Thursday, April 21, 2005

I went to the downtown Borders last night, and picked up the latest issue of BLUE, a male erotic photography magazine, imported from Australia, that I've been collecting for several years now. When I just went to lay down, I picked it up and read an article I started reading yesterday; it was called "Delightful, De-Lovely, De-Gayed". The article was about Hollywood and how it hasn't seriously dealt with gay sexuality on screen; there are high hopes for "Brokeback Mountain" to correct this, but recent movies such as "Troy" & "A Beautiful Mind", (the former based on the very Queer, Homer's "The Iliad", and the latter based on a biogray of John Nash that made no effort to hide the subject's apparent bisexuality) were both trimmed of their gay content. I already knew about this actually, and I've boycotted both films as a result, and anytime people ask my opinion on them at Hollywood Video, I tell them that I haven't seen them, and why. These incidents, have really touched a nerve with me. It's one thing to not have gay characters in a piece; it's quite another to have them, and then completely deny their existance on the screen. Even the horrific "Alexander", didn't feature any homo-love - not really. He kissed two different boys - but the love of his life, even though it was referenced, was not...demonstrated - though he had a sex scene with a woman. It pisses me off.

Of course this type of editing isn't new. One need only view "The Celluloid Closet"; a fantastic documentary about GLBT roles in film, to know that this has been going on since the beginning of film history. I've owned a book for years, called "Images in the Dark: An Encyclopedia of Gay & Lesbian Film & Video", which was also very enlightening. One flick that I had seen, called "Midnight Express", which I had thought was such a positive movie, actually wasn't. In the film, based on a true story of a man named Billy Hayes who spent years in a Turkish prison for trying to smuggle some pot home to the States. During his incarceration he has one very good friend named Erich, who (in a very well filmed scene) makes a pass at Billy (who has a girlfriend back home). Billy allows himself to be kissed, but turns Erich down; but in such a way that it allows their friendship to continue, and does not judge Erich for his feelings. When I saw the movie, I thought it was so beautiful. But in real life the two men were lovers during their prison stay - which kind of kills the beauty of the scene, you know? The real Billy Hayes felt that it would have been better to not have the rejection of Erich in the film; just have Erich make the pass at Billy in the film, and then go to the next scene; which would allow the audience to draw its' own conclusions, but the director disagreed.

There are a million other stories like this, and they really bother me. It feels so dishonest. It feels so irresponsible. It feels so hurtful, to take a piece of life, or fiction, which features a possible gay role model, and then transform it into film; but only if all truly gay material is removed from the script. These movies aren't just denying us characters; they are rewriting the ones that already exist; a dangerous & insulting sentiment, in my opinion.

I think this is why I've been organizing (and collecting) my movies for a GLBT Inclusive shelf in my room lately. I just feel like, even with all the strides we've made in this arena (there are obviously many, many more Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, & Transgendered characters in film than in any previous time), we haven't really been accepted. I was shopping on Amazon a few weeks ago, and there was a random review from a customer, who was annoyed that the movie she bought ("Shelter Island") featured a lesbian love scene; she went on to say that she had no problem with gay people but that she didn't want to see them loving each other, and that such movies should have a seperate rating so that people would know about the gay content. And in this...Republican led era (not that all Republicans are assholes, but we are, as a country, being led by a Republican Asshole), I just feel the need for a more inclusive selection of films; if only in my own room.

It's not that I want ALL GAY, ALL THE TIME (& I've said this before), but in a time when so many people seem to want to deny my existance, and the existance of others like me, I want the movies I watch to recognize that gay people exist, even if it's not central to the plot; even if there's the smallest little reference - then it can find a home on my dvd shelf. Hundreds already have in the last year. I've been ordering movies like mad; I ordered 15 more the other day, and I bought two from Borders last night; I'm not kidding. I'm crazed. lol

And while I was writing this, Mark stopped in on his lunch; brought me a parcel from the mailbox, and "101 Reykjavik" & "After Stonewall" came to stay on my shelf. Any acknowledgment is good at this point, and that's all I have to say for the moment.

Now I'm sick, and pissed off. Great. lol

   posted by Bald Jason at 01:45 PM
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