![]() The early 1980s was a period of rapid retreat back into the closet for many music stars because of the conservative political mood, the AIDS crisis, and the commercial pressures of MTV. According to Wikipedia, he officially came out as a gay man in 1988. I’m not exactly sure what the official status of John’s sexual identity was in 1983. The camera and editing in the video are characteristically busy and frenetic, with the distinct Mulcahy touch of clever synchronizations between the editing of the film and the musical beats and rhythms of the song, especially in transitional moments. There are scenes in wide boulevards along the water, on the beach, in front of grand hotels, and other glamorous locales. The setting is the French Riviera, Cannes and Nice, places where people with lots of money go. To me, he looks doped up, or perhaps hung over, hiding behind sunglasses, listless and flat underneath expensive clothing. It consists primarily of shots of Elton lip-synching the song as a dancing troupe repeatedly swarms and surrounds him. The video features an “Elton on vacation” motif. I found the song sterile and tuneless, all effects and machines with no warmth or soul or humanity like John’s earlier songs, and I just couldn’t relate to the video’s elitist vision of the world. It was heavily overplayed, just on all the damn time. I never liked this video when it was popular, despite its homoerotic imagery. The video was directed by Russell Mulcahy-he did almost all of Elton John’s videos, a gay man directing another gay man for a channel on which homosexuality did not yet officially exist. ![]() ![]() It has many gay inflected moments, yet the video’s gayness is muted by blunt heterosexual representations as well. This video is a mixture of European cosmopolitanism, high-end leisure, and almost-naked bodies covered in thick, brightly colored make-up. I think he played one of the traffic policemen dressed in leg warmers and a leotard.” Bruno Tonioli, who’s a judge of Dancing with the Stars, was one of our dancers. … We had leather boys, and mimes, and kissing clowns. ![]() My costume designer was in charge of body-painting all the boys. “Elton John’s ‘I’m Still Standing’ was super, super, super gay. ![]()
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