The Venice Film Festival, the film festival that is not Cannes or Sundance, was in a jolly gay mood this weekend when it handed Colin Firth the Best Actor award for playing gay in A Single Man, which just happened to be directed by gay designer Tom Ford, who won the Queer Golden Lion award, a unofficial prize not associated with the festival, and handed out to masculine overachievers who show off their chest hair.
In the film, Firth plays George Falconer, a college professor reeling from the death of his partner. Firth, who says the award is his career’s most notable, received the honor from a jury headed by none other than Ang Lee. The gays run Hollywood. And Venice.
Lloyd Baltazar
I love Tom Ford. He is a designer GENIUS and also a strong advocate for Gay and LGBT rights in the fashion industry. A very influential man both on the Queer road and also on the fashion runways of this country. I think he should continue to do what he does best and continue to empower the Gays and Lesbians in the Los Angeles community.
Robert
Um, Ang Lee isn’t gay.
The Gay Numbers
Your coverage is odd.
Mr. Enemabag Jones
Another het getting awarded for playing queer. When are they going to start giving awards to queers who play straight?
Mr. Enemabag Jones
I also love how they gave Firth a regular award that is handed out every year; but gave some made up queer award to Tom Ford. Did Ford have to sit in the queer balcony seats of the theater to watch the film? Fucking breeders.
Sam
@Robert: Yeah, that’s what I was thinking. A straight actor playing gay wins an award from am jury lead by a straight director who directed straight actors who played gay.
How do the gays rule Hollywood, exactly?
The Gay Numbers
Uhm- you think Ford is straight? Wow.
Cam
@The Gay Numbers: He never said that Tom Ford was straight, what he said was….
A straight actor (Firth) playing gay wins an award from am jury lead by a straight director (Ang Lee) who directed straight actors (Heath Ledger and Jake Gillenhall) who played gay.
His point was that the only gay person in the mix was Tom Ford.
AlwaysGay
I completely agree with Sam and Mr. Jones.
The Gay Numbers
The book was written by a gay person. I do not know for certain, but I imagine the screenwriter is also gay. Ford made a statement about marriage equality. You do not know the sexuality of any of the other people involved. That is to say- movies are collaborations. You assume out of ignorance the only element that matters is the one Queerty is using.
Unless you and the other idiots on this site are arguing that everyone involved in the project must be gay (which surrenders to absurdity), you are not really making any point other than whining.
What you really seem to be doing is searching for a reason to bitch that there are not enough bankable gay actors. This complaint is a valid one. I just wish some of you had enough common sense to know when to make it rather than lazily making it in every situation that involves a gay character.
Do you even know, for example, whether a bankable (the most important element for movie making is whether they can draw money to make the movie or money at the box office) gay actor wanted the role? Afterall, we are talking about a role that required an actor of a certain age and ability. There are not many leading actors period. Even few gay ones.
The likelihood of finding these actors will occur in the early age groups because there will be more of them over time. As recently as the early part of this decade, just to give you an example, it was thought in Hollywood that a black actor could not lead a Sci Fi movie,a nd yet that has changed due to a younger actor by the name of Will Smith.
If you want to see things change for gays, that’s how you do it rather than bitching about older actors.
The Gay Numbers
Incidentally, that’s why a NPH, who is becoming bankable, becomes important or, I hope, a TR Knight (assuming he gets other roles). But after all that, the question remains “do they even want the roles.” You seem to assume that they do. I do not make that assumption.
M Shane
I see actor after actor from the UK come out as gay persons, get grabed by Holywood and by God , their histories are altered. Just last night I saw that other Irish boy who played the trany on Plato(very convincingly.) turned into finally a hetero in the film about Dylan Thomas. I can think of half a dozen in the past few years. The guy who was in Capt Hornblower was out with lover and everything as soon as he got big bucks here that was all over. The Queeny queen in Pricilla became a tough Guy Peirce in a number of films now.
For many people money trumps sexual honesty. Colin Firth is a great actor. Who better to play a gay role than a great actor: maybe he is gay?
Sometimes I think that people now sometimes think that because a generation or two of us sacrificed our lives promise for our sexuality that it’s all over. Not so. It is for everyone to be out . Because the marriage thing is here prejudice is not over and Gay libreration is an ongoing battle. At least there are well made movies about us.
The Gay Numbers
@M Shane: If you could name 5 who are bankable (key word “bankable”) leading mean type film actors, then let’s talk. I doubt you can name one leading man type actor. Again, this is a generational thing. Being out and gay has only be acceptable since this decade (when you really think about it) and thus, you are only now seeing people like NPH rise into the potential of super stardom. Certainly, once again, you can not point to many of any actors in the age group of the title character of the film. But, please don’t let reality stop you.
Cam
@The Gay Numbers: You said “The book was written by a gay person. I do not know for certain, but I imagine the screenwriter is also gay. Ford made a statement about marriage equality. You do not know the sexuality of any of the other people involved. That is to say- movies are collaborations. You assume out of ignorance the only element that matters is the one Queerty is using.
Unless you and the other idiots on this site are arguing that everyone involved in the project must be gay (which surrenders to absurdity), you are not really making any point other than whining. ”
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You need to relax. The comment he made was pointing to the fact that this isn’t anything new, it’s more of the same. Why should anybody be surprised that a straight actor got an award for playing gay? It’s nothing new. It’s like seeing the cover of OUT Magazine with the headline “Actress (insert name here) Tells OUT why she LOVES the Gays!” ugh…
robert
How about Neil Patrick Harris, he’s out and getting work?
M Shane
@No. 13 · The Gay Numbers I’m not trying to do battle with anyone. I didn’t and wouldn’t say that there are lead actors in that age group who come to mind who are clearly (closeted gays). I think that my point was to say that even with the new actors, they almost magically lose their gay history& life once Hollywood gets them.
I do think that it deserves to be said that it is marvelous that stories about gays are being told that give a positive , or at least not negative portrayal. A lot of being accepted is being known as human beings. I think thatys true for any minority.
The Gay Numbers
@M Shane: Then we have no beef. I do think there needs to be more out actors, but I think this is a process that has just begun. 10 years ago we would have had a special warning about gays on TV kissing, and now, no one thinks about it or at least they do not protest it enough for us to notice. My guess is that the same barriers are slowly being broken down regarding actors. it will just take time. I do not expect us as a minority to ever become the majority or equivalent to it. It has not happened with any other group in the media. I mean- if you think our representations are limited. Check out representation of Asian groups in America. If you were to look at just American media, you would think there are no Asians on the planet or very few. This is not to apologize for the past. This is to say we need to be able to realize what progress is being made and how so that we do not paint with a broad brush maligning progress along with failure to progress.
The Gay Numbers
@robert: He’s just starting into the echelon that I am thinking of. The issue for him is that he’s a TV actor who has yet to truly make the leap to movies. He’s a very good television actors. And, unlike say Rupert Everett, people like him so maybe he just need that one break through film role. Unfortunately , there is no science to this. Even a lot of straight actors will seem hot say in television and not make the leap to film. I do think NPH, given the right roles, does have the chance to be a break out film star from what I saw on him playing himself in Harold and Kumar. But, that was a gay actor playing straight. I am no sure how a famous gay actor playing gay would play. May be it will be just a question of one step at a time. Break one taboo, and then another, and finally the last one may be gay playing gay without destroying or ghettoizing their career. My guess is that being ghettoized is the fear or labeled as the “gay” actor rather than the actor. Hollywood like to brand and categorize people like that until Hollywood is proven wrong. Sometimes even after it is proven wrong it still likes to keep branding people.
robert
@The Gay Numbers:
You’re probably right about, but I have a gut feeling we’ll see Neil cross over into movies eventually. He’s intelligent, has a positive attitude, a great role model and so damn cute with a large straight and gay following. Things can only get better for him.
John from England(used to be just John but there are other John's)
Uh, does it matter if the actor is gay or not??
The big deal is a very OUT gay fashion designer, has directed a really good movie about a gay guy that is being critically acclaimed!!
Win win.
robert
@John from England(used to be just John but there are other John’s):
In a way, yes it does matter. Why should a straight actor play a gay role and get accolades and praise for it while an openly gay actor doesn’t get any leading role let alone awards or recognition for his or her work and if that were to happen, look what happens to them, they are blacklisted. Its a double standard and blatant hypocrisy. Straight actors by their virtual existence are displaying their own sexual orientation and when gay actors demand a leading role or complain that they get no work, we’re accused of whining, playing the victim.
Look what happened to Jody Foster and Kevin Spacey after they were outed. Have either been offered a leading role in a Hollywood movie since then? If they have, I’m not aware of it.
Fashion designers can hardly be compared to movie actors since the former don’t have to rely on box office dollars to get any work or make a living. If George Clooney came out, assuming he might be gay, do you really think he’d get any more leading roles? I don’t think so.