Sympathetic LGBTQ+ characters were tough to come by.Īt first glance, the brutal prison drama Midnight Express would not seem like the place to find a nice gay best friend. Movies were able to actually define characters as LGBTQ+, but they were often villains or would meet a tragic fate. While sex, swearing and violence began to populate films, the depiction of gay people stayed relatively the same. Once the code was abolished, the late 60s and 70s were able to go wild. Norbert Weisser co-stars as Erich in Alan Pakula's 1978 hit 'Midnight Express.'Our journeys into classic cinema has allowed us to explore the beginnings of the gay best friend trope and coding during the Hayes Code. A series by Christopher James looking at the 'Gay Best Friend' trope
