Midnight Cowboy

Midnight Cowboy – the story of a small town stud’s attempt to make it big as a hustler on the streets of 1960s New York – is an indisputably iconic film. Though recognized in terms of its early adoption of Nouvelle Vague cinematography and editing techniques, and renowned for the controversy over its X-rating and subsequent Oscar win, Midnight Cowboy has yet to be understood as a classic of queer cinema. Jon Towlson reclaims Midnight Cowboy as a queer text by addressing John Schlesinger as a gay author and filmmaker and providing a fresh perspective on the film’s relationship to James Leo Herlihy’s 1965 novel, from which it was adapted. Offering a nuanced and personal view of the film’s relevance to queer experience and queer friendship, Towlson also considers Midnight Cowboy’s production and reception and its place in Schlesinger’s filmography. The film’s depictions of ’60s New York counterculture and 42nd street hustlers, offer an opportunity for reassessment, particularly in Midnight Cowboy’s relationship to male prostitution, male relationships, and sexual identity. By shifting the perspective away from previous interpretations of Midnight Cowboy as homophobic and problematic, Towlson argues for a new interpretation of the film as a proto-queer buddy movie, and a critical forerunner to films such as My Own Private Idaho and Brokeback Mountain.

An iconic and controversial film, Midnight Cowboy is given its due as a classic of queer cinema. By shifting the perspective away from interpretations of Midnight Cowboy as homophobic, Jon Towlson argues for a new interpretation of the film as a proto-queer buddy movie and portrait of a friendship.

“Jon Towlson makes a convincing argument for seeing Midnight Cowboy differently through friendship, intimacy, and John Schlesinger’s authorship. He brings analysis and nuance to small, easy to miss details of the film and a novelty and richness in this re-reading of the film writ large.” Gary Needham, University of Liverpool and co-editor of Queer TV: Theories, Histories, Politics

Jon Towlson is a film critic and author. He lives in Yorkshire, United Kingdom.