
The two-part feature film 'Masquerades of Research: Part I and II' is a fictional biography of pre-queer sociologist Laud Humphreys, author of the infamous book 'Tearoom Trade: Impersonal Sex in Public Places' (1970, 1975). Part I begins in St. Louis in 1967 in a pre-Stonewall and pre-Watergate USA, exploring the impetus behind Humphreys “Sociologist as Voyeur” research method — a still radical gesture and one of the first in the Western canon to turn the ethnographic gaze back onto the hypocritical conservative mindset that created it. Why can’t statistics be avant-garde? Part II begins in his Californian office in 1975, where we find Humphreys sweating in a radically different USA on the cusp of republishing 'Tearoom Trade'. Its relevance to contemporary discussions of intimacy, social presentation and data control is delicately carried by visual intensities and rich performances that keep as many secrets as they give away.
Directed by Padraig Robinson, Masquerades of Research leans on a strong ensemble — Mark O'Halloran, Ivan Doan, Ricky Watson — to carry a story that balances spectacle with character.
The film landed with audiences for its craft and performances, and remains one of the most talked-about screen titles of 2022.
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