Month: November 2020

Paul Bettany Plays Gay Face in Movie "Uncle Frank", Ryan Field Books

Paul Bettany Plays Gay Face in Movie “Uncle Frank”

I’ve said it before and I’m saying it again. Just because someone can do something well doesn’t mean they should be doing it. And that’s my problem with the gay film, Uncle Frank. Paul Bettany is straight in real life and he’s playing a gay character in Uncle Frank. And he’s very good at playing gay. But I’m sure an actress like Meryl Streep would play Rosa Parks wonderfully, too. But Streep would never do something as awful as black face. That would be horrendous. So why is it still okay for straight actors to play gay face? 

There is, however, a huge redeeming feature to this movie and that is that Peter Macdissi is gay and he also plays a wonderful gay character in Uncle Frank. It’s really a wonderful film and I recommend seeing it. It shows what life was like for gay men…and gay couples…back in the 1970s, without holding anything back. I loved it. I wish they had hired an openly gay man to play Uncle Frank, but it seems we have a long way to go until we all start to understand that. 

When Peter Macdissi first began going on auditions, there weren’t many roles for a young man from the Middle East.

“It’s getting better,” the 46-year-old Lebanese actor and producer tells Variety.

Here’s more about the movie. Paul Bettany is married to Jennifer Connelly. The interesting thing for me about the movie is that I didn’t even know it had gay content. I started watching and found out by surprise. I streamed it on Amazon Prime. 

  Don’t Be Afraid of Virginia’s Woolf


Image







Amazon

“A wonderful story that I loved. The characters were well developed, and strong. Gus: A sweet young man. Doing something for all the wrong reasons. Craig: his boyfriend, he’ll go along with anything Gus say. Henry: Gus father a no nonsense man, who’s husband died last year. I enjoyed this story.”

Uncertainty by [Field, Ryan]

What readers said about “Altered Parts”
“Best Gay Novel In Years. This story will stay with you and you will feel you know every character and the beauty of their home in the mountains of North Carolina.”

Altered Parts


Altered Parts by [Field, Ryan]

Pay Attention Call Me By Your Name: This Is Hallmark's First Gay Romance Movie, A Real Gay Romance Movie, Ryan Field Books

Pay Attention Call Me By Your Name: This Is Hallmark’s First Gay Romance Movie, A REAL Gay Romance Movie

Apparently, this is really big doings over at Hallmark because I have been seeing promos for this movie everywhere. And it really is a milestone to see a gay romance movie on Hallmark. It’s also a first for anyone as far as I know. And this is a real gay romance, not the fake kind of gay romance they were pushing with Call Me By Your Name. 

“The Christmas House” chronicles Brandon (played by Jonathan Bennett of “Mean Girls” fame) and his husband Jake (played by Brad Harder) as they visit family during the holidays while anxiously awaiting a call about the adoption of their first child.

Here’s more. I’m definitely watching it. It doesn’t look as if there’s much about gay culture with this movie. However, it’s supposed to be new and fresh and it’s setting positive examples for gay men. I have no problems whatsoever with it and I will be watching for a happy ending. We deserve that. We deserve anything better than Call Me By Your Name.

  Don’t Be Afraid of Virginia’s Woolf


Image







Amazon

“A wonderful story that I loved. The characters were well developed, and strong. Gus: A sweet young man. Doing something for all the wrong reasons. Craig: his boyfriend, he’ll go along with anything Gus say. Henry: Gus father a no nonsense man, who’s husband died last year. I enjoyed this story.”

Uncertainty by [Field, Ryan]

What readers said about “Altered Parts”
“Best Gay Novel In Years. This story will stay with you and you will feel you know every character and the beauty of their home in the mountains of North Carolina.”

Altered Parts


Altered Parts by [Field, Ryan]

Was Princess Margaret a Gay Icon with Some Gay Men? And Not All Gay Men Have Women Icons, Ryan Field Books

Was Princess Margaret a Gay Icon with Some Gay Men? And Not All Gay Men Have Women Icons

Here’s another one of those stories that always seem to focus on just one segment of the gay male community. And the straight mainstream media always gets it wrong. To the point of being insulting with these tired old stereotypes of gay men. 

I will never understand this need to focus on gay icons, especially women as gay icons. I simply do not get it. However, I know that it’s a big thing in another segment of the gay community and that’s fine. But the problem is that particular segment of the gay community usually tends to be the most vocal and the rest of the world thinks we all have gay icons. All straight people think we love Cher or Judy Garland. And that is simply not true. Not all gay men think of certain women as icons. I don’t understand the fascination with people like Cher, Bette Midler, or even Liza. They are all fine entertainers and I like them, but I never thought of them as icons.  In fact, I never even thought of them at all. 

With that said, here’s a piece about whether or not Princess Margaret might be considered a gay icon.

Jennings, an openly gay priest who existed in real life, wasn’t the only unrequited love affair Margaret experienced, but his storyline this season, combined with Helena Bonham Carter’s already glamorously world-weary and borderline campy depiction, brings Her Royal Highness ever closer to gay icon status. In real life, as it turns out, Margaret’s relationship with gay men was more complicated than this season let on, often tricky but never quite so clueless.


Here’s more.  Once again, this article fails to mention that it’s important to understand that NOT ALL gay men are or were infatuated with Princess Margaret. I can promise you that I am one of those gay men who would be more infatuated with Prince Harry…with or without his magnificent beard, and I couldn’t care less about his female relatives. 


  Don’t Be Afraid of Virginia’s Woolf


Image







Amazon

“A wonderful story that I loved. The characters were well developed, and strong. Gus: A sweet young man. Doing something for all the wrong reasons. Craig: his boyfriend, he’ll go along with anything Gus say. Henry: Gus father a no nonsense man, who’s husband died last year. I enjoyed this story.”

Uncertainty by [Field, Ryan]

What readers said about “Altered Parts”
“Best Gay Novel In Years. This story will stay with you and you will feel you know every character and the beauty of their home in the mountains of North Carolina.”

Altered Parts


Altered Parts by [Field, Ryan]

Starbucks Barista Sues Over Getting Fired For Not Wearing Pride Shirt, Ryan Field Books

Starbucks Barista Sues Over Getting Fired For Not Wearing Pride Shirt

I hate to take sides on things like this, but this story just reminds me of the millions of things LGBTQ people have had to do over the years that they didn’t agree with. I think it just amazes me that straight people like this person never think about all we’ve had to take and deal with. Like all the straight weddings we had to endure when we weren’t legally allowed to marry. That was not fun. We went and never complained or sued anyone. And, all the discrimination, all the shame, and all the hate we’ve had to endure without complaining. In most cases, we couldn’t speak up because no one knew we were gay and we didn’t want to suffer the shame that has always been associated with being gay. So when people like this barista at Starbucks refuse to wear something as simple as a Pride shirt because it supposedly goes against her religious beliefs I honestly don’t care what happens to them. I don’t even see a connection between religion and Pride. One is about freedom and equality and the other is about oppression and control. 

The complaint said Fresse believes “marriage is defined in the Bible as between one man and one woman only, and that any sexual activity which takes place outside of this context is contrary to her understanding of Biblical teaching.”

Here’s more.  I hope there’s a follow up to this one. I’m interested in seeing how this turns out. 


  Don’t Be Afraid of Virginia’s Woolf


Image







Amazon

“A wonderful story that I loved. The characters were well developed, and strong. Gus: A sweet young man. Doing something for all the wrong reasons. Craig: his boyfriend, he’ll go along with anything Gus say. Henry: Gus father a no nonsense man, who’s husband died last year. I enjoyed this story.”

Uncertainty by [Field, Ryan]

What readers said about “Altered Parts”
“Best Gay Novel In Years. This story will stay with you and you will feel you know every character and the beauty of their home in the mountains of North Carolina.”

Altered Parts


Altered Parts by [Field, Ryan]

How You Can Make Your Yuletide Gay, Ryan Field Books

 How You Can Make Your Yuletide Gay

Here’s a review for the movie I posted about yesterday with Kristen Stewart that’s titled, Happiest Season. I have no opinions on this and I haven’t seen the movie, and this review will not have anything to do with me seeing the movie or not seeing it. I still plan on seeing it and reviews are always subjective. If anything, I don’t really like this review much. 

The result is a very sweet movie with high rewatch potential. But still, I wanted so much more from Happiest Season. I wanted a modern queer romance that wasn’t tied solely to coming out, which is the beginning and end of so many gay narratives and, frankly, feels like the sort of story assigned to queer people by a heterocentric industry.

You can read the full review, here. The movie is being billed as a first of its kind in that genre. Frankly, I don’t think it’s fair that this reviewer compares Happiest Season to other films that are not part of the genre. From what I gather, Happiest Season is a romance. And many of these elitist reviewers don’t understand that. But don’t quote me on that because I haven’t seen it yet and I could be wrong. But I’m hoping to watch it very soon. 

 Don’t Be Afraid of Virginia’s Woolf


Image







Amazon

“A wonderful story that I loved. The characters were well developed, and strong. Gus: A sweet young man. Doing something for all the wrong reasons. Craig: his boyfriend, he’ll go along with anything Gus say. Henry: Gus father a no nonsense man, who’s husband died last year. I enjoyed this story.”

Uncertainty by [Field, Ryan]

What readers said about “Altered Parts”
“Best Gay Novel In Years. This story will stay with you and you will feel you know every character and the beauty of their home in the mountains of North Carolina.”

Altered Parts


Altered Parts by [Field, Ryan]

Kristen Stewart On Actors Playing Gay Face; Ryan Field Books

Kristen Stewart On Actors Playing Gay Face

Kristen Steward is promoting a new project and she recently gave an interview where she discussed her opinions on straight actors playing gay face, and I know it’s just an opinion, but in trying to play it too safe, I think she got it terribly wrong. 

Having said that, it’s a slippery slope conversation because that means I could never play another straight character if I’m going to hold everyone to the letter of this particular law. I think it’s such a gray area. There are ways for men to tell women’s stories, or ways for women to tell men’s stories.

The problem is that she’s missing one very important point about this. First, whenever a gay person plays a straight character they are not appropriating any marginalized group. Think about the play Hamilton with an all-black cast. She’s really not getting it. There’s also the fact that most gay people in the entire world have been straight for at least the earliest parts of their lives. They were straight and in the closet. We know what it’s like to be straight first hand. I know I did that for many years. And finally, for me watching a straight actor play gay face is just as bad as watching a white actor play black face. Just because you can do something does not mean you should do it. 

I don’t believe there’s much of a gray area. And I do believe gay actors should be able to play straight characters coming from places of straight privilege. Straight is mainstream. It’s not marginalized and it’s not suffering from lack of privilege. Straight rules the entire world. So yes, LGBTQ people can play straight because that’s not the “letter of the law.” There’s also this, too. Let’s get more LGBTQ content out there, and LGBTQ parts out there, so openly gay actors don’t have to play straight anymore. Now that would be a true novelty. 

Here’s more. You can read more about the project she’s promoting and it sounds excellent. I’m not slamming her for her opinions. I’m simply disagreeing with her and I’m very curious to see on which side of history this discussion lands eventually. My guess is that we will finally be given enough respect as a marginalized group so that it’s not okay to appropriate us any longer with straight actors and straight writers. That’s something that’s never mentioned. The straight writers who are writing gay content while gay writers get nothing. We…gay writers…truly do sit and wonder, with our eyes wide and our mouths hanging open, what the fuckity-fuck is wrong with this picture? 

 Don’t Be Afraid of Virginia’s Woolf


Image







Amazon

“A wonderful story that I loved. The characters were well developed, and strong. Gus: A sweet young man. Doing something for all the wrong reasons. Craig: his boyfriend, he’ll go along with anything Gus say. Henry: Gus father a no nonsense man, who’s husband died last year. I enjoyed this story.”

Uncertainty by [Field, Ryan]

What readers said about “Altered Parts”
“Best Gay Novel In Years. This story will stay with you and you will feel you know every character and the beauty of their home in the mountains of North Carolina.”

Altered Parts


Altered Parts by [Field, Ryan]

Time To Ditch Toxic Positivity; Parents Won't Let Him Tell His Brother He's Gay; Ryan Field Books

Time To Ditch Toxic Positivity

I recently went through something difficult in my life involving the sale of our home of 18 years, and I’ve been getting my fair share of toxic positivity for the last month now. I think we all go through these difficult times in our lives and toxic positivity never helped anyone. And I’m thrilled to see people talking about it now. 

I do believe in positive thinking in a broad general sense. I also believe the subconscious mind has no mind of its own and it absorbs whatever we tell it. But there are times when positivity does, indeed, become toxic. 

“While cultivating a positive mind-set is a powerful coping mechanism, toxic positivity stems from the idea that the best or only way to cope with a bad situation is to put a positive spin on it and not dwell on the negative,” said Natalie Dattilo, a clinical health psychologist with Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. “It results from our tendency to undervalue negative emotional experiences and overvalue positive ones.”

Here’s more.  I think sometimes you just need to face the bad times, too, and work through them any way that’s right for you. 


Parents Won’t Let him Tell His Brother He’s Gay

This is from one of those advice columns that we see all the time in those mainstream magazines. This one is from The Atlantic. 

I have to say it’s one of the most disturbing coming out stories I’ve read about in a long time.

She kicked me out of the house the next morning. I told my dad why a year later. He wasn’t happy that I was gay, but he didn’t reject me like she had. He hugged me and told me, “You’re my son. That’s all that matters.” I thought his acceptance, though reluctant, would usher in an opportunity for reconciliation with my mom, but that didn’t come to pass.

Here’s the rest. The reply is excellent. 



 Don’t Be Afraid of Virginia’s Woolf


Image







Amazon

“A wonderful story that I loved. The characters were well developed, and strong. Gus: A sweet young man. Doing something for all the wrong reasons. Craig: his boyfriend, he’ll go along with anything Gus say. Henry: Gus father a no nonsense man, who’s husband died last year. I enjoyed this story.”

Uncertainty by [Field, Ryan]

What readers said about “Altered Parts”
“Best Gay Novel In Years. This story will stay with you and you will feel you know every character and the beauty of their home in the mountains of North Carolina.”

Altered Parts


Altered Parts by [Field, Ryan]

Hallmark's Gay Holiday Romance Movie; Ryan Field Books

Hallmark’s Gay Holiday Romance Movie

Here’s another story about a gay romance going mainstream this year. It seems to be the trend. 

As it turned out, Bennett‘s love interest wasn’t a woman at all: Instead, he’ll play half of the first gay couple highlighted in the network’s heavily watched holiday programming. “My jaw practically hit the ground,” he recalled.

Here’s the rest. It goes on to list a bunch of other holiday movies just like this. I really don’t know enough about these movies to comment in-depth. I think the actors are gay in real life but don’t quote me. 

I’m a fan of Hallmark in a broad sense because I obviously love escapism. That’s all I ever write is gay romance. It’s not meant to win any awards. It’s simply meant to help people escape from their own rough worlds for a short time. I’ll probably watch this one. 


 Don’t Be Afraid of Virginia’s Woolf


Image







Amazon

“A wonderful story that I loved. The characters were well developed, and strong. Gus: A sweet young man. Doing something for all the wrong reasons. Craig: his boyfriend, he’ll go along with anything Gus say. Henry: Gus father a no nonsense man, who’s husband died last year. I enjoyed this story.”

Uncertainty by [Field, Ryan]

What readers said about “Altered Parts”
“Best Gay Novel In Years. This story will stay with you and you will feel you know every character and the beauty of their home in the mountains of North Carolina.”

Altered Parts


Altered Parts by [Field, Ryan]

 

This Pandemic Hurting Gay and Lesbian Bars; Ryan Field Books

 This Pandemic Hurting Gay and Lesbian Bars

First, this pandemic is hurting the entire service industry, not just gay and lesbian bars. It’s putting restaurants, bars, and all kinds of other small businesses out of business. I’ve been to downtown Philadelphia and I’ve seen what it looks like in person. Boarded up shops, empty streets, and almost nothing going on. Second, gay and lesbian bars have been shutting down now for decades. I’ve been posting about how they’ve been closing over the years all over the world. 

When he opened the Alibi Lounge in 2016, it quickly became a permanent fixture for LGBTQ life in Harlem. Not only is it the first LGBTQ bar in the neighborhood, but Minko is one of just a few Black gay bar owners in the entire tri-state area. And it has remained open almost every day since it opened.

Here’s more. I hope he makes it and I hope his business thrives. But the truth is that all the gay bars I know here in New Hope closed long before there was a pandemic for COVID. They have been closing all over the world because gay men aren’t going to bars anymore. And that’s partly thanks to the internet and hook up apps. Many of the gay men I follow on social media are posting about putting up Christmas decorations with their husbands and their kids, not which bars they went to last night. I have no reason to lie about that either. 

Here’s a general link to multiple posts I’ve done over the years about gay bars closing down. 



 Don’t Be Afraid of Virginia’s Woolf


Image







Amazon

“A wonderful story that I loved. The characters were well developed, and strong. Gus: A sweet young man. Doing something for all the wrong reasons. Craig: his boyfriend, he’ll go along with anything Gus say. Henry: Gus father a no nonsense man, who’s husband died last year. I enjoyed this story.”

Uncertainty by [Field, Ryan]

What readers said about “Altered Parts”
“Best Gay Novel In Years. This story will stay with you and you will feel you know every character and the beauty of their home in the mountains of North Carolina.”

Altered Parts


Altered Parts by [Field, Ryan]


WTF? Are Gay Men Really Less Likely To Get a Degree In Science; Ryan Field Books

 

WTF? Are Gay Men Really Less Likely To Get a Degree In Science? 

Here’s another one of those stupid study/research articles that made me laugh. I think it’s probably one of the most peculiar studies I’ve seen in a long time. And here’s why. My husband, Tony, has his degree in science.  Yup. It’s chemistry. My gay nephew, Joe, has his undergrad degree in science and he’s now a medical doctor. And Joe is pretty gay, too. Half the men I dated when I was single had their degrees in science or math. Several were accountants. So where the hell they come up with this information just passes me by. Seriously. Get this: 

Men in same-sex relationships are significantly less likely to have a degree in a Stem (science, technology, engineering and maths) subject than their heterosexual male peers, according to research.

Here’s more. I have this feeling that no studies and no amount of research can be accurate right now with regard to gay men because no one knows who’s gay and who’s not. We still have too many gay men in the closet right now, which makes almost all research about gay men questionable.  

 Don’t Be Afraid of Virginia’s Woolf


Image







Amazon

“A wonderful story that I loved. The characters were well developed, and strong. Gus: A sweet young man. Doing something for all the wrong reasons. Craig: his boyfriend, he’ll go along with anything Gus say. Henry: Gus father a no nonsense man, who’s husband died last year. I enjoyed this story.”

Uncertainty by [Field, Ryan]

What readers said about “Altered Parts”
“Best Gay Novel In Years. This story will stay with you and you will feel you know every character and the beauty of their home in the mountains of North Carolina.”

Altered Parts


Altered Parts by [Field, Ryan]