This story about Billy Crystal has been making the internet rounds this week.
I thought I'd comment, mostly to post a link to this great article by Noah Michelson, executive editor of the HuffPost's Gay Voices section, who beautifully sums up the issue and articulates many of my own thoughts in reaction to Crystal's homophobia.
But first some background. Crystal appeared on a panel this past weekend in Pasadena when he was asked what it was like to play one of the first gay characters on American TV (on the ABC show "Soap" in the late 1970s) and how television's treatment of gay characters has changed since that time.
Crystal reportedly said, "There were times where I would say to [the actor who played his boyfriend], 'Bob, “I love you,' and the audience would laugh nervously, because, you know, it’s a long time ago, that I’d feel this anger. I wanted to stop the tape and go, 'What is your problem?' Because it made you sort of very self-conscious about what we were trying to do then."
So far, so good. But then Crystal started talking about recent television depictions of gay people:
"And now it’s just, I see it and I just hope people don’t abuse it and shove it in our face -- well, that sounds terrible -- to the point of it just feels like an everyday kind of thing."
Crystal then alluded to some TV shows today (such as the new show 'How To Get Away With Murder,' which contains numerous sexy man-on-man sex scenes):
"Sometimes I think, 'Ah that’s too much for me...Sometimes, it’s just pushing it a little too far for my taste and I’m not going to reveal to you which ones they are."
Michelson, in his HuffPost article, then quotes a follow-up comment from Crystal reacting to the negative feedback his comments received:
"First of all, I don't understand why there would be anything offensive that I said. When it gets too far either visually...now, that world exists because it does for the hetero world, it exists, and I don't want to see that either. But when I feel it's a cause, when I feel it's "You're going to like my lifestyle," no matter what it is, I'm going to have a problem and there were a couple of shows I went 'I couldn't watch that with somebody else." That's fine. If whoever writes it or produces it...totally get it. It's all about personal taste."
To me, this was just Crystal expressing probably what a lot of heterosexual men of his generation feel about the gays: you can exist, I just don't want to see too much of you. Or something to that effect.
But I urge you to read all of Noah Michelson's commentary, who is fair to Crystal while also calling him out for his "homophobia." Here is just a small snippet:
"I think we can all read between the lines there. Let's not forget that one of the great things about being straight is that no one is ever going to accuse you of pushing your "lifestyle" on anyone else because your "lifestyle" is already the status quo. It's everywhere! You don't have to worry about your televised kisses or -- sweet baby Jesus help us! -- sex scenes being referred to as some kind of gratuitous political statement (or a "lifestyle") because your kisses and -- sweet baby Jesus help us! -- sex scenes are fundamentally seen as normal and healthy. What other "lifestyles" could he be talking about? People in relationships with balloon animals? Vegans who refuse to stop wearing leather? Whatever they are, I'm willing to bet my 401k he isn't talking about being straight as a "lifestyle."
Now to celebrate how far American TV has truly come, I give you one of the hot gay sex scenes featured this past fall on ABC's 'How To Get Away With Murder." Enjoy!
Tuesday, January 20, 2015
Sunday, January 11, 2015
Two great films up for Golden Globes tonight: 'Selma' and 'Pride'
I have been busy lately catching some 2014 films I missed last year.
The most recent viewing was director Ava DuVernay's superb 'Selma,' (pictured on the right) which chronicles the efforts of many led by the late Martin Luther King Jr. to achieve full voting rights for African-Americans in Alabama and across the
racist southern states in the 1960s, specifically the Selma marches in 1965.
The direction of this film by Ava DuVernay is artful but also completely accessible. The acting is exceptional, including the lead performance by David Oyelowo as King, who really captures the passion, determination, intelligence and grace of the man. As a work of art and entertainment, the film works on all levels and is most deserving of the praise it's receiving, including a Best Picture (Drama) nomination in tonight's Golden Globe Awards.
As with any high-profile feature film about contentious events, there has been some controversy about the film's depictions. Most particularly, a former Lyndon Johnson adviser, In fact, Selma was LBJ’s idea, he considered the Voting Rights Act his greatest legislative achievement, he viewed King as an essential partner in getting it enacted — and he didn’t use the FBI to disparage him."
The film's director effectively rebuffed the accusations on her Twitter account with:
"Notion that Selma was LBJ's idea is jaw dropping and offensive to SNCC, SCLC and black citizens who made it so.
"More detail here. LBJ's stall on voting in favor of War on Poverty isn't fantasy made up for a film. http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2013/07/08/the-color-of-law"
"Bottom line is folks should interrogate history. Don't take my word for it or LBJ rep's word for it. Let it come alive for yourself."
Sage words not to forget. That New Yorker article is a very detailed account of the events that led up to the 1965 marches from Selma to Montgomery, many of which seem to be depicted quite accurately in the film.
"Johnson recognized the need for additional voting-rights legislation, and he directed Nicholas Katzenbach, soon to be his attorney general, to draft it. “I want you to write me the goddamnest toughest voting rights act that you can devise,” is the way he put it. But then progress slowed. Johnson had the most ambitious legislative agenda of any President since F.D.R. (his idol), and he explained to King that he was worried that Southern opposition to more civil-rights legislation would drain support from the War on Poverty and hold up bills on Medicare, immigration reform, and aid to education. He asked King to wait."
After watching the film and doing my own research, I'd have to agree that the portraits painted in the film 'Selma,' are pretty much accurate. Grassroots organizers including King found Selma as a primary example that could be used to justify the crucial importance of voting rights reform. They did the heavy lifting. There's no indication in the film that LBJ used the FBI to disparage King. But the film does post verbatim transcripts of FBI logs that clearly show that King was being monitored throughout the entire period.
It's probably true that LBJ first wanted political conditions to be in place before pushing for voting rights reforms over other priorities. And the Selma experience ultimately created those conditions. The film portrays King as being fully aware of that political reality and organizing to make it happen. Without a doubt, King and his supporters and other activists were the primary players in those marches including their conception, plus obviously the execution: they walked those miles, they put their lives at risk. The televising to millions of Americans and others across the world of the first march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge which ended with unarmed and peaceful protesters being brutally attacked by police under orders from the Alabama governor marked a turning point for the civil rights movement. And the events gave Washington the impetus to push the reforms.
All in all, 'Selma' is a great example of civil rights history that deserves to be viewed and studied.
Another film nominated for the Globes tonight, 'Pride,' (pictured on the right) also depicts historical efforts against injustice and discrimination, albeit with a lighter, more humorous tone than 'Selma.'
Directed by Britain's Matthew Warchus, 'Pride' is a lovely film with great heart about gay activists in 1980s Britain raising money to help support striking miners in Wales and across the U.K. Beautifully acted by a huge U.K. cast including Imelda Staunton, Bill Nighy, Dominic West and a bevy of cute young men including Ben Schnetzer, the movie succeeds because it shows the great benefits of forming alliances between the downtrodden or attacked groups that otherwise might never interact. Through those unlikely alliances, greater communication, understanding and personal growth result, sometimes in small intimate ways, and also in larger ways: because of the efforts of those few gay activists, huge swaths of Britain's labour movement became more supportive of queer rights.
Some might take issue with the alliance between coal miners and gay activists if they value equality but not industries that clearly had grown inefficient. In fact, the burning of coal is one of the main sources of greenhouse gases and continues to fall out of fashion. Ontario has shut down all of its coal-burning energy facilities, as we know. The film barely mentions the word, "coal," and instead focuses on the relationships between the characters. The workers under threat in the film are fighting for basic survival and a way of life, not simply for coal. They had followed paths laid out for them by their communities (most of which were single industry towns), only to see their livelihoods threatened in the name of an uncaring ideological government only concerned with the bottom line.
Had I been among the gay activists in the U.K. in the 1980s, I would've joined this movement for certain. The film succeeds in depicting that era in the gay rights movement extremely well. They were different times, indeed, and it's great to have this gem of a film to depict them.
While 'Selma' succeeds in showing both black and white activists coming together to fight injustice, the activists in 'Pride' are all lily-white. No doubt, London's gay scene in the 1980s wasn't too racially diverse, nor were the mining towns of Wales. But the themes of different groups coming together to fight for their rights resonate in both films.
I urge you to check out both of these films as soon as you can.
 |
| Scene from 'Selma' |
The direction of this film by Ava DuVernay is artful but also completely accessible. The acting is exceptional, including the lead performance by David Oyelowo as King, who really captures the passion, determination, intelligence and grace of the man. As a work of art and entertainment, the film works on all levels and is most deserving of the praise it's receiving, including a Best Picture (Drama) nomination in tonight's Golden Globe Awards.
As with any high-profile feature film about contentious events, there has been some controversy about the film's depictions. Most particularly, a former Lyndon Johnson adviser, In fact, Selma was LBJ’s idea, he considered the Voting Rights Act his greatest legislative achievement, he viewed King as an essential partner in getting it enacted — and he didn’t use the FBI to disparage him."
The film's director effectively rebuffed the accusations on her Twitter account with:
"Notion that Selma was LBJ's idea is jaw dropping and offensive to SNCC, SCLC and black citizens who made it so.
"More detail here. LBJ's stall on voting in favor of War on Poverty isn't fantasy made up for a film. http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2013/07/08/the-color-of-law"
"Bottom line is folks should interrogate history. Don't take my word for it or LBJ rep's word for it. Let it come alive for yourself."
Sage words not to forget. That New Yorker article is a very detailed account of the events that led up to the 1965 marches from Selma to Montgomery, many of which seem to be depicted quite accurately in the film.
"Johnson recognized the need for additional voting-rights legislation, and he directed Nicholas Katzenbach, soon to be his attorney general, to draft it. “I want you to write me the goddamnest toughest voting rights act that you can devise,” is the way he put it. But then progress slowed. Johnson had the most ambitious legislative agenda of any President since F.D.R. (his idol), and he explained to King that he was worried that Southern opposition to more civil-rights legislation would drain support from the War on Poverty and hold up bills on Medicare, immigration reform, and aid to education. He asked King to wait."
After watching the film and doing my own research, I'd have to agree that the portraits painted in the film 'Selma,' are pretty much accurate. Grassroots organizers including King found Selma as a primary example that could be used to justify the crucial importance of voting rights reform. They did the heavy lifting. There's no indication in the film that LBJ used the FBI to disparage King. But the film does post verbatim transcripts of FBI logs that clearly show that King was being monitored throughout the entire period.
It's probably true that LBJ first wanted political conditions to be in place before pushing for voting rights reforms over other priorities. And the Selma experience ultimately created those conditions. The film portrays King as being fully aware of that political reality and organizing to make it happen. Without a doubt, King and his supporters and other activists were the primary players in those marches including their conception, plus obviously the execution: they walked those miles, they put their lives at risk. The televising to millions of Americans and others across the world of the first march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge which ended with unarmed and peaceful protesters being brutally attacked by police under orders from the Alabama governor marked a turning point for the civil rights movement. And the events gave Washington the impetus to push the reforms.
All in all, 'Selma' is a great example of civil rights history that deserves to be viewed and studied.
Another film nominated for the Globes tonight, 'Pride,' (pictured on the right) also depicts historical efforts against injustice and discrimination, albeit with a lighter, more humorous tone than 'Selma.'Directed by Britain's Matthew Warchus, 'Pride' is a lovely film with great heart about gay activists in 1980s Britain raising money to help support striking miners in Wales and across the U.K. Beautifully acted by a huge U.K. cast including Imelda Staunton, Bill Nighy, Dominic West and a bevy of cute young men including Ben Schnetzer, the movie succeeds because it shows the great benefits of forming alliances between the downtrodden or attacked groups that otherwise might never interact. Through those unlikely alliances, greater communication, understanding and personal growth result, sometimes in small intimate ways, and also in larger ways: because of the efforts of those few gay activists, huge swaths of Britain's labour movement became more supportive of queer rights.
Some might take issue with the alliance between coal miners and gay activists if they value equality but not industries that clearly had grown inefficient. In fact, the burning of coal is one of the main sources of greenhouse gases and continues to fall out of fashion. Ontario has shut down all of its coal-burning energy facilities, as we know. The film barely mentions the word, "coal," and instead focuses on the relationships between the characters. The workers under threat in the film are fighting for basic survival and a way of life, not simply for coal. They had followed paths laid out for them by their communities (most of which were single industry towns), only to see their livelihoods threatened in the name of an uncaring ideological government only concerned with the bottom line.
Had I been among the gay activists in the U.K. in the 1980s, I would've joined this movement for certain. The film succeeds in depicting that era in the gay rights movement extremely well. They were different times, indeed, and it's great to have this gem of a film to depict them.
While 'Selma' succeeds in showing both black and white activists coming together to fight injustice, the activists in 'Pride' are all lily-white. No doubt, London's gay scene in the 1980s wasn't too racially diverse, nor were the mining towns of Wales. But the themes of different groups coming together to fight for their rights resonate in both films.
I urge you to check out both of these films as soon as you can.
Friday, January 2, 2015
UPDATED YET AGAIN: My favourite 2014 films
 | |
| Actor Ellar Coltrane as seen in "Boyhood" from age 6 to 18 |
1) Boyhood (One of my favourite directors, Richard Linklater, finally looks poised to win big at the Oscars with this gem of a film, shot with the same actors over 12 years, showing the evolution of a family through the eyes of a boy who literally grows up before our eyes within 165 onscreen minutes. Intimate, quiet, heart-breaking, highly-relatable, these characters remind us of ourselves, warts and all. It's so nice to see what could've been a filmmaking disaster instead turn into such a masterpiece.)
2) Grand Budapest Hotel (Wes Anderson's finest film was a delight from start to finish, hilarious, colourful, charming, with great performances from what seemed like half of Hollywood appearing at least once. I truly hope Ralph Fiennes gets a Best Actor nomination at the Oscars for this.)
3) Pride (I just got a chance to watch this lovely film about gay activists in 1980s Britain raising money to help support striking miners in Wales and across the U.K. And I can say it's jumped into my Top 11 list. Told with great heart and humour, beautifully acted and directed, the movie succeeds because it shows the great benefits of forming alliances between the downtrodden or attacked groups that otherwise might never interact. A very lovely experience watching this. I'm going to blog about it very soon with its own post above.)
4) Selma (I also just got a chance recently to see this great history film, which depicts the efforts by Martin Luther King Jr. and many others to achieve full voting rights for Blacks in Alabama and across the racist southern states in the 1960s. The direction of this film by Ava DuVernay is artful but also completely accessible, detailing the campaign to raise awareness and pressure the political powers-that-be to dismantle racist barriers to voting for African-Americans. I'll blog too about this film separately soon. It's sickening that many right-wing Republicans still try to limit voting rights today with rules designed to disenfranchise the vulnerable, and many of the issues raised here are still absolutely relevant today.)
5) Whiplash (Wow...just wow. I finally checked out this little masterpiece and it's jumped into my ever-expanding favourite list as high as number five. This film is better and more entertaining than 'The Imitation Game' or 'The Theory of Everything.' Miles Teller is perfect as the ambitious drummer hoping to impress an abusive genius of a music teacher played by J.K. Simmons, who very much deserves all the accolades he's receiving for this. Mesmerizing, brutal, this portrait of unlimited ambition will be remembered years to come.)
6) Guardians of the Galaxy (Finally, a superbly crafted and entertaining "super heroes" movie with flawed, lovable characters we can relate to. Hollywood will try to imitate this unique success in the years ahead and may or may not succeed. Looking forward to the sequels.)
7) Tom at the Farm (I wasn't a Xavier Dolan groupie fan until I saw this stunning suspense thriller and now I have to admit the Canadian wunderkind can do no wrong. This was released in festivals starting in 2013, but I saw it this year at Inside Out in Toronto and it's still making the festival rounds. I can't wait to see Dolan's new film 'Mommy'.)
8) Birdman (Finally checked this out due to all the hype and I have to say I was very pleasantly surprised, after disliking most of the director's previous films. The film took a little while for me to get into it, but once I got used to the rhythm including the never-stopping camera, I was hooked. Michael Keaton is superb as the aging and troubled actor who may be hiding either mysterious super powers or slight insanity. I also very much appreciated Edward Norton's sexy performance as an uber-narcissist actor, as well as Emma Stone's great work as Keaton's daughter. The film does soar as high as its hero. Well done!)
9) The Imitation Game (Not perfect, but pretty damn close. The film puts the tragic story of an obscure gay hero named Alan Turing front and centre. Turing literally saved millions of lives and helped to end WWII early thanks to his genius breaking the Enigma Code, only later to be prosecuted as a gay man. In the role, Benedict Cumberbatch is superb.)
10) The Theory of Everything (Thoroughly enjoyed the love story and the great acting. One might've hoped for more physics and explorations of Stephen Hawking's ideas perhaps, but as an adaptation that looks at his life through the eyes of his wife, this was great.)
11) Still Alice (Julianne Moore is simply great in a tough role in a film about a subject most of us don't want to know much about: early onset Alzheimer's. She should hopefully win her first Oscar for this.)
12) Under The Skin (Weird, mesmerizing and unforgettable, one of Scarlett Johansson's great roles this year.)
13) Nightcrawler (Surprisingly strong and disturbing portrait of the media's obsession with violence and the vicious exploitation it creates. Jake Gyllenhaal and everyone else here are amazing.)
14) Praia do Futuro, or Future Beach (Atmospheric, contemplative portrait of a Brazilian gay man struggling with identity, love and family. Loved it from start to finish.)
Totally Awesome, but not quite top 14:
X-Men, Days of Future Past
Elena
The Way He Looks
Foxcatcher
St Vincent
Life Itself
Lucy
Wild
Words and Pictures
Maleficent
The Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies
Land of Storms
Into The Woods
Love in the Time of Civil War
Love in the Time of Civil War
Love Is Strange
Dear White People
Haven't seen these, but they're on my list to watch asap:
Mommy
Snowpiercer
Mr Turner
Ida
Chef
Starred Up
Unbroken
Cake
A Most Violent Year
Quite decent:
Noah
Captain America: The Winter Soldier
American Sniper
Neighbors
The Interview
My Mom Is A Character
Dracula Untold
My Straight Son
The Great Beauty
Interior. Leather Bar.
300 Rise of an Empire
Pasolini
Not good, but noteworthy for prurient reasons:
I Am Happiness On Earth (Mexican director Julián Hernández has made several artsy gay films that feature massive amounts of beautiful male nudity, and he does so again with this film.)
That Awkward Moment (Nothing special, but it contains Zac Efron's first onscreen nude scene, so it deserves some attention.)
Disappointing:
Gone Girl (Sorry, but I hated the characters and didn’t care about what happened to them. Why didn’t she just kill Ben Affleck and set it up like he killed himself? And spare us this long, drawn out piece of bullshit masquerading as "intelligent, subversive commentary on modern relationships"? But at least it was slickly produced.)
Interstellar (Re-thought this from my initial assessment. It was visually stunning at times but also way too drawn out with way too many ideas, most of which weren't really explored in satisfying ways. Perhaps this is Christopher Nolan's weakest film.)
A Most Wanted Man
Test
The Third One (How could a movie about a hot gay threesome be so boring?)
Maze Runner (It should’ve been Lord of the Flies, but instead was full of shit)
Enemy (Misogynist crap. Denis Villeneuve just dropped several points in my estimation.)
Divergent (Crappy, boring, unoriginal.)
Transcendence
Just plain bad:
Pompeii
Horns
Dear White People
Haven't seen these, but they're on my list to watch asap:
Mommy
Snowpiercer
Mr Turner
Ida
Chef
Starred Up
Unbroken
Cake
A Most Violent Year
Quite decent:
Noah
Captain America: The Winter Soldier
American Sniper
Neighbors
The Interview
My Mom Is A Character
Dracula Untold
My Straight Son
The Great Beauty
Interior. Leather Bar.
300 Rise of an Empire
Pasolini
Not good, but noteworthy for prurient reasons:
I Am Happiness On Earth (Mexican director Julián Hernández has made several artsy gay films that feature massive amounts of beautiful male nudity, and he does so again with this film.)
That Awkward Moment (Nothing special, but it contains Zac Efron's first onscreen nude scene, so it deserves some attention.)
Disappointing:
Gone Girl (Sorry, but I hated the characters and didn’t care about what happened to them. Why didn’t she just kill Ben Affleck and set it up like he killed himself? And spare us this long, drawn out piece of bullshit masquerading as "intelligent, subversive commentary on modern relationships"? But at least it was slickly produced.)
Interstellar (Re-thought this from my initial assessment. It was visually stunning at times but also way too drawn out with way too many ideas, most of which weren't really explored in satisfying ways. Perhaps this is Christopher Nolan's weakest film.)
A Most Wanted Man
Test
The Third One (How could a movie about a hot gay threesome be so boring?)
Maze Runner (It should’ve been Lord of the Flies, but instead was full of shit)
Enemy (Misogynist crap. Denis Villeneuve just dropped several points in my estimation.)
Divergent (Crappy, boring, unoriginal.)
Transcendence
Just plain bad:
Pompeii
Horns
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