Barry Jenkins Not Gay, and Moonlight Gay Film
I can hear you all groaning now, but this bothers me a little and I can’t let it go. When I post about these things, I’m not trying to be negative. It’s because I’m genuinely confused. It’s the second time this week I’ve seen it happen.
I know this film is thrilling everyone, and I will see it myself. But even if I love it, part of me will be disappointed, once again, that it wasn’t written by someone who is gay and knows the gay experience first hand. I just don’t see why we can’t get that basic PC respect when every other minority does.
It’s been incredible to watch Moonlight, director Barry Jenkins’ depiction of Black gay love and coming of age, make its way from art house darling to mainstream drama, racking up countless accolades and a recent Golden Globe win for Best Drama along the way.
And as far as conventional cinematic success goes, the last stop on the train is Oscarville. All year films are hyped as “Oscar contenders,” and more often than not it’s just a lot of hot air. Moonlight is the exception.
There’s more here. With photos.
Here’s more about Barry Jenkins the writer/director.
It’s not that I believe straight men can’t write gay stories, but I’d really like to see gay people get the same PC consideration that other minorities receive. Because if this were any other minority, Meryl Streep would be giving a speech about it, and someone would be calling for a boycott of this film. And you know they would. Think back to the Stonewall movie.
Roland Emmerich‘s drama “Stonewall” comes with the tagline “Where Pride Began,” but for many LGBT advocates the indie film opening on Friday is not a source of pride but anger
And for the record, I’m not talking about straight women who write gay romance. I think that’s totally different than what’s going on here. The straight women who write gay romance absolutely love what they are doing, they do it from the heart, and they put a different spin on things in their own unique ways. They aren’t trying to mimic gay men. They’re doing their own interpretations. I just wanted to make that clear. And I think it’s an important distinction.
As you can see below they even admit in this article that most people assume Jenkins is gay. I thought he was at first. It’s a natural assumption.
Maybe I’m wrong? Maybe we should just let straight men continue doing this for us? Come take my culture, and be glib about it while you’re at it, and make a lot of money. Have fun. Get Oscars. We’re nice people. We don’t mind. We’ll even help you do it.
Moonlight is being hailed as one of the best movies of 2016, and an instant LGBT film classic. Naturally, most audiences would assume that the director of Moonlight, Barry Jenkins is gay, but he’s actually straight.
So do most people who see the movie assume that he’s gay? “They do! All the time.” replied Jenkins.
Catholic School Boy Sext Scandal
I posted about this before, too. Evidently, people still remember the Mike Yenni Catholic school boy sexting thing. They’re not letting Yenni off the proverbial hook either.
Well, during a 50-minute appearance on a midday radio show yesterday, the 40-year-old father of two was bombarded with questions from angry callers who wanted to know more about the whole sexting scandal.
Ryan Gosling’s Wax Sculpture Drama
Some people aren’t thrilled about the new wax sculpture of Ryan Gosling.
Madame Tussauds Berlin just unveiled their freshly-hewn Ryan Gosling wax figure, and it’s too much for the Internet to take.’
MTV? They couldn’t handle it: “Ryan Gosling’s New Wax Figure Will Strike Fear Into Your Soul,” warns the headline.
You can check that out here. There’s a photo of the sculpture. I don’t think it looks that bad. I’m sure it’s not as good as Gosling in the firm, hard flesh, but it works for me.
