Precursor of Pride: The Pleasures and Aesthetics of Framed Youth

Abstract

This article explores the causal links between the 1983 Channel 4 documentary Framed Youth: Revenge of the Teenage Perverts and the feature film Pride (2014), via All Out: Dancing in Dulais (1986). It will be argued that Pride — the story of miners’ support group Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners (LGSM) — would never have been made if it had not been for its precursors, with several members of LGSM having previously ‘cut their teeth’ in queer video activism, including documenting the activities of LGSM on videotape. A case will be made for Framed Youth and Pride as examples of media texts that are radical and educational, but which also have popular appeal and generate pleasure and nostalgia for audiences. The origins of Framed Youth in the conjuncture of radical theatre and community video will be outlined, including the project’s synergy with Channel 4’s original remit (Channel 4 was the majority funder of the project and broadcast Framed Youth in 1986). Attention will be devoted in particular to the neglect of considerations around audiences in the independent film and video scene. Framed Youth and the Miners’ Campaign Tapes (1984) are cited as notable historical exceptions, due to their imaginative and successful approach to building audiences through distribution and exhibition. The article will conclude by considering the ‘pros and cons’ of the fact that the story of LGSM eventually found expression in a feel-good ‘retro’ feature film, rather than an activist or political documentary.