Cruising Electric brings home the ‘80s leather scene (some assembly required)
William Friedkin’s thriller Cruising is an festering amalgam of broad clichés about underground gay leather culture. It not only registered as an offensive stereotype when the movie was released in 1980, but is nearly incomprehensible three decades later.
But thanks to the good folks at RAM JAC, Cruising is now fun for the whole family. Brought to our attention by Watch This Thing (originally posted in January, but sealed for freshness) Cruising Electric takes Pacino’s hunt for a serial killer targeting gay men and pitches it as a kids’ game. The ad is slavishly committed to both the aesthetic of ’80s era commercials (including VHS recording artifacts) and Cruising’s over the top presentation of a furtive, sex-fueled pre-AIDS gay culture.
So get Cruising already, and bring home the excitement of anonymous West Village trysts, bandana hookup signal codes, and watersports while Dad looks on with concern.