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I thought I would change the subject, to something lighter. 
I have just finished watching Brokeback Mountain, I hadn't watched it yet and I was surprised to find that I thought it was a fabulous film, specifically the performance of both Jake Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger.
I also thought the subject matter really captivated how societies view of homosexuality has changed over the years.
So, what would you guys like to see from a 'gay' movie or indeed a novel?  )
"In the bedroom, a woman wants a man who knows how to ride her when she bucks." - Queen Latifah.
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timmy
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Has no life at all |
Location: UK, in Devon
Registered: February 2003
Messages: 13796
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normality
Author of Queer Me! Halfway Between Flying and Crying - the true story of life for a gay boy in the Swinging Sixties in a British all male Public School
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A mainstream movie in which the lead character's homosexuality is not a major function of the plot.
'Brokeback Mountain' is a classic example of a mainstream film that gets away with two gay leading characters because it takes the subject of homosexuality head-on: the plot hangs on their relationship, and therefore requires them to be gay. The audience knows this in advance. Straight members of the audience also know that the film is written for and marketed heavily at straight audiences. (It's set in the past, it's a doomed romance, it has no elements of 'gay culture', it was made by straight actors and crew: these are all significant to its success.)
What one might term 'incidental' homosexuality among leading characters is far from common, however. Films are almost always made according to a formula. Most genres involve some sort of everyman/woman (if a major Hollywood star, always straight or at least apparently straight in real life) for the audience to identify with. Most of a mainstream audience is straight, therefore making the lead straight is an obvious 'tick-the-box' way to allow an audience to identify with their character. Most of the time, it demonstrates a lack of imagination on the part of the film-makers. Not bigotry. Just assumption, perhaps a little ignorance.
David
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cossie
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On fire! |
Location: Exiled in North East Engl...
Registered: July 2003
Messages: 1699
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The English-speaking Film world is dominated by US money, and Hollywood is notoriously reluctant to take risks, or even to credit their domestic market with any intelligence - hence the succession of films with '2' or '3' in the title. In fact, the film based on the Alan Bennett play 'The Madness of George III' was re-titled as 'The Madness of King George' because it was feared that the original title would discourage US audiences because they would assume that they had already missed 'The Madness of George I' and the 'The Madness of George II'. I should stress that I'm ridiculing Hollywood, not putting down US audiences!
It apparently happens in publishing, too. A recent book by Ian Rankin - currently Britain's most successful crime novelist - released here as 'Fleshmarket Close' was re-titled for US release as 'Fleshmarket Alley'. But guess what? Alleys are not called closes in far the greater part of the UK; in many areas a 'close' means something entirely different. But alleys are called closes in Edinburgh Old Town, where the story is set. I wonder why that re-titling was considered essential?
All of which has nothing whatsoever to do with the question David asked.
Personally, I'd like something in the thriller genre, with a couple of gay guys in the 'good guy' roles but without the gay relationship being unduly overt or directly relevant to the plot. I'd also like the roles to go to guys with pretty much ordinary physique. But I can't see such a film coming along any time soon, because - being realistic - both backers and viewers would expect such a departure from the norm to demand a strong focus on the sexual orientation issue.
I think that we need to accept that although we are not 'abnormal' in the sense of being deviant, neither are we 'normal' in the purely statistical sense. Just because we represent, say, 15% of the potential audience doesn't mean that we'll get 15% of the funding, and it's difficult to argue that this is unreasonable, at least in purely economic terms.
For a' that an' a' that,
It's comin' yet for a' that,
That man tae man, the worrld o'er
Shall brithers be, for a' that.
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Dear whoeveryouare,
That is a very big question. I can't speak about films because I so rarely go to the pictures. I saw La Cage aux Folles a long time ago. Maybe I'll buy the DVD of Brokeback Mountain. I have the short story on which it is based, but haven't read it yet. [Long pause - I took the time to read it before going on. Ennis del Mar and Jack Twist - but isn't it sad! I think there are a lot of stories with tragic endings from the era when being gay was for losers. I try to avoid them.]
But I have hundreds of gay books. I think I like to read stories where someone achieves something much desired - often a partnership but sometimes more. I liked the story where the guy wins the right to take his boyfriend to the High School prom. I also like stories where the homosexuality is purely incidental and taken as a matter of course.
Nowadays I am reading a lot that is written for teens or 'young adults' and I'm really pleased that there is so much that would have helped me when I was young(eg David Levithan's 'Boy meets boy'). And they aren't always aimed at gay people. Jaqueline Wilson's book 'Kiss', for example has the heroine's first period and her best friend kisses his friend on an outing to Kew Gardens and gets rejected and outed but enough people are supportive for it not to be too sad overall.
I think I like stories that capture the emotions best. That's why I like grasshopper so much. I used to buy a lot at Gays the Word and some, like 'The Milkman's on His Way', stay with me.
I'm not that much into the sex scenes but don't avoid them. I have a friend who writes bodice rippers and makes real money doing it. My family tell me I ought to write jockstrap rippers. I've never tried but one day . .
Don't I go on. What about you? You asked the question and surely you've thought about your answer?
Love,
Anthony
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Aren't closes the areas around cathedrals? When I visited Salisbury and other cathedrals I think I remember going through gate houses and things into "The Cathedral Close." I remember in Peterborough little tiny birds had made nests in the carvings in the cloister walls, and there was a sign asking visitors to please not disturb them. Odd, the things people recall.
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A Face Not Made by God wrote:
> So, what would you guys like to see from a 'gay' movie or indeed a novel?
interesting question.
Well, the things that I have found have affected me most profoundly have been movies where there's a very wide and compassionate view of the way most gay people are. So, the classic "Torch Song Trilogy" includes everyone from out-and-out drag queens, to an essentially bisexual pretty conventional guy - thorough most possible variations in between. It is witty, affecting, compassionate, and ultimately life-affirming!
But the kind of movies that I most enjoy are probably those that are not specifically gay- though they may have a gay subtext. Movies to do with male bonding, and with outsiders grouping together because they don't have a place elsewhere. I'm thinking things like "Stand By Me" (with a totally stellar cast including River Phoenix, Wil Wheaton, Corey Feldman, Kiefer Sutherland ..), "Point Break" (Keau Reeves, Patrick Swayze), and "My Own Private Idaho".
Very few of this kind of movie are made any longer, unfortunately: Hollywood has decided that a (heterosexual) love interest must be intruded throughout almost every movie - even those based on books (like "Lord of the Rings") where it's pretty inappropriate.
"The ultimate weakness of violence is that it is a descending spiral, begetting the very thing it seeks to destroy. ... Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night devoid of stars." Martin Luther King
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acam wrote:
> I used to buy a lot at Gays the Word and some, like 'The Milkman's on His Way', stay with me.
>
Superb book - thanks for reminding me of it. And I think I also bought my copy at "Gay's the Word"!. I'll go and dig it out for a re-read ... it's been a while.
"The ultimate weakness of violence is that it is a descending spiral, begetting the very thing it seeks to destroy. ... Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night devoid of stars." Martin Luther King
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Thought I would change the subject, to something lighter... 
