Homoerotic frat boys are the stuff of gay erotic fantasy. And actually, come to think of it, so apparently is Dave Franco. So it makes a kind of roundabout sense that — spoiler alert — Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising finds Franco’s character in a relationship with another man.
As director Nicholas Stoller recently explained to Yahoo! Movies, the decision to have the character come out not only came from the first film’s homoerotic undertones, but from a journalist questioning why the director had never included a gay character in any of his previous movies. “I was like, ‘I don’t know why. I literally don’t know. I have no good answer for that,’” Stoller said. “So this seemed like an organic way to have that happen.”
Related: Dave Franco And Zac Efron Confirmed To Be Dating, James Franco Offers Congratulations
(Oh, Nicholas. I’m sure there’s someone else who has time to explain the ways in which Hollywood has either ignored or misrepresented the LGBT experience to you. I’ll just send you a copy of The Celluloid Closet and call it a day.)
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Related: Everything You Need To Know About Dave Franco’s Bare Butt
The upcoming sequel — which pits Seth Rogen and Rose Byrne against a rowdy sorority lead by Chloë Grace Moretz — finds Franco’s former frat bro Pete essentially inverting the old four-year-queer, gay-till-graduation stereotype. He’s graduated and engaged to his boyfriend, played by hilarious out actor John Early.
Of course, Franco’s character’s role is significantly reduced in Neighbors 2. Meanwhile, director Stoller implies that having Zac Efron’s ripped and often shirtless lead go gay was never an option: “A lot of Zac’s motivations in the first movie, especially with his girlfriend and stuff, seemed pretty straight. It felt like it might seem like a stunt if we made him gay. But it seemed to just work with Dave.”
ethan_hines
Nuice!
Billy Budd
I love Dave Franco. He is so cute and adorable. Actually I like both brothers.
AJAnders
Does it really matter when a director who has been asked many times why he has no gay characters in his movies finally announces one where the gay character will have about 5 minutes of screen time for the whole film?
Seriously. I didn’t even know Franco was in this movie until this interview. He’s not featured in any of the trailers.
Oh well. I guess agonizingly slow progress is still progress. Maybe the gay character in Nick Stoller’s next movie can be upgraded to two scenes instead of one.
Dawson
So is Franco or John Early played to be stereotypically effeminate since most big budget Hollywood film have no clue about gay diversity. Yes the gay guys are normally portrayed in college films as either a effeminate male or as a buffoon or both. Something tells me since these are adults film makers trying to identify with what college kids will laugh at that we are not going to be portrayed as average Joe’s who just happen to be gay. Seeing Franco with the tea cup and not a beer is already giving us signals. Because as we all know once you leave a frat house and live in middle America you suddenly drink tea and dress real pretty and become decorators. Mainstream Hollywood still hasn’t caught up with today. I hope in this case I am wrong.
martinbakman
@Dawson: The teacup is all many in Hollywood could come up with. A real talent would develop some gay symbol that’s actually meaningful AND funny. But then, they wouldn’t be working on a film like this. With just 5 minutes in the movie, Franco’s character can’t be much to look forward to.