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Interesting article about celebrity gay gossip. Discusses Jake Gyllenhaal.
Mikaela:
Thanks for posting the links. I was off the net for most of March and April and hadn't seen a word about this online - but of course it had to have been picked up and discussed! I know I bristled quite a bit when I read that magazine - others would have reacted as well.
I think Ian McKellen is entitled to his opinion and to make the comment. It just surprises me that he didn't rather choose to focus on the obviously positive aspects of BBM and of Jake's performance. The article was of the in-depth kind that I fully assume Empire would have let him read before it was printed, so I don't think they picked some random and out-of-context statement of his in order just to include it for its "controversial value".
serious crayons:
--- Quote from: Mikaela on August 05, 2006, 07:22:46 am ---The article was of the in-depth kind that I fully assume Empire would have let him read before it was printed, so I don't think they picked some random and out-of-context statement of his in order just to include it for its "controversial value".
--- End quote ---
I don't know anything about Empire, though as a journalist I can say I rarely let subjects read profiles before they're published. On the other hand, I never interview big movie stars, so maybe the arrangement then is different. On still another hand, if I were to let someone read their profile, it would be because it was a private, publicity-shy person talking about something very personal, not a celebrity who is used to being in print, chatting about movies.
Anyway, assuming McKellen did say that and the remark is not out of context, the comparison of Jake kissing Heath to him kissing Helen Mirren is not a good analogy. On the larger scale, it is no doubt much harder to come out as a gay actor than it is for a straight actor to play a gay man in a movie. But as far as kissing specifically, the cultural reaction to two straight men kissing is much different than it is to a gay man kissing a woman. Nobody's going to ask McKellen 15 times a day what it was like to kiss Helen Mirren.
ednbarby:
--- Quote from: latjoreme on August 05, 2006, 10:30:22 am ---Nobody's going to ask McKellen 15 times a day what it was like to kiss Helen Mirren.
--- End quote ---
Ain't DAT the truth???!!!
Perhaps they should. Or better yet, perhaps they shouldn't ask either question in the first place as they are both utterly assinine.
silkncense:
--- Quote ---the comparison of Jake kissing Heath to him kissing Helen Mirren is not a good analogy.
--- End quote ---
I thought Sir Ian made his point, that as a gay man, kissing a woman was not comfortable to him just as Jake as a straight man would feel kissing another man was not comfortable (presumably).
However, the point is well made that no one questions how a male actor feels kissing a female actor. And, it is perfectly natural that just because two people are of the opposite sex they may not have any attraction whatsoever for each other. Jake has stated that he has been attracted to some film 'love interests' that people would find surprising & not attracted to others that people would assume he would find attractive.
Barb - thanks. ;)
serious crayons:
--- Quote from: silkncense on August 05, 2006, 12:48:18 pm ---I thought Sir Ian made his point, that as a gay man, kissing a woman was not comfortable to him just as Jake as a straight man would feel kissing another man was not comfortable (presumably).
--- End quote ---
Right, I got that. And that's probably true, from a pure sexual-attraction standpoint and in a generalized way (given that individuals differ). But what I meant is that, in addition to Jake's attraction to Heath or lack thereof, he's also confronting a cultural taboo that Ian is not. So yeah, even though we may think the taboo shouldn't exist, for now it nevertheless does, and that's going to make Jake's experience different, and potentially more uncomfortable.
Still, you're right Barb, the question is pretty inane. I keep thinking think this TV interview I happened to see with Jake, right after he made "The Day After Tomorrow," in which he talked about filming the flood scenes. The water was deep and cold and dirty in the first place, and then the cast wasn't given many bathroom breaks, so pretty soon it also was filled with pee, and they did a lot of takes and things so they all had to stand there for hours ... It sounded pretty nightmarish.
Yet I bet he didn't get asked about THAT 15 times a day.
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