HBO’s LGBT History: Nightingale (2015)
Wednesday, April 27, 2016 at 1:11PM
Manuel is working his way through all the LGBT-themed HBO productions.
Last week we visited Westeros and talked about Varys as a mainstream example of asexuality; definitely mining new ground for this weekly column that’s slowly coming to an end. This week we turn to a film that inadvertently makes a great entry to TFE’s unofficial Actor Month celebration (that it also features an “April Showers” scene means it’s meant to be): Elliott Lester’s Nightingale.
To say the film “stars David Oyelowo” doesn’t quite do it justice; it only stars Oyelowo. That’s only one of the things that makes Nightingale an odd if fascinating entry in this HBO history. For once, since the film is presented through the eyes of Oyelowo’s Peter Snowden—we never leave his house or see him interact with anyone else except for the phone calls to which we’re only given his side of the conversation—the word “gay” or “homosexuality” is never uttered; attentive viewers are clued early what with Peter’s subtle flamboyance (his colorful robe, the pride he shows in the red bow tie he wears to work, his penchant for singing old tunes) but even as Peter’s world begins to unravel, it’s unclear how much Peter, a devout and faith-driven army vet, understands his own sexuality in terms legible by LGBT advocates.
"Events have unfolded unexpectedly."
Peter’s words are an understatement. In the film’s opening monologue he tells us that after a spat with his mother he finally snapped and well, now there’s a lot to blood to clean up. He’s addressing the camera on his laptop; throughout Lester gives us access to these videos as Peter records them (and presumably posts them online), putting us ever further into his headspace. Without any access to the world outside of this house we’re left unmoored from reality. Peter had hoped to bring a fellow vet, Edward, to dinner but mother refused; sometime later, Peter becomes convinced that Edward, whom he's oddly fixated on and whose wife keeps answering Peter's calls, never allowing the two to talk to one another, is coming over. And so Peter embarks on a redecorating spree even as he keeps fielding calls from his mother’s friends who are becoming increasingly worried about her absence. Character and viewer alike start losing track of time and the occasional fade to blacks that mark the ends of scenes become more disorienting; have days past? weeks perhaps? It’s hard to know.
Oyelowo’s Peter Snowden is like a 21st century Blanche DuBois, a character that cries out for your sympathy even as his delusions and deceptions—not to mention his questionable motives and actions—remind you that there’s something seriously wrong here. But without any frame of reference, Nightingale is even more claustrophobic than Williams’s A Streetcar Named Desire. Not that it’s any less lyrical; Lester’s visuals, aided by a delightfully tacky costume design, a dreamy cinematography, and exquisitely kitschy production design, make Peter’s narrative both a riddle and an answer.
There are issues here about religion and prejudice (“He is a confused and tortured young man,” reads a letter from one of Peter’s mother’s friends from Mobile), about race and sexuality (Peter’s ‘friend’ is a married white man), and about class (Peter’s world begins imploding as his credit cards begin being declined). In many ways, Nightingale is a perfect example of the type of complex LGBT portrayal that rubs those at GLAAD the wrong way; here after all is an African-American (gay) man portrayed as a troubled, murdering sociopath whose narcissism becomes literalized in his video confessionals. But he’s so deliciously watchable, Oyelowo finding the right balance between playing up his self-delusions and his ever-growing self-destruction. Just as with American Crime’s season two storyline, which asked viewers to find sympathy for a troubled gay young man with an inadvertent violent streak, Nightingale doesn’t try to shy away from its central character’s inherent contradictions. We’re so close to Peter and his worldview that his increased paranoia and unraveling end up overwhelming any judgment we may bring to the table. Dizzying and wholly engaging, Nightingale deserves your attention; at once timely and timeless, it’s by far one of the most fascinating portraits of same-sex desire in HBO’s history.
Fun Awards Fact: It’s a testament to the great work being done on the small screen that Oyelowo’s searing performance didn’t run away with all the end of year accolades; while the Selma star triumphed at the Black Reel Awards and at the Critics Choice Television Awards, he lost the Emmy to Richard Jenkins (oh so great in Olive Kitteridge), the Golden Globe to Oscar Isaac (fantastic in Show Me a Hero) and the Image Award to David Alan Grier (ebullient in the very good NBC’s The Wiz Live!).
Next Week: Before we wrap up our series (until that Looking film at least), we’ll be looking at Taylor Kitsch’s character in True Detective by watching the second season’s 7th episode, “Black Maps and Motel Rooms.”
Reader Comments (5)
and now i feel the guilt anew about not having watched this. I meant to many times!
I usually love when a performance is very theatrical, but I didn't get this one. I don't blame Oyelowo. I think it had more to do with the director's choices.
I had never even *heard* of this. I guess I'd seen him nominated at award shows, but never thought to investigate.
I'm so mad that Oyelowo lost that Emmy. What a magnetic performance.
So he's not "gay" in any way the LGBTQ would regard as gay. Neither is Dahmer, I imagine.
What does that mean? Not happy gay? I've noticed all great historical figures--the noblest of the noble--are always gay these days. Tony Kushner says Lincoln is gay!