Posted on 02/13/2006 9:40:35 AM PST by Lunatic Fringe
Sir Ian McKellen has said openly gay US actors are prevented from having successful Hollywood careers.
"It is very, very, very difficult for an American actor who wants a film career to be open about his sexuality," the gay British actor said.
"And even more difficult for a woman if she's lesbian. It's very distressing to me that that should be the case."
The Lord of the Rings star added: "The film industry is very old fashioned in California."
He was speaking at the Berlin Film Festival, where he received a lifetime achievement award.
But remember...Tom Cruise was also married twice
Here's the deal, and I'm willing to bet real money on this: Sir Ian's latest boytoy didn't get the part he auditioned for.
Sheesh! Randolph Scott was married for 43 years to the same woman and they had two kids.
Flynn's autobigraphy is really not reliable. He rattled off a bunch of yarns, and a professional writer wrote the autobiography. Still it is at least "based on fact", and is an enjoyable read (the Baron de Marbot's memoirs of his exploits in the Napoleonic Wars is equally exaggerated, but entertaining, and at least informed by someone who could have done what was described, even if he didn't quite do everything he said he did).
Anyone who attempts top prove Flynn's sexual leanings or Nazi sympathies via scenes from his movies is off his nut, IMO. Higham claimed Flynn wanted to make Dive Bomber to show off important naval secrets to the Axis powers, and this Bret character claims Flynn's true sexual leanings are to be derived in similar fashion from movie scenes, both of which are absurd. And, the faxt that Flynn had a particularly nasty divorce from his first wife Lili Damitamakes her accusations suspect.
An old Flynn documentary was recently re-released on DVD. Narrated by Christopher Lee, Portrait of a Swashbuckler relies on lots of interviews with co-workers, ex-wives, friends, etc, and paints a compelling portrait of a man who burned out quite young. Because Flynn seemed willing to try just about anything, I would not be surprised to learn he had some gay flings. I just do not think any of the "evidence" supplied by Higham or Bret is real.
That dude has more or less ruined Lord of the Rings for me. If he thinks Hollywood is "old fashioned", I can't even imagine his mentality.
Sickening.
Audie Murphy played the title role in the Quiet American in the original. I always thought he did a good job in it. Fraser played the role in the more recent version and did a very good job in it. Note: I'm not a Graham Greene fan.
A highly biased source, one I would never use to obtain objective data on an individual's sexual orientation.
No way. Please say youre joking..the radio sports DJ?! I hated him in the show, but I always figured him straight guy...egads, now I KNOW why I hated him. What a fruit.
Ian mentions he is a fag in the commentary during fellowship SE DVD. It felt like some of the other actors didnt even know (maybe it was the silence afterward)
WOW..I hadnt seen that under current of pro-homosexuality in Xmen. I knew of the line in X2 ("cant you just..not be mutants?") but i didnt realize the dir was homo.
This reminds me of a college professor I had that thought every major literary work, ever, had some feminist subtext. It was all in her head, and we all knew it.
He led a wild life, but found faith at the end--great actor.
(interviewer) It seems that "X-Men" and "X-Men 2" represent your identities as a Jew living in America and as a gay man respectively, because in this one there is a homosexuality/homophobia subtext...Here's a quote from an interview with Ian McKellen:
(Singer) Well, yeah. That is also a very relevant analogy because where certain races, even a Jewish boy or a Jewish girl, will be born into a Jewish family, or a Jewish community sometimes, or an African American or whatever minority in any given area, a gay kid doesn't discover he or she is gay until around puberty. And their parents aren't gay necessarily, and their classmates aren't, and they feel truly alone in the world and have to find, sometimes never find, a way to live.
(interviewer) So you're exploring your own situation in these films?
(Singer) Absolutely. And what better way than in a giant, action, summer event movie! I could think of no better place to spill out one's own personal problems and foist them onto the world [laughs]. And for that, I apologise.
VN: As a gay actor and activist, did you respond to the X-Men movies' call for tolerance?Unfortunately, even though, I'm straight, I suspect this means my "gaydar" is more finely attuned than some. Both the director and the lead actor state flatly the film is about outcasts, but specifically about gay politics. Singer points out the distinction made between homosexuals and Jews or blacks, in that Jews have Jewish parents and blacks have black parents. The scene I was talking about makes no sense if applied to those groups, as black kids have black parents and Jewish kids have Jewish parents. It would make no sense if the scene was about black parents confronting their son about being black. Both films are clearly about identity politics, specifically homosexual identity politics. I don't think I'm reading too much into those statements.
Ian McKellen: "That was how [director] Bryan Singer pitched it to me - this is about gay politics. What do you do if society treats you as a mutant? Do you say, I'm sorry, let me join in? Or do you say right, I'm going to take you on - I'm different and I'm proud of it? Do you accommodate people's fears and try to understand them, or do you take on the world even if that leads to a violent confrontation? So it was presented not as a comic fantasy of escapism but as something rather gritty and crucial - not just to a gay director and actor, but also to young gays, young blacks and young Jews who regard themselves as mutants because of the way we treat them."
From what you've posted I believe that Singer's interpretation of the story is what you say, but you have remember that Singer's interpretation isn't THE interpretation.
Not unless he was lying in that interview I saw. Sorry.
This is true. However, being in my fifties, I read the early X-men comics when they came out the first time. In my post 123, I address your point. In the late 60s early 70s, Green Lantern and Green Arrow were redefined from stock characters (Green Lantern had been around for years, and Green Arrow was a Batman knockoff) into liberal dogooders. Green Arrow's sidekick, Speedy, got hooked on (guess what)? So, the characters were redefined according to the vision of the new artist interpreting them. Frank Miller redefined Batman from the 60's pop-culture mod joke to a dark, brooding psychopath in "The Dark Knight Returns." Except for the godawful Batman and Robin, every Batman movie since then has used this template (and they still haven't gotten it right).
So, my point was, that McKellan and Singer redefined the Xmen as a parable of homosexuality, maintaining the original premise, but modifying it to suit their needs.
From what you've posted I believe that Singer's interpretation of the story is what you say, but you have remember that Singer's interpretation isn't THE interpretation.
I don't believe I ever said the Xmen comics were gay, just that the movies, particularly as interpreted by Singer, were. I also thought they were well done movies, and I enjoyed them, other than the "coming out" scene, where I thought Singer became very ham handed.
BTW, though. Thanks for your thoughtful response. It's good to debate with people, where even though we may not agree, we stay on point and topic.
If they ever make a movie of "The Watchmen", it's going to be REALLY weird. Rorschach was the best character in that one.
David Hyde Pierce????
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:(
I love watching Frasier reruns...you've spoiled it for me...now i know he doesn't really pine for Daphne!! :(
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