the tone of many (although certainly not all) of the questions seem to include that grain of meaning that leads to the idea that the interviewers are expecting their audience to be uncomfortable with the subject matter - or think it's way out of the realm of typical experience, etc.
Well, I didn't see many of the interviews, period. I skimmed the ones with Heath in GQ and Rolling Stone (while standing in the store!), I saw the red-carpet interview with Jake ... that may be about it. So if there was an ugly tone to the others, admittedly I probably didn't get exposed to it.
But IMO, the media don't exist in a vaccuum. If anything, the average journalist is probably MORE progressive and liberal than the average member of his or her audience. It could be they're just asking what they think they're audience wants to know. Which is not to say they don't waaayyy too often cater to the lowest common denominator and exploit the worst aspects of celebrity culture.
But I don't think this attitude is something entirely media-manufactured. I think the fact is, many people in the audience actually DO assume that what Heath and Jake did is uncomfortable, or way out of the realm of typical experience. They shouldn't, obviously. But I think realistically, many people do. I just think that's where our culture is, at the moment.
Here's an example. When I first started talking to my 11-year-old son about how much I liked Brokeback, he immediately said, "Do those guys really kiss each other?!" in this kind of
eeewwww tone. And I said yeah. And he said, "Are the actors straight?" Yeah. "Well, then how can they do that?!?" I said something nonchalant to the effect of, well, that's what actors do, it's not a big deal. That was about it, but I'm not sure it completely settled his mind (though to be honest, very few things I say settle his mind about anything).
The point is, he didn't get that attitude from me, and I don't even think he got it from my husband. He just absorbed it from the culture and his pre-teen dude friends. I would like to think that if the two actors were gay, he would not find it as shocking. But what surprised him was the fact that two
straight actors were crossing that boundary (though to be honest he probably would not be as disturbed by the thought of Ian and Helen crossing it).
Of course, my son is only one person, and a kid at that. But he's a kid who, I like to think, comes from a fairly progressive background. So what does that say about most of America?
That's why, for me, asking the question over and over (assuming the tone isn't too leering and stupid, which sometimes it may well have been) is not entirely a bad thing. And for Heath and Jake to take the opportunity to answer it in a normal, calm, sensitive, helpful way -- as they appear, at least mostly, to have done -- could potentially do a lot of good. They're doing for the public what I tried to do for my son, but far more effectively. (Among my sons' favorite movies, BTW, are October Sky and Lords of Dogtown.)