Great thought, but for those unaware, Kate Mulgrew’s gorgeous tux from The Killing Game was 100% a reference to Dietrich’s suit in Blonde Venus (1932) with Cary Grant, a pre-Code film directed by Josef von Sternberg. It’s hard to tell in Killing Game, but Mulgrew’s lapels are also sequined. So is the stripe in the trousers. It is basically a replica of Dietrich’s suit, no question.
Okay, so I have a PhD in queer fashion and media. So this is something I happen to know a lot about. So let me explain a few things.
For starters, You cannot get a more explicitly queer-coded woman than Marlene Dietrich.
Cary Grant (another closeted Queer in Hollywood) is also in Blonde Venus, and although their chemistry is great, their romance is unbelievable because it’s very clear that they are both absolutely queer. Hattie McDaniel appears in this film, another Queer in Hollywood (and the first Black person ever to win an Oscar). In both Blonde Venus and Morocco (1930), Dietrich flirts with both men and women. Dietrich was considered a Drag King in her day. She famously proclaimed, ‘I am a gentleman at heart.’
Dietrich often refused to wear trousers, and openly declared that she had plenty of women lovers. She is an iconic staple for queer sexuality even today. She famously kissed a woman in Morocco whilst wearing a tuxedo- with an audience watching and cheering. She then kisses a man, the audience applauds, and she exits. This scene (below) was added at Dietrich’s own behest. The scene was extremely controversial, and they had to defend it against the censors for months.
A short segment featuring Quentin Crisp and Susie Bright talking about the significance of women wearing male attire in film. Features clip
This very scene is one of the many reasons The Hays Code was enacted (rules from a super-Catholic man who bribed his way into Hollywood and forced the religious ideologies onto the screen), and this scene was one that The Hays Code often pointed to as ‘immoral’ and ‘perverted’ and ‘sexually explicit.’ You can thank the Hays Code for the split beds Lucy and Ricky had, for rules that a kiss must not last longer than a certain amount of time, that, absolutely, NO queer ANYTHING could be acknowledged to exist. Everything had to be subtext, and that’s why so many old black and white films feel really queer.
But Dietrich openly proclaimed herself queer, dressed in men’s clothing, kissed women on screen- and became a Queer icon not just in fashion, but in sexuality, decadence, and identity. The so-called famous ’Dietrich’s Sewing Circle’ (of which Hattie McDaniel was a member) was essentially every Queer woman in Hollywood who all had affairs with each other. Books have been written on this. Here’s a brief article about one of those books that goes through some of the basics.
Okay, Queer Fashion Film Academic, what’s your point?
The point is that by wearing a duplicate of a Dietrich suit- one where she openly flirted with women, no less–Janeway is 100% coded as queer in The Killing Game.
Especially with that tuxedo scene and the way she’s talking to Seven. In fact, most of the scenes in those episodes where she is talking to Seven, you will notice that Mulgrew plays Janeway with a bite- her eyes linger on Seven just a bit longer, her body language is just a bit more open and fierce than usual.
Even in Paris, for a woman to wear what Mulgrew/Janeway is clearly coding herself as a Queer person through that specific outfit. She is wearing a giant billboard that says I AM QUEER.
By putting Kate Mulgrew in a replica of a Dietrich 1940s tuxedo, Janeway is visually coded as queer through replication and imitation of one of the most Queer icons in cinematic history. That suit is too famous, too iconic, too specifically loaded with subtext and text of queerness through Dietrich.
I am convinced that the costume department 100% knew what they were doing, and part of me wonders if Kate Mulgrew herself had pushed for that suit. Why? Because Kate Mulgrew herself was the one who pushed for Janeway to have a same-sex relationship.
Above quote from this article.
Watch Blonde Venus. Watch Morocco. Then, watch Kate Mulgrew in The Killing Game. She imitates Dietrich’s body-language, her mannerisms, the smirk, in that opening scene. There is no question- Janeway has been possessed by Dietrich’s characters.
Funnily enough, for the rest of those two episodes, Kate Mulgrew is also very clearly imitating another Queer woman through her voice intonation and mannerisms, general fashion and hairstyles: Katharine Hepburn.
Because of her absurd visual and voice similarity to Katharine Hepburn (another Queer in Dietrich’s sewing circle), Mulgrew once played Hepburn in Tea at Five.
Like Dietrich (bisexual), Hepburn was very clearly Queer coded, as she was a lesbian. She was also famous in Hollywood for her male-coded attire, though she preferred regular suits to Dietrich’s tuxedos.
She, like Dietrich, had the same problem whenever they teamed up with Cary Grant- watch Philadelphia Story and tell me that the real ending of that movie is not Hepburn’s character, Grant’s character and Stewart’s character all ending up in a thruple together. The movie makes no sense if that’s not the real ending.
Hepburn wore trousers on film sets and this upset the studio so much they literally stole her trousers, trying to force her into a skirt. Hepburn just walked around in her knickers, refusing to wear the skirt. Eventually, the studio gave her back the trousers.
Okay, I’m going off tangent. Here’s your takeaway:
Kate Mulgrew, (because she’s an absurdly amazing talent), is very heavily is influenced in mannerism, voice, accent and appearance by two of the most Queer-Coded women in cinematic history in The Killing Game. Through fashion and performance, she embodies Dietrich’s Blonde Venus and Morocco characters, and through appearance, voice and body language, she gives that image an additional layer of of Hepburn’s fierce, Queer persona.
Conclusion: Arguably throughout all of Voyager, but specifically In The Killing Game, Kathryn Janeway is visibly Queer.
By the way, although she never got credit for it, the person who wrote Blonde Venus was Dietrich herself. Both she and von Sternberg were suspended for several months because the movie was considered too salacious by the Hays code, and it caused production problems for over a year.
The BFI has a great write-up on Dietrich’s queerness and fashion, you can read it here: https://www.bfi.org.uk/features/my-best-girlfriend-queer-dietrich-screen
That white suit means so much more than you thought.
i find sherlock's relationship with touch incredibly interesting, especially when its related to watson.
throughout the show, sherlock is seen declaring his undying love and devotion for watson in the most matter of fact way possible. bouncing on his feet, eyes darting everywhere. standing firmly on the ground, gaze fixed on her. frenzied, relaxed. he has told her how much she means to him time and time again, in all ways possible. and yet, when it comes to touch, he shies away. those screenshots are from s5? s6? yeah so by that time he has made FAR more intimate declarations, so it stands to no reason why he should fuckin. poke her to wake her up😭😭
it is no secret that sherlock is, at least to some extent, touch averse. yes he has sex, but casual touch is Not his thing. whenever people get too chummy with him (physically) his look of disgust/unease is very apparent. to him, touch is usually seen as a means to an end. he seems to give touch easily when it's related to sex, something that gives him pleasure (which is also something he seems to view quite clinically. it's less about intimacy and more about endorphins and such. #asexualsherlock). he does not, however, touch people just cause. he doesn't give casual touches easily. so it's easy to say that even if he Does love joan a lot, he doesn't exactly like physical touch in the manner of hugs, arms on shoulders, etc. and its totally valid, because not being comfortable with physical affection doesn't mean you love someone any less.
but! it doesn't end here. sherlock's feelings about touch w.r.t joan evolves throughout the show, just as their relationship does.
in season 2, joan gets kidnapped. sherlock is beside himself, and mycroft tells him that joan is "the person you love the most in the world". very early on its established just how much she means to him.
this scene was so impactful. maybe more so than it would've been if sherlock hugged her or frantically checked her for injuries. the first time I watched it, I was struck by the sheer weight of his gaze as he stood in front of her and just. stared. how he crossed the distance between them and stood so close, and yet didn't touch. silent, but breathing hard. not a single movement made and yet, i could see him almost vibrating out of his skin. the noise in his head finally just. stops. she was here. watson was here. and he didn't need to touch to make sure, no—it was her. he could never mistake her. not her, never her.
and watson must've known it too, known his desperation. after all, she is the one who knows him best. that's why right after she sees him she says "it's okay. it's alright." when he comes close, she doesn't move. doesn't step back to put any distance between them. looks back at him steadily, sees the noise in his head, the trapped chaos in him. softly, softly, she says: "im alright."
this scene from s4 is the first time joan hugs sherlock. he doesn't seem to be expecting it, so he just. freezes. you can see him realising what happened only seconds after the hug got over.
this is so lovely because watson doesn't linger. she doesn't ask him why he isn't hugging her back, because she knows. she knows he isn't really comfortable with physical affection, and that's why throughout the series we see her keep any physical touch limited when it comes to sherlock. but sometimes it just bursts out of her, all that love and relief and just the sheer magnitude of it. so she hugs him, and doesn't wait for him to hug her back. sherlock has always been better with words and actions. she knows without a doubt that he loves her, so this does not bother her at all. but she needs to show it, you know. she can't bare her heart to him through words as often as he does to her. this is how she loves, and she's aware that this is not how sherlock loves, too. and she's okay with that.
what strikes me the most is the surprise in sherlock's face. the momentary glitch in his brain that is always in overdrive. he always does that whenever watson expresses her love for him, when she shows that she loves him as much as he loves her in her own way. it's baffling. he lies and he is rude and he is a lost cause. and yet, she loves him. his dear watson.
scene from s6 that kills me. my god. the way she's hugging him. the way she holds him closer even after he says "my personality has not changed, watson." what sets this hug different from the previous one is the ease of his shoulders. he didn't expect the hug, sure, but he doesn't look like his fight or flight response has been triggered, either. AND YOU KNOW WHAT'S SO SO IMPORTANT ABOUT THIS SCENE??? THE WAY HE DOESN'T TRY TO SHRUG HER OFF. he doesn't hug her back, sure, but look at the placement of his hands. after he gets the text he is holding his other hand in a way that makes sure he isn't jostling her too much. steadying their hug. he isn't the one who says "that's enough now, we have to go." WATSON is the one who pulls back after she's done. he is keeping her steady. HE IS KEEPING HER STEADY. HE DOESN'T WANT HER TO LET GO. WHATEVER!!
s6 again. here, he invites her for a hug, more or less. he is expecting it this time. arms open, grin blinding. he knows she'll come to her. he's home. he's back by her side.
the most interesting part about it is that he still doesn't hug her back. and it's not that he doesn't want to hug watson, no, but it's that it's too much.
it is established very early on that sherlock experiences everything—be it emotions or senses—a lot more intensely than the average person. throughout the series, there are many many scenes where he has declared his love for her and almost every time, he seems stricken. shaken by the intensity of the love he feels for her. it seems to hurt him sometimes, and often overwhelms him. he doesn't have anything against hugs, you see. he hugs marcus back in the beginning of s7, smiling. but never once has he hugged back joan (till that point) when she has hugged him. and i submit that it's not because he loves her less that he doesn't hug her back—it's because he loves her in ways he can't really express. it's bigger than him, you see. this kind of love is unfamiliar to him. what he had with moriarty was different. but this? he is utterly unprepared for this.
and then, crescendo .
no longer will he try to hold himself back. he almost lost her because he wanted to hold himself back, because he told himself that he is too much, too rotten, burning, burning and he thought he will take her down with him because his watson, his dearest watson, is good. she will follow him willingly. he thought he was sparing them both the hurt, and he almost lost her because of his stupidity. so it doesn't matter if his skin feels like it's on fire when he holds her. it doesn't matter if all the love he has labelled and put in neat boxes spill out, messy, never ending. it doesn't matter if she thrashes against his hold and tells him she's fine. it doesn't matter if she fights his love. he's staying. of course he's staying.
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