Gay Films 2012
There’s something new called Studio Responsibility Index, where GLAAD is now tracking six major film studios to see how many of them focused on LGBT content. This is the first published account of what’s supposed to become an annual event.
Out of the 101 film releases by the major studios in the 2012 calendar year, only 14 films contained characters identified as lesbian, gay or bisexual. There were no films containing transgender characters. More detailed looks at each studio and their films can be found in the report.
What I find interesting about all this is that Hollywood is no stranger to the LGBT community, and I think it’s safe to say that Hollywood is also filled with closeted gay people who are terrified of coming out because of their careers. Those who are out, deal with all kinds of backlash…Matt Bomer. And yet, at the same time, Hollywood is always the first to jump on to the bandwagon of anything politically correct, especially when they see a chance to make money on us.
It’s an interesting pattern of both deception and hypocrisy. Susan Sarandon the ultra liberal of them all stars in a film where they use yellowface. That’s hypocrisy. Tired old Jane Fonda crawls out from under her rock after years and years and she winds up playing Nancy Reagan in a film about an African American so Hollywood can fill the quota in that minority department (and Oprah can win an Oscar). That’s deception. Good old Hanoi Jane knew exactly what SHE was doing. Orpah does, too. And they smile all the way to the bank from the red carpet and we are expected to buy into it. Unfortunately, many of us do.
These reasons are also why I’ve parodied films like Pretty Woman and An Officer and a Gentleman in gay erotic fiction. We (gay people) like to read and see gay romantic content, too. And not always the depressing literary brand of gay content we’ve seen in the past. Sometimes we just want something that’s fun, and that could even include heteronormative content. Many of us want to be included in heteronormative situations. As a gay man who has experienced this lack of LGBT content all my life I felt justified in doing this with my parodies of hetero films…in spite of what some reviewers thought (or expected). There are other reasons as well. I rarely do anything by accident.
In any event, you can read more here, where there’s a link to a detailed example of the report on film studios and LGBT content.
As a side note, I don’t think anyone is really all that surprised by any of this. Hollywood doesn’t just do this with gays, it does it with all minorities. They throw us all a bone once in a while, but for the most part our overall society is not represented well…I’m talking about the real world where we all live with LGBT people and other minorities. What we get for the most part are white, heteronormative films, and that could be part of the reason why box office sales were so low this summer.
I’ve been on the fence about crowdfunding sources that seem to be popping up all over these days. But I’m only against them when people like Spike Lee and other established Hollywood types hock people for money. If I see someone who is doing something different, has never been part of traditional Hollywood, and wants to promote anything LGBT in an indie film, I can’t wait to support them. I only hope this catches on and the indies start to bury the established studios.
Michael Hastings’ Death Report
I think this was probably one of the saddest things I read this year so far. I posted about the untimely death of journalist Michael Hastings in June, and at the time there were speculations of foul play, and even a possible conspiracy theory. But so far all that’s been ruled out.
The coroners who examined him found “traces of amphetamine in his system, consistent with possible intake of methamphetamine many hours before death, as well as marijuana,” the Times wrote. “Neither were considered a factor in the crash, according to toxicology reports.”
You can read more here, with links to detailed sources.
It’s always sad to see someone with that kind of talent taken away too soon.
Gay Mormon Sex Positions
On a lighter note, someone’s come up with an unusual picture book. The pictures are unique because they show gay Mormon men in various erotic positions.
Photographer Neil Dacosta and art director Sara Phillips are part of the team behind the photos of the two male missionaries in various sexual positions. When asked about the project, Dacosta told The Huffington Post, “This project means a few different things to everyone involved, but the overall goal is to start a discussion, using a visual medium, about equal rights and the separation of church and state.” The photographer says the goal was to “leave our description fairly open-ended” in hopes “that viewers will find their own personal meanings within the series.”
I think the important thing to make clear here is that no one from the LGBT community ever targeted or attacked a Mormon, at least not as far as I know. And personally I think they have every right to practice whatever they want, and to believe whatever they want, as long as they do it on their own terms and they keep it to themselves. In other words, don’t tell me how to live or what to believe. And if you do I’m going to strike back and show you that’s not how it works in life. Especially in a country where church and state are separate.
I don’t think I have to go into details about how the Mormon Church feels about gays.
You can read more here, where you’ll see some highly amusing photos. How I wish I could just paste one to this post!!
The photo above has been released in the public domain, here.
