Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood

"this one was kind of a hard watch for me--not because of some of the homophobic things said through anecdotes or to scotty's face--but because scotty is clearly traumatized, and doesn't see himself as such. he has been through a LOT: ww2, the death of his daughter by sepsis induced by unsafe abortion (which is why SAFE abortion access is so important), the constraints of the great depression which made him hustle himself AS A CHILD to pedophiles after being groomed by a neighbor. i'm not going to judge someone for their survival sex, sex work, or their veteran trauma. but that's a lot to process, and scotty during his final years coped with those memories by hoarding. hoarding is so misunderstood as a maladaptive coping mechanism that it's hard to help those who have it. watching scotty struggle with it was so hard to me personally, bc it's an illness that runs in my family. i was always relieved when it moved backwards in time to discuss the gas station, film stars, and hollywood's need to erase the complicated reality of sexuality to placate the family-oriented heterosexual middle class. i didn't have to look at the mounds of detritus and feel the need to start helping him. since scotty died four years ago, i AM curious if any queer historians have excavated his belongings since the making of this documentary. when hoarding doesn't make your house burn down, it can make for illuminating finds. one thing that made me laugh, in a very dark-humor way: a sign above a bar that says 'NO F*GOTS', which put me in mind of a certain less-savoury trend here on likewise. 🤣"