“Hollywood’s Gone Gay”

This post first appeared as an op-ed article in the Feb. 2, 2006 issue of The ASMSU Exponent. I am the content’s author.

With the Screen Actors Guild Awards having just been doled out, and well out of the wake of the Golden Globe award ceremony, I have one question. Why is the “image” industry so obsessed with the gay male?

The Golden Globes gave in to America’s two favorite heartthrobs, Jake Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger. They also managed to work in giving awards to this year’s hottest biopic, Walk The Line.

C’mon Hollywood, I’m sure it was a great movie and all with legally blonde Witherspoon belting out country tunes. But is the only creative screenwriter Charlie Kaufmann? Heck, even he did some novel adaptations (you mean Adaptation wasn’t based on an original idea?).

The reason why I’m so confused is, all of a sudden America has realized that gay people exist, and that they aren’t some mythical creature on the order of unicorns and talking scarecrows who like to go both ways (my apologies, I just recently synched Oz with Pink Floyd — sober).

At least once a week, I’ll manage to find some silly cable network panel discussion on Ang Lee’s Brokeback Mountain. My last column for this paper, went on a rant about ignorance as it pertained to Larry King Live’s discussion of the same film. All of a sudden there seems to be this upturn in interest in gay rights, that never seemed to be there.

Where was this kind of honest discussion when we were fighting against the Federal Marriage Amendment? Where was this kind of discussion in the 80s when millions of gay men (and heterosexuals) were fighting both against HIV/AIDS and the inherent social stigmatization? Where was this discussion when we were choosing party candidates in ’04 — maybe Dean could’ve beat Bush like all my high school idealist pals hoped?

What I’m trying to get at, is that gay, lesbians, bisexual, transgender, and intersexual people have not all of a sudden apparated into America like Harry Potter into Hogsmeade. We’ve been here for some time fighting against negative image portrayals with organizations like GLAAD (the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation) and the Human Rights Commission. And finally, Hollywood has given us three films with normal leading characters with homosexual tendencies in Capote, Rent, and Brokeback.

Frankly, I’m tired of Hollywood/New York throwing its arms open for shows like Will & Grace, Queer Eye for the Straight Guy (and now Girl). The more we give awards to Sean Hayes for his portrayal of TV’s flaming Jack, the more we say it’s ok to allow shows like this to throw blanket characteristics on gay characters. The majority of gay America does not act like America’s favorite flamer.

I love the clip of Haye’s SAG Award acceptance speech on CNN: “I know everyone in Hollywood, you know, knows that it’s such a risk to play a gay character.” Bull-hockey. It’s only a risk if you make it out to be a risk. The sooner you accept gay characters without hesitation as a filmmaker, the sooner America will follow. If you paint it with half-hearted approval, the more we’ll get into these month long dissections of gay America.

Once we understand that there’s more to gay people than sharp wit, over-annunciated “S”s, and inherent fashion sense, the less Gay America will have to push its martyrs in the limelight. The less we’ll have gay bashings in Missoula of straight people.

That’s right! Missoula, Montana’s Fag Central, home of the accepting, right? Some unsuspecting straight (as in heterosexual) man was walking with one of his buddies on the road in November or December, and because of his apparel or walk or whatever, some assholes assumed they could bash him like the other insignificant gay people in this state.

Because of that, the Missoula police force has had to create a GLBTI liaison officer, to make sure the illusion of safety is present for gay folk, just like it is for the other people.

You know whom I blame for helping this situation? TV shows like Will & Grace. As any of my friends will attest, I am of the firm belief that Will & Grace has done for the gay community what The Jeffersons did for the African-Americans. It’s media’s way of acknowledging a new demographic for ratings, while patronizing us at the same time.

I know that all us gay folk yearn to hear Mama Peacock lean down and say, “There, there, stop worrying your silly little gay head over silly little things like equal protection under the eyes of the law. Have a nice sitcom that shows America what you gays are like.”

Sean Hayes should stop getting awards for his character Jack, and NBC should get the hint that “us gays” need more than a nice sitcom to make us feel less-marginalized. The sooner media stops pushing ethnic and cultural stereotypes with movies like Soul Plane and shows like Queer Eye, the sooner gays might be able to walk down the street with total security of self.

See also:

• Screen Actors Guild Awards
• Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation