The hustler

The male prostitute or hustler is a frequent stereotype in literature and movies from the 1960s on, and especially in movies and books with a gay perspective in which he may be considered a stock character. He also appears occasionally in popular music (like the photo spread for The Bravery), some contemporary fashion advertising and the visual arts.

The most common stereotype of the hustler is as a sexy but tragic figure. This stereotype reveals both a fascination with the hustler as a sexual object and sadness or disdain with his situation and life style. This stereotyped male hustler is often an under-aged or teen-age "street kid" or "runaway" forced to leave home because of his sexual orientation or because of sexual abuse. He is often portrayed as a drug addict or thief. The plotline frequently focuses on the crisis of leaving the trade or the street ("one last trick"), or on making enough money for an important use (a medical treatment, a gift). The climax often has one of two possible outcomes: the hustler either abandons the trade and re-integrates society, or he meets a tragic end. This tragic image of the hustler can be contrasted with the stereotype of the female hooker with a heart of gold: instead of being portrayed as someone in control and contented, the hustler is lost, homeless, broke or exploited.

In movies and books that take the point of view of the client or of a boy/girl friend who loves the hustler, the hustler is often depicted as an impossible love object who will only bring hurt or frustration. The lover may grow jealous of and disturbed by the hustler's work; occasionally the loving boy/girl friend will be drawn into the lifestyle of their hustler boy friend. Older clients who fall in love with hustlers are frequently prey to emotional (and sometimes physical) pain; this is especially true in the case of "rough trade" (where the hustler identifies as straight), and this depiction has been reinforced by several famous incidents of violence against clients (such as the deaths of Pier Paolo Pasolini and Rudolph Moshammer).

In contrast to the previous depictions, the male prostitute has also sometimes been portrayed as an idealized rebel living outside the law and free of bourgeois conventions. This almost Nietzschean image of the hustler as moral and sexual outlaw owes much to the writings of Jean Genet, William S. Burroughs and John Rechy (among others).

The portrayal of the client or "john" of male prostitution in popular culture is far less codified than that of the hustler and runs the gamut from the lonely married man, the self-hating in-the-closet guy, the exploitative or endearing businessman, and even the serial killer.

The diversity of these stereotypes reveals much about each author's or director's personal view of love, sexuality, power and morality.

These stereotypes may have a basis in fact, but they should not be taken as true in all cases.

The same issues that surround male prostitution (including the financial security and social status of the young "kept" lover, the older lover's obsessions and insecurities with regards to his or her youthful love-object, the sexual freedom or moral indifference of the hustler, etc.) often appear in movies and literature that portray amorous or sexual relationships -- without prostitution -- between an older man or woman and a younger male lover, for example, in Pasolini's novel and movie Theorem, Harold Prince's film Something For Everyone (1970) and Bill Condon's film Gods and Monsters (1998).

Books on hustling

Understanding the Male Hustler (Phil Andros, 1991)
Hustling: A Gentleman's Guide to the Fine Art of Homosexual Prostitution (John Preston, 1994)
A Consumer's Guide to Male Hustlers (Joseph Itiel, 1998) "
Prostitution: On Whores, Hustlers, and Johns (James Elias, Vern L. Bullough, Veronica Elias and Gwen Brewer, eds.; introduction by Joycelyn Elders; 1998)
Sex for Sale: Prostitution, Pornography, and the Sex Industry (Ronald Weitzer, 1999)
Tricks and Treats: Sex Workers Write About Their Clients (Matt Bernstein Sycamore, ed., 1999)
The Male Escort's Handbook: Your Guide to Getting Rich the Hard Way (Aaron Lawrence, 2000)
Strapped for Cash : A History of American Hustler Culture (Mack Friedman, 2003)

The hustler in literature

The following novels and memoirs feature male hustlers as major characters.

Our Lady of the Flowers (Notre Dame des fleurs) (Jean Genet, 1943)
Last Exit to Brooklyn (Hubert Selby Jr., 1957)
The Basketball Diaries (Jim Carroll, 1963) - Jim hustles in restrooms to buy dope
City of Night (John Rechy, 1963)
Numbers (John Rechy, 1967)
My Father and Myself (J. R. Ackerley, 1968)
Enchanted Boy (Richie McMullen) - memoir of a boy's journey from "abuse to prostitution" in 50s England
Enchanted Youth (Richie McMullen, 1990) - continuation of previous : from "prostitution to love" in 1958.
Closer (Dennis Cooper, 1990)
Close to the Knives (David Wojnarowicz, 1991) - the first of David Wojnarowicz's (1954-1992) memoirs of his passage from abused kid to Times Square hustler to artist in New York's East Village underground. His memoirs have been brought to the screen in "Postcards from America" (see below)
Memories That Smell Like Gasoline (David Wojnarowicz, 1992) - the second volume in Wojnarowicz's memoirs
American Studies (Mark Merlis, 1994) - story of a john coming to terms with his life while recovering in a hospital after having been bashed by a hustler
User (Bruce Benderson, 1994) - Times Square, a porn theater bouncer named Apollo
Martin and John (Dale Peck, 1994) - in several of the parallel narrative scenes one or both of the characters are hustlers
Mysterious Skin (Scott Heim, 1995)
L'Enfant ébloui ("Rachid O", 1995) - semi-autobiographic novel (in French) about a hustler in Morocco
Wonder Bread and Ecstasy: The Life and Death of Joey Stefano (Charles Isherwood, 1996) - Joey Stefano was a gay porn star of the 90s
Seven Miles A Second (David Wojnarowicz, writer, and James Romberger, artist, 1996) - a Vertigo/DC Comics version of Wojnarowicz's street life memoirs and diary
Boy Culture (Matthew Rettenmund, 1996?) - a young hustler -- ready to throw in the towel -- is torn between two roommates. Includes an index to the sex passages (by preference)
Brutal (Aiden Shaw, 1996) - a first novel by artist Aiden Shaw -- former prostitute and porn star -- about Paul, an HIV positive hustler dealing with loss and a drug problem
Quand je suis devenu fou (Christophe Donner, 1997) - the narrator falls for a hustler in an Amsterdam brothel
Diary of a Hustler ("Joey", 1997)
After Nirvana (Lee Williams (Morrow), 1997)
Rent Boys: Hustlers & Escorts--Gay Erotic Tales (David Macmillan, ed. date?) - a collection of short fiction by a number of authors
Assuming the Position: A Memoir of Hustling (Rick Whitaker, 1999)
Suburban Hustler: Stories of a Hi-Tech Callboy (Aaron Lawrence, 1999)
Sarah (JT LeRoy, 2000) - pseudo-autobiographical story (the author was long believed to be a real person, but in 2006 he was revealed to be a fictional creation) of a boy hustler whose mother was a truckstop prostitute.
A Thousand and One Night Stands: The Life of Jon Vincent (H. A. Carson, 2001)
Sex Workers As Virtual Boyfriends (Joseph Itiel, 2002)
Chicken: Self-Portrait of a Young Man for Rent (David Henry Sterry, 2003)
Escapades of a Gay Traveler: Sexual, Cultural, and Spiritual Encounters (Joseph Itiel, 2003)
Setting the Lawn on Fire : A Novel (Mack Friedman, 2005)

The hustler in theater

Pal Joey (Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart, John O'Hara, 1940)
Balm in Gilead (Lanford Wilson, 1965)
Trafficking in Broken Hearts (Edwin Sanchez, 2005)

The hustler in cinema

Films with a hustler as a main character In recent years, a host of young American actors (such as Lukas Haas, Jonathan Taylor Thomas and Joseph Gordon-Levitt), following the lead of River Phoenix, have taken roles as hustlers in independent movies as a way of establishing their acting credentials.

Andy Warhol presents: Joe Dallesandro in Paul Morrissey's Flesh 1968
My Hustler (USA: 1967, by Andy Warhol and Chuck Wein, with Paul America)
Flesh (USA: 1968, by Paul Morrissey with Joe Dallesandro) - Joe Dallesandro hustles to buy dope for himself and his wife
Midnight Cowboy (USA: 1969, by John Schlesinger with Jon Voight and Dustin Hoffman) - an unlikely friendship between hustler Voight and junky Hoffman on the streets of New York ends in a failed attempt to get away and start a new life. Originally rated-X.
El Lugar Sin Limites (Mexico: 1977, by Arturo Ripstein)
Alexander: The Other Side of Dawn (USA: 1977, TV, by John Erman with Leigh McCloskey) - sequel to Dawn : Portrait of a Teenage Runaway
El Diputado (The Deputy) (Spain: 1978, by Eloy de la Iglesia; in Spanish) - the secret police set up to blackmail a politician with a teendage hustler, but this latter falls for the man he is supposed to betray
American Gigolo (USA: 1980, by Paul Schrader) - a high-class gigolo (played by Richard Gere) is framed for a murder he didn't commit.
Cruising (USA: 1980, by William Friedkin from the novel by Gerald Walker, with Al Pacino) - a straight policeman goes undercover to investigate murders in the New York gay S/M community. Although not a hustler per se, Pacino's character borrows heavily from the hustler genre.
The Wounded Man (L'homme blessé) (France: 1982, by Patrice Chéreau with Jean-Hugues Anglade) - a kid falls for a sociopathic hustler; winner of a César Award for Best Direction
Forty Deuce (USA: 1982, by Paul Morrissey with Kevin Bacon and Orson Bean) - conniving hustler Bacon (who won an Obie for the original 1981 off-off Broadway production) tries to cover-up the o-d death of another kid
A Boy Like Many Others (Un Ragazzo come tanti) (Italy: 1983, by Gianni Minello)
Revolutions Happen Like Refrains in a Song (Philippines: 1987, by Nick Deocampo)
The Everlasting Secret Family (Australia: 1988, by Michael Thornhill, with Mark Lee) -homosexuality and prostitution amidst a secret brotherhood
Macho Dancer (Philippines: 1988, by Lino Brocka) - story about boy Pol who goes to Manila to support his family and works as a macho dancer with friend and mentor Noel, who is looking for his sister
Cop (USA: 1988, by James B. Harris, based on the novel by James Ellroy, with James Woods)
Street Kid (Germany: 1990, by Peter Kern, In German with English subtitles) - story of a young hustler in Dusseldorf, Axel Glitter
Film (Fill 'em) (Canada: 1991, by Sky Gilbert) - story of a male hustler and his roommate
My Own Private Idaho (USA: 1991, by Gus Van Sant with River Phoenix and Keanu Reeves)- about two hustlers in search of roots, love and meaning in and around Portland, Oregon
I Don't Kiss [J'embrasse pas] (France: 1991, André Téchiné with Manuel Blanc, Philippe Noiret and Emmanuelle Béart) - about a boy from the provinces who tries to make it in Paris, but ends up as a hustler on the street. Béart plays the female prostitute he falls for; Noiret plays the caring john.
Via Appia (Germany: 1991, by Jochen Hick) - a German air steward wakes up to find a note telling him he's HIV positive. He returns to Rio to find the hustler who gave it to him. Docu-style scenes of Rio's nightlife, bars and clubs, etc.
Being at Home with Claude (Canada: 1992, by Jean Beaudin, with Jean-François Pichette and Roy Dupuis; in French) - a police interrogation of male hustler Yves for the murder of the student Claude he fell in love with
The Living End (USA: 1992, by Gregg Araki, with Craig Glimore and Mike Dytri) - two HIV positive young men -- Jon's a film student, Luke's a street hustler -- go on the road in a final blow out
The Blue Hour (Die Blaue Stunde) (Germany/Switzerland: 1992, by Marcel Gisler, with Andreas Herder and Dina Liepzig) - Theo, a male hustler, falls for Maria, the girl next door
Dafydd (Britain: 1993, TV: BBC by Ceri Sherlock with Richard Harrington) - Welsh boy/hustler goes to Amsterdam and meets a music teacher
Pretty Boy (Smukke dreng) (Denmark: 1993, by Carsten Sønder, with Christian Tafdrup and Benedicte W. Madsen) - 13-year-old runaway Nick takes up with a group of hustlers lead by tomboyish Rene
Slight Fever of a 20-Year-Old (Hatachi No Binetsu) (Japan: 1993, by Ryosuke Hasiguchi, In Japanese with English subtitles) - four middle-class teenagers in Japan - two boys who hustle and their best female friends - come up on trouble when one of the boys tells the other he loves him
Postcards from America (UK: 1994, by Steve McLean, with Olmo Tighe, Michael Tighe, James Lyons, and Michael Imperioli) - three chapters in David Wojnarowicz's life: childhood abuse from his father in 60s New Jersey, teenager hustling on the streets of NY, adult alone on the road in New Mexico
Super 8 1/2 (Canada: 1994, by Bruce LaBruce) - a semi-autobiographical film about a porn star's attempted comeback
Midnight Dancers (Philippines: 1994, by Mel Chionglo, In Tagalog with English subtitles) - three brothers in down and out Manila, working as "Macho Dancers" in a gay bar, fall in and out of a variety of adventures
The Basketball Diaries (USA: 1995, by Scott Kalvert with Leonardo DiCaprio and Mark Wahlberg) - based on the (autobiographical) book by Jim Carroll, the story of a boy who gets hooked on smack
Marble Ass (Dupe Od Mramora) (Serbia: 1995, by Zelimir Zilnik) - independent film about transvestite prostitutes trying to make ends meet in Serbia
The Toilers and the Wayfarers (USA: 1995, by Keith Froelich; executive producer Marc Huestis; with Matt Klemp, Ralf Schrig, Andrew Woodhouse, Jerome Samuels and Joan Wheeler, released in 1997; in English and German with English subtitles) - in ultraconservative New Ulm, Minnesota, 16 year-old Matt Klemp spurns the advances of friend Andrew Woodhouse, but later decides with another boy to join him in Minneapolis, where they become hustlers
Hustler White (USA: 1996, by Rick Castro and Bruce LaBruce with Tony Ward) - a writer desperately searches for the hustler "Monti" after seeing him on Santa Monica boulevard
Tattoo Boy (USA: 1996, by Larry Turner with C.J. Barkus and Amanda Tirey) - a "semi-autobiographical, no-budget portrayal" of teenage hustlers Arizona (Amanda Tirey) and Sam (C.J. Barkus) in Dayton, Ohio
Private Shows (USA: 1996, by Blaine Hopkins and Stephen Winter, video, 58 min)
The Unveiling (USA: 1996, by Rodney Evans)
L'Amour est à réinventer (France: 1996) - ten short films about life in France in the time of AIDS; one of the films ("Tapin du soir" by Anne Fontaine, who has more recently directed "Nettoyage à sec") deals with an unsure Porte Dauphine street hustler who's looking for someone to talk to
Johns (USA: 1997, by Scott Silvers with Lukas Haas and David Arquette) - the night before Christmas, Donner and John try to make enough money to spend the holiday (and John's birthday) in a nice hotel
Star Maps (USA: 1997, by Miguel Arleta with Douglas Spain) - second generation Mexican immigrant Carlos returns to LA to make money
Hard (USA: 1998, by John Huckert)
Speedway Junky (USA: 1999, by Nickolas Perry, with Jonathan Taylor Thomas)
L.I.E. (USA: 2000, by Michael Cuesta with Paul Dano and Billy Kay)-a Long Island teenager discovers his best friend is a hustler
Mr. Smith Gets a Hustler (USA: 2002, by Ian McCrudden)
AKA (UK: 2002, by Duncan Roy)
200 American (USA: 2003, by Richard LeMay) - New York business man falls for Australian hustler Mysterious Skin with Joseph Gordon-Levitt, 2004
A Son (Un fils) (France: 2003, by Amal Bedjaoui, in French) - a hustler of North-African descent in France
Garden (Gan) (Israel: 2003, by Ruthie Shatz and Adi Barash, in Hebrew and Arabic) - two young gay prostitutes in Tel Aviv
Good Boys (Yeladim Tovim) (Israel: 2004, by Yair Hochner, in Hebrew) - two Tel Aviv rent boys
Eighteen (Canada: 2004, by Richard Bell) " Sugar (Canada: 2004, by John Palmer) - coming of age story with a street hustler
My Hustler Boyfriend (video program at Newfest 2005, including a short with that title by Peter Pizzi)
Mysterious Skin (USA: 2004, Gregg Araki, with Joseph Gordon-Levitt) - based on Scott Heim's book listed above
Dirty Little Sins (USA: 2005)
The Wedding Date (USA: 2005, Claire Kilner, with Debra Messing and Dermot Mulroney) - woman hires male escort to pose as her boyfriend
Transamerica (USA: 2005, Duncan Tucker, with Felicity Huffman and Kevin Zegers) - a pre-opperative male to female transsexual discovers she has a son (Zegers) who is hustling in New York
Breakfast on Pluto (UK: 2005, Neil Jordan, with Cillian Murphy) - based on the novel by Patrick McCabe, the story of a transvestite (Murphy) who flees Ireland for London during the 1970s and becomes a prostitute
Boy Culture (USA: 2006, Q. Allan Brocka) - a college-educated hustler learns about love from an older john.

Other films that include hustlers

The Cheat (La triche) (France: 1984, by Yannick Bellon with Victor Lanoux and Xavier Deluc)
JFK (US: 1991, by Oliver Stone) - Kevin Bacon plays a gay hustler associated with Oswald
By The Dawn's Early Light (Denmark: 1993, by Knud Vesterskov, narrated by David Wojnarowicz)
L.A. Confidential (US: 1997, by Curtis Hanson) - includes a subplot with a young would-be actor who agrees to sleep with the D.A. for cash, but ends up with his throat cut
Boogie Nights (USA: 1997, by Paul Thomas Anderson, with Mark Wahlberg and Burt Reynolds)
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (USA: 1997, by Clint Eastwood, with Kevin Spacey and John Cusack) - based on John Berendt's best-selling book, a prominent Savannah citizen (Spacey) shoots to death his lover
Nettoyage à sec (France: 1997, by Anne Fontaine, with Charles Berling and Miou Miou) - dark story of a drifter and TV singer who works his way into the lives of a pent-up heterosexual couple; while not about a hustler per se, this film borrows heavily from the genre
Happy Together (Hong Kong: 1997, by Wong Kar-wai, with Leslie Cheung and Tony Leung Chiu-Wai; in Mardarin, Cantonese and Spanish) - the brash and irresponsable Ho Po-Wing (Chang) makes his money from the street [edit] Documentary films
Portrait of Jason (US: 1967, by Shirley Clarke) - interview with African-American gay hustler Jason Holliday.
Maybe I Can Give You Sex? Part I (Philippines/Germany: 1992, by Jurgen Bruning) - parts I and II of this tape are a collaboration between directors Rune Layumas in Manila and Jurgen Bruning in Germany. The videos look at gender roles in the Philippines and examine the lives of macho dancers, bar boys, and their customers
Maybe I Can Give You Sex? Part II (Philippines/Germany: 1992, by Rune Layumas)
A Kind of Family (Canada: 1992, by Andrew Koster) - profile of the relationship and family life of a gay city counselor and his straight, street-kid, hustler, drug-abusing, HIV+ foster son
Boys from Brazil (1993, by John-Paul Davidson) - documentary on Brazilian transvestite prostitutes
Not Angels But Angels (Czechoslovakia: 1994, by Wiktor Grodecki; produced by Miro Vostiar) - documentary about prostitution in Prague
101 Rent Boys (USA: 2000 by Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato) - shot in motel rooms on Santa Monica Boulevard

The hustler in photography

The following photographers, in their work, frequently use the image of the male prostitute:

Alberto Sorbelli
Larry Clark
Terry Richardson
Nan Goldin
Wolfgang Tillmans
Jack Pierson

People who have engaged in male prostitution

The following cases are reasonably certain based on their own admissions or according to serious biographies. For other alleged cases, see the List of famous prostitutes and courtesans

As hustler:
Jim Carroll - writer, musician
Quentin Crisp - author, actor, raconteur
Joe Dallesandro - actor
Brad Davis - actor (briefly in New York City, according to his wife's biography of him)
Pete Doherty - singer, songwriter
Rupert Everett - openly gay actor
Jeff Gannon - White House reporter
Jean Genet - writer
Herbert Huncke - writer, poet
Jobriath - pop singer
Aaron Lawrence - writer
Mark Morrisroe - photographer (1959-1989) (Morrisroe reportedly lived with a bullet in his chest from a gun shot he received from an angry client)
Dee Dee Ramone - musician (cf pp. 174-5 of Please Kill Me (Legs McNeil and Gillian McCain, 1996))
Lee Tamahori - bond film director (arrested whilst wearing drag for prostitution, the charges were later dropped)
David Wojnarowicz - writer, photographer
Malcolm X - civil rights activist, black supremist, Muslim leader (NOI); some biographers allege that he worked as a hustler before his conversion

As client:
J. R. Ackerley - writer
Roland Barthes - writer, philosopher
William S. Burroughs - writer
Rainer Werner Fassbinder - filmmaker
Rudolph Moshammer - German fashion designer (murdered by Iraqi prostitute)
Mark Oaten - politician (quit his leadership campaign for the libdems when his relationship with a rent boy was publicised)
Pier Paolo Pasolini - writer, filmmaker (murdered by male prostitute)
Marcel Proust - writer
Oscar Wilde - writer

Text courtesy of Wikipedia.