quite racist bits as well.
as a huge audrey hepburn fan, i might add that, other than holly golightly, audrey played karen wright (the children’s hour) and sister luke (the nun’s story) that were both sapphics. obviously sister luke’s sexuality wasn’t portrayed onscreen, since she was supposed to be a nun, but the real woman who inspired the film actually lived with another woman for years until she died, and audrey was friends with them both.
I saw breakfast at Tiffany's when I was 10 and I think that so many people brag about seeing old films but only do for the 'aesthetic'
I think the movie would be perfect with these minor changes. Paul is simply a writer, not a kept man. He and Holly never sleep together. Holly leaves at the end, and Mr. Yunioshi is played not as a stereotype, and is played by George Takai. I can imagine this version in my mind. I think George Peppard could have pulled off the gay innuendo easily. In fact, the romantic relationship always seemed forced at the end. They seem more like friends. He’s like a protective older brother. Also, Audrey played the heck out of this role. She’s perfect.
I finished reading the book yesterday, so this couldn't have come at a better time!
I can't wait to watch this! Breakfast at Tiffany's is one of my favourite films
I've always loved BaT, and being a cis woman did miss a lot of those ques. I'll have to reread the book now with fresh eyes! I did always like the deep platonic relationship the characters share, and felt the "romance" was shoe-horned in the movie.
Also, I need a jpg of "TV's always been trash" 🤣
Without exaggeration the most interesting video I've seen in months, and one of my favorites by you so far! ❤️ I didn't know all of this about BAT. I definitely am compelled to read the book now.
I can here as soon as I got the notification!!!
welp, I’m off to read the book! the film I know all too well but because of my Asian studies degree…
I knew some of this especially the business with her being suggested that she's queer and suggesting that he's queer but also getting this feeling like somehow it's being pushed aside like you get the feeling that they're under pressure from those around them to conform somehow or maybe that's just the way I took it. I never actually read the book so I wouldn't have known that there was that much gayness I guess you'd call it to it I need Truman Capote was gay there's no missing that. But I didn't know about the book. I think if the actor who plays her co-star in that the one who plays Paul if it had ever been suggested to him that he had to play gay I think he would have blown his top predominantly because he was a man who from everything I've read about him has no sense of humor in a sense so would have been interesting though if they had ever bothered to make it like the book would have loved to see how he handled that and I don't think he would have taken the part if it had been suggested he was. In fact in the '70s and even in the '80s a great many heterosexual actors when asked to play gay characters said no some people thought it was because of the AIDS crisis I don't think so I think they were afraid that might be suggested that they were gay. At least I get that impression from things they say and a few other things in interviews. Please bear in mind I’m using voice to text so punctuation is a problem and sometimes even the words I hope this makes sense I mean it would not let me use the word homosexual without messing it up several times so I went with queer because that was pretty much what the theme was on basically and yes when I was saying about the 80s 70s and 80s when eights came up they wouldn’t even adult men would not kiss another adult man if he if they knew in the slightest or suspected in the slightest that the guy was really gay many of them wouldn’t do it in because they were afraid to be typecast is getting I remember this because I was my school high schools reporter and like I said back then there was no word for somebody who wasn’t interested in sex and if you wanted to get by in high school or anywhere else you have to be pretend to be either heterosexual or gay heterosexual was easier. That’s where things get interesting when you think about it and it was a man who everybody thought was gay I’m not talking about this business of Truman Capote or what he wrote I’m talking about someone who is seen as a gay icon but he himself and when you hear what he says and you hear about people who he was even investigated OK I never had a boyfriend but he never had a girlfriend either he never got married and when accused of being gay went with it because of the fact that he was being falsely accused of something I need already been falsely accused of something namely being gay and what was he gonna do to dispute the fact that he wasn’t interested either way that would make you even worse in the eyes of people looking and we know this because if you look at how people today specifically for example the author of Harry Potter and this is why I knew this before any of the people who are actually gay they jumped on the bandwagon because she said Dumbledore was gay and I said no she writes it the way homophobes write it and I was proven right and that’s the problem here there was nothing there with you were either one of one of two things you were gay or you were heterosexual there was nothing in the middle and there is some thing I think that is some thing that I’d be interested to see as part of your history something about those of us were asexual and asexual icon I can think of one who is probably a sexual icon but bear in mind that until quite recently when the word came up I wouldn’t have had a word for it either. Because when I was growing up there wasn’t that choice to describe me my mother and you still had I told her how many times I wasn’t interested in getting married I wasn’t eating out wasn’t interested in living with anybody in that kind of way I wasn’t interested in women I’m female so you get the idea and I told her this but there was no and the joke was if I’ve been Catholic I’ve been a nun. But they would’ve gotten that wrong to. I do like the fact that in legends of tomorrow the first actual asexual person on television is a character in that show. And she herself doesn’t have a name for what she is until another character informs her there’s a name for it.
I loved Breakfast at Tiffany's so much when I was a kid that when my mom took me to San Francisco at 13, I insisted that we get donuts and coffee and go eat them at the Tiffany's. I still love the movie although I also lament its cringey elements (looking at you Mickey Rooney). Very curious to read the book now. I always thought the ending felt rather forced, now I understand why
I really enjoyed this video! ☺Thank you for the smile on the term "Nancy"...which is my name. LOL Breakfast at Tiffany is a great movie, and I've learned a lot from your video on this. ❤
I had no idea. This has been on my list for a long time, this might push it up a few spots.
Yay!!! After watching your videos over the past couple years I was hoping you would cover this Breakfast at Tiffany’s in your historic queer media series. Thank you! Much love to you and your adorable fam, from Canada
I read the book and saw the movie as a child of approximately 11 years. Even at that age I puzzled at the landlord character. It is interesting that while everyone is rightfully horrified at the Mickey Rooney "character" (MR. Yunioshi, even the honorific improper) in this movie, there is far less mention of how the character of George Peppard (Paul) was changed. In spite of all that, my memories of the film are fond and positive. As an adult, I am guessing that my opinions were formed by the beauty and charm of Audrey Hepburn that song that became resident in my brain for months and months. I most likely will leave this film as a childhood memory intact and not re-watch this film.
This was very interesting about the book and I guess they got away with things at the time when people didn’t know the slang. This was very informative and I enjoyed this video a lot as usual and thank you so much for sharing all this information.
Didn't know any of this! So going to read the book now. Thank you for sharing!
Every time I think of capote I just remember how angry my teachers where that he made the killer in cold blood a not bad guy. We always covered the book because I'm from the same town as the killer
Part of me wants to ask, “Do you KNOW who Truman Capote was?” The MPAA bowdlerized a lot of book to movie translations. Authors would chortle to themselves when the censors missed a reference and left it in the script.
Not sure if you meant it to but this came across quite harsh 😅
Yeah, as a non-US citizen (from a conservative third-world country), who was actually in Literature major in college..., that's not something that was EVER discussed nor common knowledge here.
Perhaps you can share the Truman Capote knowledge you have that you feel has been overlooked, in a maybe less passionate tone.
I usually prefer the books, and I do prefer the majority of the book. But in the movie she finds the cat, and I just can't bear the thought of the cat never being found. It's just so sad. Also, can you imagine Holly as played by Marilyn Munroe? It would have been amazing. There was a huge thing of young women at the time pitting the two against each other, and Audrey managed this incredibly clean reputation. Mina Le has a great video on Audrey, and Be Kind Rewind has a great video on the adaptation from novel to film. Highly recommend both.
That book has been on my shelf for YEARS. I know what I'm doing with my weekend!
Just got home from school after a long week and immediately clicked it.
Have you considered going on Rowan Ellis' Queer Movie podcast? I feel like it would be cool to hear you on one of the Queer Hot Takes episodes
That would be an interesting collab! I vote for it!
I’ve never seen or read this work but I know it from that one song that asks if you remember it. Ironically, I don’t, lol
Lol, yes! It's by Deep Blue Something 😊
Growing up in the American South as I have, I have personal experience knowing women with very peculiar names and, in many cases, they were two name first names as if they should have actually been hyphenated in some cases. A lot of the old names from the early 20th century are starting to come back, I think, as well. Calling them "hick names" is very appropriate because a lot of them were never given to people who lived in cities or had money. For anyone who doesn't know by now, the Brady Bunch was the first TV show where a married couple was allowed to be seen in a bed together.
Close in time, but actually The Munsters showed a married couple in bed together five years before The Brady Bunch started.
Oy, the first couple in the same bed was from the 40s. Then it was squelched by the higher-ups.
@@Pan-optic I forgot about that.
you look beeautiful!! looove the very red dress and the headpiece 💕
I specifically remember bisexual people growing up being very interested in this movie and her as an icon and the character as an icon. Not really as well covered as they thought. I think alot of people including Hepburn herself probably thought of the suppression as wrong and tried to find ways to lift it out a little. In hindsight I hope Capote realized she was a double agent. Maybe he knew all along.
Oh thank you Jessica for making my day with your lovely lovely content :)
I really enjoyed this style of video! Please make more literary and film analyses!
My body is ready. 🙌
A redoing of the the film closer to the book would be very interesting now that is could be done but I think I would need to be released under a different name otherwise it would never get out from under Hepburn’s (perfectly deserved) shadow.
4:57 so the Tennessee Williams school of writing queer characters
15:51 well I think you just solve the mystery of why I have such a complicated relationship with breakfast at Tiffany’s. Thank you.
I definitely want to read the book now. Thank you for educating us
I had no idea! I like to thin Audrey Hepburn read the book ahead of time and knew about the undertones and was cool with it!
(oops! I just accidentally hit the 👎 when I tried to hit 👍. Ignore that notification)
FYI CW: the movie casts a white actor in a racist depiction of an Asian man
We know...
See pinned comment
My partner and I watched the film having no idea about it except that it was a cultural icon. Hearing the original characters' dispositions and motives makes SO MUCH MORE SENSE than whatever the film was trying for.
George Axelrod, of course, wrote "Goodbye Charlie," a completely different kettle of fish directed on screen by Vincent Minnelli.
You 👏 asking👏 me👏 this👏 question👏 is👏 part👏 of👏 the👏 problem👏 ha-cha!
Great video Jessica!
I’m a huge fan of both Katherine’s, I had no idea about any of these in the movie. Thank you!
Hi Jessica. You looked really pretty in your outfit today. Live breakfast at Tiffany's it is one of my favourite films and I always thought Holly was a sort of hippy. I am glad you have done this video as you have made sense with Holly's character finally.. thank you.
thank you again more another wonderful video
I did not know any of this. Thank you
Be Kind Rewind has another excellent video about Breakfast at TIffany's
This makes so much sense to me. My takeaway from the film was that the two characters had nothing in common that would make them romantically compatible, and so they must have just been together out of some strange social/internal pressure.
Brilliant review, just the right touches of brutal. I am fascinated with your fascinator.
I love Breakfast at Tiffany’s and I had no clue about the gay subtext. That is so interesting to me and I’m glad that you brought this to light. Thank you for teaching me something new
This explains why when I first watched the film a few years ago, I thought it was so weird, and the point of the film and the characters’s motives were so vague. Maybe the book would make more sense to me.
For any other Critical Role fans who might also be fans of Jessica: the George Axelrod mentioned a few times in this video? Yeah, that's Taliesin Jaffe's grandfather. :D
Also not 100% sure, but it’s possible that Taliesin based his voice for Percy’s dad on Legend of Vox Machina on him.
Loved this video 💕
I never read the book as I didn't care for the movie. Having you compare the book and movie was helpful and I might pick it up to see if I like this better
OMG Your outfit is so amazing!
I think that the "powder room" is code as she says she knows how Paul feels sleeping with the woman for money
You know, I've heard terms like "Nancy Boy" before but I didn't actually make that connection until you mentioned it. Ironically the first trans person I ever knew, my father's cousin, took the name Nancy. I wonder if she realized the connotations.
I've adored both the movie and book since my teens, and knew it was gay but missed half of these!! fantastic!!
I did not know anything about this film or book before and now I'm intrigued. Maybe I'll read it and watch it and maybe imagine a modern adaptation without the need to hide anyone's sexuality but with as much charme as the original.
Having never seen the movie or read the book, I had no idea of any of this
My grannies favourite film. I know I’ve watched it numerous times, but that was in the 90s so that was really interesting to hear. I must watch it again
THE BI ERASURE IN THE BETTER HELP AD THOUGH LOL
speaking of bisexual erasure, that betterhelp selection of "gay, lesbian, straight, prefer not to say"....
Love the content xxx
i love your outfit! this video must've taken time to make. i loved your vid xD
Loved this video. So interesting!
breakfast at tiffanys is my fav movie ever cant wait to watch this!!!!! gort so excited to see thumbnail!!!
I'll admit I never knew there was a book, let alone one written by Truman Capote. Never seen but bits of the movie, and only have secondhand accounts of Mr. Capote in a singular environment (can't verify as it was before I was born, but studio 54, which is probably not the best environment for first impressions), I'll need to look up the book though.
Fun video! Thanks ❤️
8 months old! That happened so fast!