Author Topic: Interesting article about celebrity gay gossip. Discusses Jake Gyllenhaal.  (Read 24902 times)

Offline silkncense

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It is a projected uncomfortablness, I think.  The actors (not just in this film) are doing a job & choose to act a part or not.  The media, with their relentless implying that Heath and Jake should have been uncomfortable, made the issue uncomfortable.
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Offline Mikaela

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I don't know anything about Empire, though as a journalist I can say I rarely let subjects read profiles before they're published.

I used to work a bit as a journalist in a local paper some years back, and the custom there was to let persons read through lengthy "portrait" articles of this kind. Not to approve them per se - but to be given the opportunity to comment on any controversies and correct any misunderstandings. That's where my assumption came from. But I sure didn't interview any moviestars. And I've no idea if that custom is still being followed. It may well have been abandoned by now. Ordinary news stories were not treated the same way, btw.


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Nobody's going to ask McKellen 15 times a day what it was like to kiss Helen Mirren.

 ;D ;D ;D

(Poor Helen Mirren, why did Sir Ian have to drag her into this..... The smileys are *not* because of her. She's a wonderful actress.)

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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...

 :o :o :o

Suddenly I'm reminded of that telephone call scene Jake has in DAT where he "nearly drowns". *Now*, at  long last, I finally find that scene scary! Yuck! DAT was the only Jake film I'd seen prior to BBM. Hadn't even seen Donnie Darko - I've made sure to remedy that. I've seen most of his films by now. (And whatever reason Jake had for being terrified at the BBM kissing scenes, *if* that is true in the first place, - it sure wasn't because he's a sometime lousy on-screen kisser. Quite the opposite.  :P  :P Well, I guess BBM proved that. )


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It is a projected uncomfortableness, I think.


I think you're very right. The interviews I've seen or read with Heath and/or Jake about the kissing (and that would ALWAYS come up) very often ASSUMED they necessarily had to have been uncomfortable/terrified/dreading it/embarrassed at it etc.etc. The question was asked with that kind of assumption blatantly clear, more often than not. And there are the actors - obliged to be polite, obliged to promote the film and not to PO the interviewer - to some extent they go with the flow. Jake is much more suave than Heath in interview situations and that may not have served him too well in relation to those inescapable kissing questions. He may sometimes have responded a little too humorously or gone a little too far in seeming to buy into the assumptions made by the interviewer, IMO - especially when later read, repeated or quoted out of context.

The poor guys must have been so sick of that question - even at the Toronto film festival's press conference, back in the autumn of -05, that was the very first question asked.   ::)
« Last Edit: August 05, 2006, 02:10:41 pm by Mikaela »

Offline serious crayons

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It is a projected uncomfortablness, I think.  The actors (not just in this film) are doing a job & choose to act a part or not.  The media, with their relentless implying that Heath and Jake should have been uncomfortable, made the issue uncomfortable.

Maybe, though it's hard to tell for sure. Jake and Heath grew up in the same culture their interviewers did, so they may not have been entirely free of some of same those prejudices. For all we know, they had to deal with the issue themselves. In any case, they obviously did an excellent of transcending it. And I would say that afterward, they showed a lot of grace under all that uncomfortable media pressure.

I used to work a bit as a journalist in a local paper some years back, and the custom there was to let persons read through lengthy "portrait" articles of this kind.

Most of the papers I worked for had pretty harsh rules against that -- too harsh, in some case, I thought. With regular private citizens, I could empathize with them and so sometimes let them see the profiles. With more public figures, like business people or government officials, I had less sympathy; I figured dealing with the media is part of their jobs. But celebrities hold so much power because the media is so celebrity hungry, so perhaps they make that a condition of interviews.

Offline Brown Eyes

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It is a projected uncomfortablness, I think.  The actors (not just in this film) are doing a job & choose to act a part or not.  The media, with their relentless implying that Heath and Jake should have been uncomfortable, made the issue uncomfortable.


I think this is more or less spot on.  I think the mainstream media had a lot to do with stressing the idea of being "uncomfortable" with certain aspects of BBM.  It's sort of pathetic really. 
 :-\

For what it's worth, I remember during a red carpet interview with Jake (it was actually for the Oscars...) whatever reporter it was brought up the same old stupid question about the kissing... and in a moment of loveliness Jake said he'd never be uncomfortable talking about those aspects of the movie or the content of the movie.  I do remember he said that he was sick to death of the questions though.  I think he also said something about the fact that by that time (Oscar time) he and Heath had some stock answers ready to go when these questions came up.  Although, his responses to these questions do seem to vary depending on his mood.  My guess though, is that in reality he's long, long over any issue of being uncomfortable with it.
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Offline ednbarby

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I'll take it a step further and say the media are pathetic.   :P

And LJ, your point about it being perfectly natural that a straight man and a straight woman filming a love scene might not be the least bit attracted to each other reminds me of a story.  When the imaginary love of my life Ralph Fiennes was on Inside the Actors Studio recently, a student asked him if it was in general difficult to film love scenes with all those people standing around watching.  He said *he* was reminded of a story.  (See what I mean?  ;))  The story was that David Niven once said that when he was about to film a love scene, he would say to his partner, "Forgive me if I get aroused.  And forgive me if I don't."

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Offline silkncense

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Love the story Barb & Ralph Fiennes (won a bet @ work that his name is pronounced Rafe Fines) was also a love of my life - kinda got pushed aside by Jake but these things happen.  ;)

And it is definitely pathetic, Amanda.  :-\
"……when I think of him, I just can't keep from crying…because he was a friend of mine…"

Offline serious crayons

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My guess though, is that in reality he's long, long over any issue of being uncomfortable with it.

I agree. In fact, I bet he was pretty much over it by the time the press junkets even started. He and Heath probably had no idea they'd have to answer the question 16 million times, but they undoubtedly did anticipate some curiosity about that. And I think at that point the movie came out they were ready to deal with it. By Oscar time, though, the issue had gotten really, really old.

But I'll have to say, and I hope I don't sound homophobic or anything, but I don't think this is all a projection by the pathetic media. I think it's natural to see some curiosity about the fact that these guys crossed a line that our culture draws defining how straight men should behave (somewhat less so straight women). In a physical sense, kissing Heath should be far more pleasant (to say the least!!!) than standing in cold, piss-filled water. And let's also say that physically, it's the exact equivalent of Ian McKellen kissing poor Helen Mirren, or any two actors of any gender and orientation who don't happen to be attracted to each other. But psychologically -- for the media, the public and possibly even for Jake and Heath when they first set out to do the project -- I think those cultural mores inevitably make things more complicated.

No, it shouldn't be a big deal. Yes, the question sounds ridiculous when it's asked over and over in every interview. Yes, it would be nice if nobody ever thought twice about it, and if no taboo existed in the first place. But the fact is, it's something most people have never seen straight men do, especially with such convincing passion. So in that sense, I think it's good that Jake and Heath had an opportunity to answer the question, explain that it wasn't all that torturous, and maybe help people progress a step or two. I loved Heath's quote in Rolling Stone (paraphrasing): "It's not like I was kissing a donkey's ass. I was kissing a human being, with a soul." What a cool way to put it. And if the Rolling Stone writer hadn't asked the tired old question in the first place, let's face it, some readers would have just been left wondering, or worse.



Offline Brown Eyes

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Well, the number of time the dumb questions come up in zillions of interviews probably has something to do with the popularity of the film.  I think the magnitude of the movie's popularity in the mainstream world probably was a tiny bit unexpected... even by well-intentioned actors and others involved in making the movie. 

I grant it that there would be curiosity about the kissing from the media.  That seems fine... But, 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.  In making this assumption about the general audience, I think a lot of these interviews do foster or help create the idea that this subject matter should be seen as uncomfortable.  It seems like a sad type of assumption to make about the audience in any case.  And, it's almost like they're trying to push the actors to admit to a level of uncomfortable-ness (whether they really feel it or not).  Or, in other words it's like some of the interviews seem to push the actors to re-affirm or explicitly articulate their own real-life sexuality in light of the "uncomfortable" content ot the movie.
 :-\
« Last Edit: August 05, 2006, 08:03:20 pm by atz75 »
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Offline serious crayons

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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.)
« Last Edit: August 06, 2006, 03:43:02 am by latjoreme »

Offline ednbarby

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Love the story Barb & Ralph Fiennes (won a bet @ work that his name is pronounced Rafe Fines) was also a love of my life - kinda got pushed aside by Jake but these things happen.  ;)

Ah, my soul sister rides again.  Yep, Rafe is pretty much getting his ass kicked by Jakey these days.  But he's still a *very* close number two on my List.  *AND* I've actually met him.  So he does have that on him.

<--- has a thing for tall, elegant men with piercing eyes
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