Performing artist Neil Bartlett plays a gay lecturer whose attempt to go back into the closet is betrayed by the contents of his briefcase. In reaction to Section 28, the law that forbids the “promotion” of homosexuality in schools in the U.K., Pedagogue satirizes the upstanding instructor’s dramatic influence on his students. A series of exaggerated testimonials by students parodies hysterical homophobia by proclaiming that Bartlett’s arrival at Newcastle has positively disrupted their steady relationships, lives, and identities of all friends and relatives within a twelve mile radius. Burlesqueing the interview/inquisition process, a roaming camera lustfully reads between the lines of Bartlett’s jeans and black leather jacket.
Pedagogue
Stuart Marshall
1988 00:11:00 United StatesEnglishColorStereo4:3VideoDescription
About Stuart Marshall
Stuart Marshall was an educator, writer, and independent film- and videomaker. His work focuses on the historical and political construction of homosexual identity as a deviant, “outsider” category, positioning the homosexual as the catch-all “bogeyman” of societal fears and conformist pressure. His documentary Bright Eyes is a similarly complex and unique study of the pathology of fear and manipulation surrounding the AIDS crisis. Striving to educate broad audiences on issues of grave social importance, Marshall’s work makes the most of alternative media’s power to counteract the “objectivity” of dominant media, supplying viewers with additional viewpoints and facts that television news conveniently edits out. Formally, Marshall’s approach to documentary also places him firmly outside the typical news organization, as he includes interview subjects in his creative process. Marshall died of an AIDS-related illness in 1993.