Here we go again (sigh)

[selenak]

The Sarah Connor Chronicles review will have to wait a little, due to rl Christmas mail related business (yes, still) and being on the move again, but:

Washington Post article about the irritating (not to mention homophobic) notion that "a gay kissing scene must be the worst Hollywood job hazard that a male actor could face, including stunt work, extreme weather or sitting through five hours of special-effects makeup every day". Good for James Franco for refusing to play along, boo, hiss on Letterman, and on Chris Potter (one more reason not to watch the American Queer as Folk - I can't imagine any of the actors involved in the English original saying something as spectacularly dumb as what Potter is quoted saying in that article.

(My favourite reply to the whole "isn't it a trial to play a gay character?" rigmarole still comes from Patrick Stewart, who was asked this when playing a gay supporting character in Jeffrey, a film he shot soon after TNG had ended, and basically went "are you serious?" on the reporter, saying he had played two men so jealous they kill their wives (or try to, one case), Leontes and Othello, and one man who wants to cut out another man's heart (Shylock), and how is it that playing a nice interior decorator is supposed to be a stretch?)

Comments

[willowgreen.livejournal.com]

I so adore Patrick Stewart! We watched the end of Mel Brooks' "Robin Hood: Men In Tights" on TV last night, and there he was at the end as Kind Richard, doing a pretty good Sean Connery-imitation Scottish burr, and lustily kissing Maid Marian. I'd forgotten all about "Jeffrey," but I loved his character in that movie.

[selenak.livejournal.com]

For selfish reasons, I am so glad he's been doing a lot of theatre in Britain instead of tv in the US these recent years, as it allowed me to see him on stage in a variety of roles. Such a great actor, and the fact that he has yet to give a stupid interview is a wonderful bonus.

[rusty_halo.livejournal.com]

Oh, man, I hadn't read that Chris Potter quote before. Ugh. Even more reason to fast forward through all of his scenes. >:(

[misachan.livejournal.com]

Oh man, Chris Potter. You voiced Gambit on the X-Men animated series. Why are you trying to make me hate you?

[wee-warrior.livejournal.com]

I had heard about one of the QAF US guys being a jerk before, I just didn't know which one. Good grief.

Regarding female on female as opposed to male on male kissing: what the article either didn't realize or decided not to pursue is of course that this isn't regarded as more positive because actresses are a more enlightened species, but because it's both less threatening and usually portrayed as sexually titillating to heterosexual males. Hooray for patriarchical double standards.

[selenak.livejournal.com]

Quite.

Re: Potter - you'd think if he was that averse to playing m/m love scenes, he wouldn't pick this role to begin with, but even if he simply really needed the pay check, professional ethics should tell him this kind of statement isn't okay...

[wee-warrior.livejournal.com]

but even if he simply really needed the pay check, professional ethics should tell him this kind of statement isn't okay...

Absolutely, though there are actors who will push past that, knowing that they will not be frowned upon in most circles for remarks like this. It makes me hate the industry, since that really should have changed by now (shouldn't the arts be a more liberal environment, anyway?), but also the single players. Thank god for people like Stewart!

[selenak.livejournal.com]

It's also one of many reasons why, break-up with the show not withstanding, I'll always remain fond of the Heroes cast. A whole bunch of actors about as un-bothered by the "must demonstrate I'm straight by declaring how awful it is to show affection/kiss/play gay" idea as one is likely to meet.

To go back to Potter the idiot, though, the only comparable tasteless and not homophobic remark I can think of is Tony Curtis saying "kissing Marilyn was like kissing Hitler". And he did get smacked down for that one. (Though whether he would have if she hadn't died soon after is up to debate.)

[masqthephlsphr.livejournal.com]

Patrick Stewart: defender of gay roles, Trekkies, and of course, the galaxy. He rocks!

[kattahj.livejournal.com]

And also has the best explanation of what a B is (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vb4X2DuLisc&feature=channel_page) ever. I couldn't love this man more.

selenak, thanks for the link! I'm taking it to queer_as_tv, hope you don't mind.

[selenak.livejournal.com]

Not at all, and thanks for linking that Sesame clip, it's adorable and I hadn't seen it before!

[kattahj.livejournal.com]

*g* You're welcome. It's the sort of thing I make people sit down to watch even IRL.

[selenak.livejournal.com]

He does indeed. *is hopeless fangirl*

[re-weird.livejournal.com]

Patrick Sterwart is all about the stupid questions smackdown. Go him!

[selenak.livejournal.com]

It's his secret superpower. :)

[neutralalienist.livejournal.com]

I keep finding more and more reasons to love Patrick Stewart. It's nice. :)

[selenak.livejournal.com]

*is happy to share the love for bald Yorkshiremen*

[blpurdom.livejournal.com]

I don't recall Heath Ledger or Jake Gyllenhall complaining much about the kissing and other stuff in Brokeback. And it was playing a psychotic (the Joker) that was supposed to have sent Ledger over the edge with his drug addiction, not playing a gay rancher.

Good for Patrick Stewart. He brings some much-needed perspective to the table.

[spikewriter]

(My favourite reply to the whole "isn't it a trial to play a gay character?" rigmarole still comes from Patrick Stewart, who was asked this when playing a gay supporting character in Jeffrey, a film he shot soon after TNG had ended, and basically went "are you serious?" on the reporter, saying he had played two men so jealous they kill their wives (or try to, one case), Leontes and Othello, and one man who wants to cut out another man's heart (Shylock), and how is it that playing a nice interior decorator is supposed to be a stretch?)

Yet another reason why Patrick Stewart is simply awesome.

[buffyannotater.livejournal.com]

Nah, no reason not to watch American QAF. He was only a recurring character in S1 and was supremely unlikable and condescending. I don't think anyone shed a tear when he left. Though in retrospect, this revelation does make a lot of sense, as his acting was always extremely stiff and wooden (no pun intended), particularly in any lovemaking scene.

Honestly, before I saw the American QAF I never could imagine loving it as much as the British one, but it ended up surpassing it in many, many ways.

[selenak.livejournal.com]

I admit a single actor isn't enough not to watch a show, but is it possible to start with the second season then, if I get around to it one day? Since I hear that's when they depart from the original anyway, and presumably find their own feet.

[buffyannotater.livejournal.com]

It's possible, but I wouldn't fully recommend it, because though they do diverge more in S2, the divergence already begins early on, and the characters in the American version are very different. It's kind of like an altverse, in a way. The characters are all variations on the originals, but are all different. For example, the character who dies in the original series does not in the American, so all of his plots are completely new to the American version, among other things.

PS

[buffyannotater.livejournal.com]

He's also in the grand scheme of the show, just not that important. He's a tertiary character, at best, even when he was on every week.

[likeadeuce.livejournal.com]

Have you seen 'Kiss Kiss Bang Bang'? it's got one of the more awesome takes on the 'making out to hide from the cops' trope, involving Robert Downey, Jr. and Val Kilmer.

[selenak.livejournal.com]

No, and Val Kilmer, you say? Given that Kilmer played Batman for all of one film and there is the Maguire precedent, can we one day get a vid collecting clips of Robert Downey making out with actors portraying superheroes?

[gaspodex.livejournal.com]

Just wondering if you'd picked up on the complete U turn they have done with heroes since firing Loeb ... Looks like Sylars redemption is out the window ..

[herself_nyc]

James Franco was a bit weird about it when Terry Gross asked him how it was to kiss Sean Penn, on Fresh Air. I also really wished she hadn't asked him — I thought she was better than that.

[andraste]

(My favourite reply to the whole "isn't it a trial to play a gay character?" rigmarole still comes from Patrick Stewart, who was asked this when playing a gay supporting character in Jeffrey, a film he shot soon after TNG had ended, and basically went "are you serious?" on the reporter, saying he had played two men so jealous they kill their wives (or try to, one case), Leontes and Othello, and one man who wants to cut out another man's heart (Shylock), and how is it that playing a nice interior decorator is supposed to be a stretch?)

As everyone else has noted already, Patrick Stewart = awesome. One would hope that being attracted to someone of the same gender would be less of a stretch for most actors than, say, being a serial killer. And surely it should be easier to play a person of a different orientation than it is to play an ancient vampire or an immortal pirate or an alien or what have you.

[selenak.livejournal.com]

Mind you, I can believe not all actors find it easy or are good at playing someone with a different orientation - I've always thought Under the Stairs where Richard Burton and Rex Harrison play a gay couple is a tad embarassing for both actors, more so for Harrison - but then I would expect them to be professional about it and not phrase their acting difficulties in a way that's insulting a sizable part of the human race.

On the awesomeness of Patrick Stewart, here's a quote for you you're probably familiar with, also from an interview given not a year after TNG had ended:

Q: Some people have thought Q was gay.

A: I did. Again, I would say this was an impression given you entirely by the quality of the performances rather than by anything that was deliberately placed in the script.[Laughs] John [de Lancie], whose work was brilliant on the show, had a kind of boldness about him, a way of looking at Picard that was provocative. And yes, there was the scene in the bed - although we didn't make that up. That was written, so we've got to commend the writers for that.

[redfiona10.livejournal.com]

My love for both Patrick Stewart and James Franco needs no reason to grow, but oh how it has.