David Mixner had an interesting post about how straight media ignores the larger themes of hit gay movies to concentrate on the perceived ick factor. The post’s money shot:
“One of my biggest regrets with “Brokeback Mountain” is that I did not speak out as we allowed this work of art to become a national joke. Not only did our straight friends mock it with one liners and parodies but, the LGBT community was first in line to make a joke out of a movie that had a powerful message for all to hear. It was a movie about love, the destruction of the closet, gay-bashing and the definitions of masculinity. Unfortunately, most missed these powerful messages as we watched clip after clip on “YouTube” of different, humorous (yes, they were funny) versions of “Brokeback Mountain”. The result of this was that we laughed “Brokeback Mountain” right out of an Academy Award. Please lets not allow the same thing to happen to “Milk” this year.”
He then rails against the recent David Letterman interview with the co-star of Gus Van Sant’s movie about the assassination of the country’s first elected openly gay politician, Harvey Milk (played by Sean Penn). See trailer after jump.
Why? Because Letterman focused the interview on what it was like to kiss another man, not the larger themes of the movie.
Is he right? Ahem. I watched the clip (below)–yes, they were a little awkward, but it was cute actually, especially when franco kissed Letterman. Look, straight guys WHO ARE NEVER GOING TO SEE OR RENT MILK, witnessed two famous straight guys talking about kissing men in a way that was not threatening, slightly comic and somehow ok.
I don’t disagree that they lowered the conversation from courage, freedom and the sacrifice that is often the midpoint between the two, but HELLO, it’s Letterman. It’s TV. It’s comedy. And the truth is, “what it’s like to kiss a guy” has more resonance to straight men than a movie they’re never going to see.
I thought the interview made the kind of impact that everyone hopes the movie will make–to question, to engage, to reveal a higher truth. The best way to change people’s mind is to meet them where they are and invite them forward. Letterman and Franco reflected straight male discomfort (meeting them where they are) then pulled them toward a “no big deal” attitude that ended with a sweet peck on the cheek. Sometimes, distractions from the point of a movie makes a bigger point.
The Letterman Interview:
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The trailer for “Milk”:
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