Honey, wake up! There’s a new Harry Styles cover story and he talks about gay sex in it!
As summer comes to an end, we’re on the eve of Harry Styles’ “Movie Star” era, and Rolling Stone is starting the buzz early with a glossy new profile in which the so-called “new king of pop” addresses queerbaiting allegations (sort of) and previews the intimate gay scenes in his upcoming drama, My Policeman.
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On the former matter, Styles keeps things typically vague. Rolling Stone touches on his glam-rock, gender-fluid fashion sense and brings up the fact that some have criticized him for “profiting off queer aesthetics without explicitly claiming the community.” But Styles doesn’t really comment on the matter, instead pulling something of a “look over there!” moment, courtesy of Jaida Essence Hall:
“Sometimes people say, ‘You’ve only publicly been with women,’ and I don’t think I’ve publicly been with anyone. If someone takes a picture of you with someone, it doesn’t mean you’re choosing to have a public relationship or something.”
Related: Harry Styles refuses to label his sexuality: “It doesn’t matter”
Yes, despite being massively popular, adored the world over, Styles likes to keep things private. And here he seems to insinuate that, although we’ve seen him photographed multiple times over with Olivia Wilde (his Don’t Worry Darling director/co-star), it doesn’t confirm he’s in a “public relationship” with her. Nor does it confirm he’s not-not queer… we guess?
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Thankfully, Styles is a bit more straightforward when discussing his highly anticipated role in My Policeman, the 1950s period piece from director Michael Grandage that’s set to premiere next month at the Toronto International Film Festival before its wider release in late October.
Related: Everything we know about Harry Styles’ gay romance ‘My Policeman’ (so far!)
Apparently, the star was sent the film’s script—based on a novel by Bethan Roberts—early on and was so moved by it that he reached out to Grandage to set up a meeting. He plays Tom, the titular officer of the law, who’s pulled between his impending marriage to schoolteacher Marion (Emma Corin) and his illicit affair with museum curator Patrick (David Dawson). For Styles, it’s not so much that My Policeman is a gay romance and more that it’s a universal story about love.
“I think everyone, including myself, has your own journey with figuring out sexuality and getting more comfortable with it,” he says. “It’s not like ‘This is a gay story about these guys being gay.’ It’s about love and about wasted time to me.”
But of course, there will be plenty of “guys being gay” in the film—as has been widely speculated ever since My Policeman‘s initial announcement. Styles has famously teased that he will show bare “bum bum” in the film, and has now told Rolling Stone a bit more about what to expect in the film’s sex scenes:
“So much of gay sex in film is two guys going at it, and it kind of removes the tenderness from it,” Styles says, leaving us to wonder which movies he’s seen that feature “two guys going at it.”
Related: Here’s what Harry Styles’ gay sex scenes will look like in ‘My Policeman’
But, according to the actor, Grandage was more focused on showing what sex is really like between two men. “There will be, I would imagine, some people who watch it who were very much alive during this time when it was illegal to be gay, and [Michael] wanted to show that it’s tender and loving and sensitive.”
Okay, we like tender and loving and sensitive! It’s clear Styles is deeply emotionally invested in My Policeman, and, you know what? We are too. That October 21 release date can’t come soon enough.
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Donston
I don’t think anyone has to be overtly “out” or has to publicly attach to a non “straight” identity or has to confirm that they’ve had non hetero relationships. There are plenty of public figures that we know are definitely “queer” and haven’t done any of those things. And as I’ve said many times, everyone has their own sexuality, sexual journey, preferences, struggles, motivations, arcs with the gender, sexual, affection, romantic, emotion, relationship, commitment spectrum.
I will say that Harry Styles is a brand. And this semi-fem attire (but only in photo shoots and red carpets), might be a bit “gay”, still comes off relatively hetero- it’s all a part of his aesthetic and brand. And the combo has proven to be very profitable. While it’s tiresome how much the media loves to obsess with same-sex sex scenes/make-out scenes between guys who aren’t overtly into guys. They don’t give a rat’s ass about that when it comes to overtly “queer” actors who make it clear they’re into their sex.
bachy
I think the strategy and the appeal behind Styles’ fem attire is that it makes maleness less threatening to the massive teen girl fan base who fell in love with him during his One Direction days. Kinda like seeing someone wearing your team’s colors makes them seem a likely “friend.”
Styles is “on your side,” girls!
Donston
Coming off “non threatening” is a piece of the puzzle, but it’s only one piece. Publicly entrenching in a semi fem look and vaguely queer-ish vibe also allows the majority of his fan base (who are mostly basic white girls in their mid twenties and younger) to feel as if they’ve attached to someone who’s “risky” and “groundbreaking” and doesn’t care about societal “norms”. All while he’s still pretty much masculine and “straight passing” in voice and mannerisms, still appearing at least “mostly into chicks”, making fairly typical and very “straight” pop music, and still being a conventionally good-looking white male. No matter how authentically “fem” Harry is, the dimensions of his sexuality and lifestyle and preferences and dating life, where he is in the gender, sexual, affection, romantic, emotion, commitment spectrum- all that he’s done has been carefully calculated and cultivated. I don’t see it as “problematic”. But it is something that needs to be pointed out to the folks who keep calling him “daring” and shit like that. It’s adjacent, watered down queerness and vague gay-ish-ness for the sake of boring straight/straight-leaning women.
Kangol2
More power to Harry Styles, but I have to say, this site is doing hardcore promo for this movie. I mean, it’s intense enough to start to sound like advertising, just saying….
Donston
Harry is popular, “straight adjacent” and considered a sex symbol (by some). While he’s is in a “gay movie”. The extreme hype is expected. Now watch the movie come and go with lil acclaim or fanfare.
LumpyPillows
Harry is exactly what the left has wanted men to morph into. So, I really think any carping should be limited to the cavemen from the right.
I like him. While the fashion isn’t always a hit, it is a bit refreshing that he seems to not really care if an outfit is perfect. He does seem to look like he needs a good scrubbing sometimes, which I don’t care for, but I’d be willing to give him the scrubbing.
Tallskin
I do wish you yanks would stop uttering such gormless shlt. I am of the left and reject trans bvllshlt as do many of us lefties in the UK. We don’t grasp why blokes cross dressing has become a progressive cause when it’s self evidently simply a sexual kink
What’s happened in yankee doodle dandy land is that progressives and lefties have abandoned the left and moved rightwards. But what does that mean? It was a shallow left wingism if you can just change your value so completely!
What being a lefty means to us here in the UK is a concern with income inequality, housing, good healthcare, high salaries for all jobs, high taxation, high welfare provision, and a govt committed to reducing the massive gap between rich and poor. Not this silly trans nonsense and gender woo woo!
Tallskin
FFS he was a member of a made up boy band. The boy who delivers my coffee in the morning is more attractive, the neighbour’s parrot sings better, my damp gym towel has more charisma.
He doesn’t write his own songs. He doesn’t dress himself, someone does it for him.
And yet he dares to pontificate about gays even though he’s straight with a girlfriend!
He says” “So much of gay sex in film is two guys going at it, and it kind of removes the tenderness from it.” Harry Styles talks about the queer sex scenes in his upcoming “My Policeman”
straight boy, Stay in your lane. Mind your own business. CREEP
bachy
I totally sympathize with your POV!