Powerpoint on Shirley Clarke's 1967 film Portrait of Jason. The powerpoint cover's Jason's life, hardships, and most importantly his experience as a gay black man in the 1950s and 60s. Discussing the importance of sex, race, and performance, along with the legacy Jason left.

1. EXPLORING: SHIRLEY
CLARK’S PORTRAIT OF JASON
BY: EMILY DUGAL
9 APRIL 2018

2. Why is Portrait of Jason so
significant?
■ The goal of this presentation is to help other viewers of this
film to understand why Portrait of Jason is so significant in
regards to race, sex, and performance.
■ To show how Jason’s stories and testimony help us
understand what being a black gay man in the 1960’s was
really like.
■ To show how this documentary is still so relevant in present
day society, and how Jason’s vulnerability and honestly
helped shaped the world we see today.

3. BASIC FACTS ABOUTTHE FILM
■ The film was directed by Shirley Clarke, and released
in 1967.
■ It is 105 minutes long, shot in cinema vérité style.The
entire film is in black and white.
■ It is an interview with a black, gay man named Jason
Holliday.The location is Clarke’s apartment.
■ Clarke’s boyfriend at the time, Carl Lee, was present
during the interview as well.
■ Jason is not shy, he talks about the hardships of his
upbringing, finding work, and trying to make life
enjoyable with the hand of cards he was dealt. He
was an aspiring cabaret performer.

4. JASON’S BEGINNING
■ There is very little information on Jason’s upbringing
■ Born as Aaron Payne on June 8, 1924.
■ He describes his first job starting at the age of 5, as an errand boy:
“Began career at five years old as errand boy for prostitutes,
pimps, bootleggers, schoolteachers, doctors, lawyers, etc. —
and anyone else I could get a buck out of. Lonely old men
and hot old maids.”- Jason Holliday

5. R A C E
■ Jason describes the difficulty of being a
black man and a femme gay man.
■ Jason’s father was a well known bootlegger
and big-time gambler, known by locals as
BrotherTough.
■ There seems to be a lot of pressure put on
black men to be a masculine, macho, tough
guy; making it more difficult for a femme,
black gay man to be comfortable
expressing himself honestly and being open
to the world.
■ Jason, however, is flamboyant and
unapologetically expressive during a time
where it could have gotten him killed.

6. R A C E
• This is a clip from the
documentary, where
Jason is describing
some of the prejudice
he faced. People
assumed he was
dumb because he is
black.

7. S E X
■ To see an openly gay black man discussing
his sexuality orientation and sexual
encounters was ground breaking.
■ Jason’s honesty and vulnerability about
these experiences opened a threshold for
others
■ Also showed how limited job
opportunities were for Jason, most of the
times his jobs involved drugs, alcohol, sex,
or performance of some type.

8. S E X
“I thought I’d end up as a clown. All clowns
are happy and sad.You can sell sex, comedy
and a little tragedy — people love to see you
suffer, and believe me, I’ve suffered.” – Jason
Holliday

9. P E R F O R M A N C E
■ Jason describes him self as a
performer, and throughout this
documentary he steals the limelight.
■ His impressions, story telling abilities,
and raw emotions are what make this
performance so great.
■ He does fabulous impressions of Mae
West and Katherine Hepburn, prancing
around with a feathery boa and
cigarette in hand.

10. P E R F O R M A N C E
“TennesseeWilliams couldn’t have done me any more
justice.This is my moment. I’m here on the throne and I
can say whatever I damn please. But it’s got to be
righteous, you know?This is my chance to really feel
myself.To say, yeah, I’m the bitch. Believe it, you know?
You amateur cunts take notice: I’m the bitch.” – Jason
Holliday

11. V U L N E R A B I L ITY
■ Part of what makes this documentary so good is the vulnerability of Jason.
■ This interview with Jason was around 12 hours long, and he was drinking and chain-
smoking throughout the entirety of the interview.
■ I think the aspect of him being drunk made him more vulnerable with his emotions
and story telling.
■ Here is a link to an article that has 10 great quotes from Portrait of Jason. I have been
using some of them throughout this presentation. In my opinion, this list shows some
great points about Jason, what he thought about himself and the culture he lived
through
■ http://www.indiewire.com/2013/04/the-wisdom-of-jason-holliday-10-quotes-from-
shirley-clarkes-portrait-of-jason-the-original-viral-star-39438/

12. REFLECTING & PRESENT DAY
■ Portrait of Jason really gained notoriety years after its release.
■ Ingmar Bergman called it “The most extraordinary film I’ve seen in my life.”
■ Many claim it is one of the best documentary’s ever made, however there are
important points to remember:
– One of these points is that Shirley Clark condensed over 12 hours of footage
into an hour and half long film
– There was manipulation in regards to this, meaning she cut out hours of
dialogue and made the film appear in a specific light
– Another factor, is that Jason was under the influence of marijuana,
cigarettes, and alcohol.Jason was in an altered state of mind, some may
argue that he was taken advantage of because of this.

13. REFLECTING & PRESENT DAY
■ Here is a list of several articles and publishing's that breakdown the film.
– 1) link below peels back the layers of the film, helping the reader understand the
motives of Jason Holliday and Shirley Clarke
■ https://www.npr.org/2013/05/02/179876018/peeling-away-the-layers-in-a-portrait-of-
jason
– 2) link below is more biographical, discussingJason’s upbringing, hardships, goals,
etc.
■ https://www.newyorker.com/culture/richard-brody/portrait-of-jason-and-the-life-of-
movies
– 3) link below is more of a critique on Shirley Clarke, discusses the comparison of
other documentaries and on Clarke’s style of filming.
■ https://milestonefilms.com/blogs/news/34293060-jason-and-shirley-the-cruelty-and-
irresponsibility-of-satire

14. C O N C L U S I O N & LEGACY
■ Jason was a performer, he is a brilliant individual that has the ability to
captivate an entire nation with his personality alone.
■ He opened the door and shed light on what being a gay black man during
this time was actually like; including his work as a hustler, houseboy, and
performer
■ Jason’s interview still stands today, he was using terms and phrases that are
relevant in 2018; referring to himself as a ”queen” or “bitch”.
■ Jason was hilarious and brilliant and heartbreaking all at the same time. He
is a vigorous reminder of what the world was like for an openly gay black to
be caught in the middle of the Civil Rights movement and Stonewall Riots.

15. C O N C L U S I O N &
LEGACY
■ I hope everyone who watches this film takes
something from Jason, he offered us so much during
a time when many were afraid to speak out and be
true to themselves.
■ There is not much information on what happened to
Jason after this film.AndyWarhol attempted to make
a film with Jason after, but nothing was ever went
through with this project.
■ Jason recorded an LP of a comedy act which was later
released in 2007.
■ Jason died on July 31, 1998 at the age of 74.

16. “I’m not ashamed of being a
star, but I got a little uptight
about how I became one.
There were so many beautiful
things that I could have done.
But I just wasn’t given the
opportunity.” – Jason Holliday