Fassbinder writes, directs and stars as a dopey but well-meaning young gay man who walks into a web of manipulative bourgeous snobs. This movie is remarkable on many levels. Foremost is its main character. He’s likable, despite the fact that he is a promiscuious cruiser. This character — even if he was straight — would be a bad guy in an American movie. But here he’s just a likeable guy who also likes get laid! It’s, like, just deep background on his character. The more I think about it, this is the most interesting movie about gays I’ve ever seen. I think that, because it isn’t American, it isn’t hung up on morality at all, and instead focuses on the way a group of jerks, who happen to be gay, act. But it doesn’t ignore that they are gay. The men taunt one another like jerky guys taunt one another, and this bleeds over into sexuality. There’s a lot of talk about who’s got a big johnson — and these conversations are fascinating in their multiple levels of irony. RWF himself has got a rather large johnson himself, isn’t shy about showing it, and perhaps that explains how he had the confidence to make so many films in such a short lifetime — who knows? R.W. Fassbinder is an alarming gap in my film history. He’s a major figure to most cinemaniacs and I’ve seen two of his films in my entire life. Luckily, there are 26 titles available on Netflix. I tweaking my queue radically as of this evening.