The World Beyond BetterMost > The Culture Tent
The Curious Case of Gayface: Should straight actors play gay roles?
x-man:
Responses to my original posting regarding why we should even expect Hollywood to make gay-friendly movies have ranged from "very harsh" to " bigoted" and "a patent falsehood." I'll accept "harsh," but bad news often is.
I think we BetterMost members live on islands of toleration that are not general, not worldwide, and not as solid as we might like to believe. I live in Toronto, which is to gay Canadians what San Francisco is to gay Americans. We have had same-sex marriage since 2003, and federally across Canada since 2005. Yet even today in Toronto high schools the major cause of bullying is perceived sexual orientation. And we continue to have gay-bashings, although not often. What is it like where you are? Now think of the rest of the world--Russia and its anti-gay law so much in the news, countries where being gay subjects you to long imprisonment or death. And these are just the worst examples.
Gay film makers are now making movies with happy endings and abandoning the gay-as-tortured-victim motif so common to movies of the past. I applaud this, but still I wonder. Perhaps BBM had it right all along. Joe Aguirre threw Jack out of his office when he came looking for a job that second summer. Alma told Ennis, "Jack Twist, Jack nasty." Ennis' father forced 9-year old Ennis to look at the battered, old, dead cowboy in order to teach him a lesson. And, of course, Jack was beaten to death in the same way, leaving Ennis to face a meaningless future. Are things now really so different on the larger scale than they were in BBM days?
CellarDweller:
--- Quote from: x-man on August 22, 2013, 01:56:57 pm ---Responses to my original posting regarding why we should even expect Hollywood to make gay-friendly movies have ranged from "very harsh" to " bigoted" and "a patent falsehood." I'll accept "harsh," but bad news often is.
--- End quote ---
With all due respect, it wasn't your post about Hollywood that got those responses, but rather your comment that "there are basically two kinds of straight people--those who hate you to your face, and those who hate you behind your back." I can't comment on your experiences, I didn't live them, and I didn't live in those times. All I can say is from my experiences, I have a great circle of straight friends who not only support me, but watch out for me. Two of them are a married couple I've known since the 90s, their three kids call me "Uncle Chuck", and they frequently ask me to join them at their church, which is open and affirming with a large gay membership, in the hopes that I'll meet someone.
x-man:
You're right. I'm very sorry, everyone. I'll back off. I just realized I have been bleeding all over the computer screen, and this is not the place for that. Please forgive me. BetterMost and the world do not need this kind of negativity.
x-man
Monika:
--- Quote from: x-man on August 22, 2013, 11:37:24 pm ---You're right. I'm very sorry, everyone. I'll back off. I just realized I have been bleeding all over the computer screen, and this is not the place for that. Please forgive me. BetterMost and the world do not need this kind of negativity.
x-man
--- End quote ---
That´s quite alright, X-man. It´s just that a large part of the Bettermostians are indeed straight. And as a straight Brokie it felt very strange to read what you wrote.
But please do hang around, will you?
serious crayons:
--- Quote from: Monika on August 23, 2013, 02:20:39 am ---That´s quite alright, X-man. It´s just that a large part of the Bettermostians are indeed straight. And as a straight Brokie it felt very strange to read what you wrote.
But please do hang around, will you?
--- End quote ---
I second that. As a straight Brokie, with lots of straight non-homophobe friends, I was pretty taken aback. But no apologies necessary, x-man!
If there's one thing we're used to around here it's debate. You spoke what, to you, is the truth. Others have different opinions, and expressed them. We don't mind doing that; that's how minds get changed, and it's a healthy process. (The only rule at BetterMost is no personal attacks, so you can say "most straight people are homophobic," but you can't say "serious crayons,, you are homophobic," which I don't think you would anyway.)
As for the bigger-picture stuff you described a couple of posts ago, I agree there's still a lot of horrible homophobia in the world, and some in our own countries as well, so there's plenty of reason for despair. But I also see plenty of reason for optimism, at least in North America and Western Europe. Attitudes about sexual orientation have changed so dramatically just in my own lifetime!
I guess it's kind of a glass half-empty half-full situation. But to answer your question, yes, I think things are pretty different than they were back in the BBM days. Everywhere? No. But lots of places, yes.
As a woman, I see a parallel in women's rights. Are there still millions of women in the world suffering horribly because of sexism and misogyny? Yes. Do women in my own country have full equality in business, politics, filmmaking, etc.? No. But have things changed since 1963, when a woman couldn't open a bank account without her husband's permission? You bet.
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