NighthawksMovies

NighthawksArthurInches —Taxi Zum KloArmond WhiteMovies An unforgettable scene in the 1978 film Nighthawks stares at a schoolroom full of teenagers as they impudently interrogate their gay male teacher: “Is it true you’re bent?” “Are you queer?” Director Ron Peck subverts the male gaze from pleasure to alarming human revelation. Holding on the classroom panorama, Peck creates a mirror-image of society. Not mere bullying, this inquisition by school kids reveals what recent bullying documentaries don’t: that the students have ingested rumor, meanness and prejudice while also exhibiting basic curiosity. Flashes of their own insecurity and empathy lift the scene to real art. A 2015 filmmaker would likely use this “teachable moment” for...