When one is casting a film for a lead role we always have to ask that awful question: ‘Who puts bodies in seats?’ Who has carried movies previously? Sadly, there don’t seem to be openly gay actors that could carry a movie, but I think that will change.

Perhaps Mr. Jinks' expectations of gay actors getting those juicy lead roles will happen sooner than later if the moviegoing audiences would embrace some of the upcoming gay-themed movies and therefore, convince the Big Studios to think again.

Gay movies and the modern moviegoer: But what are the most important factors that would convince moviegoers to watch these films? Is it the story? Perhaps the cast and especially the lead actors? Would off-screen controversy help? How about the notoriety or popularity of the main characters? Will love scenes be a plus or a minus factor? Let's take a look at two upcoming movies - Milk and Little Ashes - both with a definite gay flavor...and right after,  join in the discussion and tell us what you think!

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Inside the world of Harvey Milk: Gus van Sant's latest feature, Milk, is not being as actively promoted as his other 'high-profile' movies.  I might be wrong and I might have been looking at the wrong movie sites or blogs or perhaps I missed an awesome article at the NY Times, or some other paper with an interview or a report. I've seen a few, but nothing with more than a two paragraph post.

I guess, I'm lucky to read one great article, out of the 20 or so online publications that boast of having a Milk article..

I have cried every single day since we started working," said Cleve Jones, 53, a longtime gay activist who is best known as creator of the NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt. Jones is working as an historical consultant on "Milk" and will be portrayed in the film by "Into the Wild" star Emile Hirsch.

So many of the things we take for granted now, in the age of 'Will & Grace' re-runs and Mark Leno and Carole Migden holding office, were unimaginable not so long ago," said Jones. "You didn't need to be an activist or even particularly smart to know, at the time, that you were part of something incredibly, powerfully new. Daniel Nicoletta, who went to work in Milk's camera store in 1975 and calls himself a "torch bearer of his memory," said, "I'm just thrilled I'm alive to see this happening. There's something epic about it being a feature film, because people respond to them so strongly in this culture." Nicoletta helped with historical research for the movie.

"I'm happy that they're using the actual locations," said Marc Huestis, a film director ("Way Cool," "Sex Is") and producer who knew Milk well. "More than just for veracity. I think there's a spiritual element to that." For others, the filming activates events that they know only as part of the city's history and lore. Jerrad Bohl, a 23-year-old extra who is playing a 1970s hippie, learned about Milk in a class on gay and lesbian history he took at City College. Standing across the street from Milk's reconstructed Castro Camera store, Bohl sported shoulder-length blond hair and a pair of studded bell-bottom jeans. Being involved in the film is "very cool," he said. "It's definitely exciting to be part of this."

While these people are proud that Harvey Milk's story will finally be seen on the big screen, it seems others continue to regard anything that has something to do with homosexuals as being 'bad' and a 'sin'. Says someone with quite a strong opinion:

I'm a Christian and I'm not freaking out over it. It's what to be expected. Being gay is just as bad as any other sin. Yes, being gay/lesbian is a sin. Although I won't see this movie (not because I'm homophobic) but because...well, it makes me sick. But Sean Penn will go home empty handed once again.

I'm afraid he maybe right...about the Christian thing? No, about Sean Penn getting an Oscar snub. I remember reading an article about how one of the members of the Academy, the same people who give away the Oscars, remarked that he's not going to watch any gay movie, much less vote for it. Let's go back memory lane:

Although the Academy requires members to see all five documentaries and all five foreign films before voting in those categories, there is no such requirement in any of the other categories. Perhaps it is time for new by-laws. It was widely reported that two Academy members refused to see "Brokeback Mountain" because of its gay subject matter, and anecdotal evidence that others also refused. Of course, some members no doubt voted for the film because of its theme. Members are free to vote however they want, but I think it is reasonable to expect them to see the films first, and I am awaiting apologies from Tony Curtis and Ernest Borgnine, who shamelessly went public with their refusals.

Here's what Ernest Borgnine was reported to have said, as I quote it from Alternative Film Guide:

According to numerous reports, Borgnine himself didn’t seem to know what it was all about Brokeback Mountain, when he reportedly told Entertainment Weekly, "I didn’t see it and I don’t care to see it. I know they say it’s a good picture, but I don’t care to see it. If John Wayne were alive, he’d be rolling over in his grave."

But can two votes really matter? Perhaps, if those voters are influential enough to ask others to do the same...But I'm getting ahead of myself now.

- - -

Let's have Little Ashes first...

Looking for some "Little Ashes": When we took it upon ourselves to launch a promotional website for Paul Morrison's Little Ashes, only few information were available about the movie.

It's good that Regent Releasing provided the viewers with an official movie site, but still, fans of Robert Pattinson seem to be asking for more. In this case perhaps, the cast and the lead actors will definitely have a lot to do with the film's success at the box office. But will that be the case even for a gay themed movie? That's for our viewers to say...

Little Ashes is, of course, all about the young life and loves of artist Salvador Dalí, filmmaker Luis Buñuel and writer Federico García Lorca.

Set in Madrid, Spain in the 1920s, it tells the story of the meeting of these three young artists and how two of them discovered that their friendship might take on a more serious tone...

While Little Ashes is still doing its rounds of the Festival circuit, reviews are up and here's one review in particular that brings in lots of the goods:

Remember me when you are at the beach and above all when you paint crackling things and my Little Ashes. Oh my Little Ashes! Paint my name into the picture so that my name will mean something in the world

In the darkened theatre these beautiful heartfelt lines appeared on screen, and the film had begun. From this we cut to an 18 year old Dali getting ready to move to Madrid, with his funny hair and his clothes from another time, it is obvious from the start that he does not fit in – yet he desperately wants to not only be accepted but to achieve greatness.

We are introduced to the social elite of the Resi – the newly published Lorca and the loud, flamboyant and variable Bunuel (actually it’s Luis this term). The charisma of this group is clear from the beginning and the talents of the cast are obvious.

The film takes us through the meeting of Dali and Lorca (hilarious moment when Lorca catches Dali watching him from a window and he pretends he’s sleeping) and Dali’s acceptance into the group. [ read more ]

At this time, there are already comments from fans that perhaps this movie might be a bit too 'foreign' for their taste. While such reactions are in the minority, those who have seen it could only rave about the movie, and its good that plenty of those who read the reviews are excited and looking forward to it. However, will the same kind of reaction be expected from ordinary moviegoers?

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What's on your mind? I believe that brings me back to my original questions. If given the chance to watch Milk or Little Ashes or both, what would be the most compelling factor for you to do so?

Will it be because of the story and that it really interest you? Are you going to watch Milk because you admire Sean Penn and also want to watch Emile Hirsch, Josh Brolin and James Franco? In the case of Little Ashes, will you watch it because of Robert Pattinson? Will offscreen controversy like the history of Harvey Milk or the notoriety of Salvador Dali convince you to see these films? Finally, can Milk or Little Ashes stand a chance of getting a nomination at the Oscars (this year for Milk and perhaps 2009 for Little Ashes)?

Let us know what you think!

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Comments (24)

Wow...I could write a book...

...I just don't know where to start. I guess I'll begin by answering the question as to why I'd like to see Little Ashes: My primary reason is because I am a Rob Pattinson fan. My secondary reason is because, having now read a bit about the lives of Dali, Lorca & Bunuel, I am fascinated by their stories.

Why this is interesting for me on a personal level is that I'm also a Christ-follower. Some would say that I'm crossing/blurring lines by even wanting to see this film. Some would go so far as to say I can't be a Christian if I would support a film like Little Ashes. I strongly disagree.

While there is no doubt about what the Bible has to say about homosexuality, it is also clear what the Bible has to say about greed, lust, anger and many other things that we, as humans, believers and non-believers alike, deal or struggle with on a DAILY basis. I am of the camp that there is not a person alive who hasn't had SOME impure thought about a person of the same gender (yes, myself included). And how many of us have sat through even a PG-13 movie with lust in our hearts? Let him who is without sin cast that stone...Yet we DON'T cast that stone, do we?

What moves me about this film ~ well, any film really, is the human struggle. And some struggles have been harder in different periods of history. Little Ashes, I believe, will be brilliant, not because it's about star-crossed lovers or merely the 'frustrated homosexual,' but because it deals HONESTLY with the struggle of the human soul.

In closing this comment, I'd just like to add that Christ was about loving people, not trashing them. If you see someone who claims Christ and you can find no love in them, rather than think them hypocrites (though I would understand that label...), realize that they may not have ever truly met the One who loves them. With ALL their conflicts or confusing thoughts ~ even the ones about *gasps* homosexuality.

Thanks for another brilliant piece, tMF.

Paige T , October 15, 2008

Where do I start??

First and foremost, I have to address the gay issue and the fact its a controversy. This quote made me laugh because of the ignorance of some people:

I'm a Christian and I'm not freaking out over it. It's what to be expected. Being gay is just as bad as any other sin. Yes, being gay/lesbian is a sin. Although I won't see this movie (not because I'm homophobic) but because...well, it makes me sick. But Sean Penn will go home empty handed once again.

There are many problems with this quote. The first being the obvious, being homosexual is a sin. Anyone who thinks that is very, very poorly minded not to mention extremely unintelligent. Not only has it been researched and founded that homosexuality is a genetic disposition, but those little religious therapy sessions that try to 'right the wrong' of being homosexual thus attempting to 'straighten' them, NEVER work. How could people of a certian religion, especially Christians, who pride themselves on being good natured and forgiving and loving and a whole lot of other set of ways the spell out, exemplifying hypocrisy, be so easily inclined to banish and demean people? Not to mention, who made you God? I thought 'God loves all his children'? And lastly but not least, if you're Christian and think on this manner, you better be following every rule in that ancient book that has been written and rewritten thousands of years ago, not to mention numerously translated before you chastise others. Now, I am not speaking for all religious folk because like everything else in life, there are the few exceptions. Religion in general is...well, I am not even going to touch that area. Different discussion....

Secondly, how can anyone question Sean Penn, walking away with hands full of awards? Sure, back in the day he wasn't in the best relationship with the press and all those who had any influence over nominations and awards. Thus, the controversy over Sean going years without anything. The point is Sean is a phenomenal actor, I honestly cannot think of a bad film hes done.

Awards and such should be given out not based on the premise or subject matter. Awards should be based on the talent and metamorphosis an actor goes through to illustrate their characters to the highest caliber. It should NOT be a matter where someone's personal opinion or taste or belief should be associated with. All screenings by judges should be purely objective. Films are for entertainment and an art, belief systems should play not part on who wins an award.

myheartsnsocal , October 15, 2008

Umm...

Films are for entertainment and an art, belief systems should play not part on who wins an award.

Unfortunately, as much as I wish that were true... how we react and respond to art, indeed all elements of our culture, is shaped by WHO WE ARE as people, and that does include our own personal belief systems... There is no avoiding the fact that people will either avoid these movies or slander them purely based on the content... For example, I don't like Gossip Girl and refuse to watch it on principle, purely for what it represents and advocates about our culture...(I know that's an out there example...sorry)

However, I also believe that art should challenge people, make them question their world, their beliefs and opinions... So I will go and see Little Ashes because the story does interest me... the human struggle interests me, regardless of the sexuality of the leading roles...

P.S. I do think its a shame that currently movies about LGBT have to be typically lead by non-LGBT actors... However, I'm all for the day when this fact shouldn't matter at all, and that a persons box office worth is purely talent and merit based :)

jacobi , October 15, 2008

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I admire Rob Pattinson as an actor so I will definitely go and see Little Ashes. I studied Dali when I was younger so thats another reason I'll go and see the film. If the synopsis of a film hooks me then I'll go see it. I dont tend to read critics reviews. I think film makers should sell their films better. One liners on what a film's about just doesnt draw me in. I have read some articles on Milk and that film also sounds interesting. Brookbank Mountain bored me rigid but I suspected as much when I read the synopsis. I should have stayed at home.

helenwa , October 16, 2008

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I would love to see both movies, and not just because of the cast but for the message they each have. I am not well acquainted with Milk, but having some Spanish in me I know about Dalí and truly admire his genius. The love lives of these individuals are still considered taboo to some, but it is great to see so many positive reviews about Little Ashes. I still haven't found a negative one.
Hopefully they will get Oscar nominations, I don't see why they wouldn't.. oh yeah, I forget, the ignorance and fear that lingers around a few of the Academy's members. Tsk Tsk

Maria M. , October 16, 2008

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This is exactly why this has become my #1 site to check everyday-intelligent discussion. Kudos to Paige T.-I agree with you totally. I live in a very conservative area, and have had several friends struggle with homosexuality and acceptance by both others and themselves, so these movies resonate. Having said that, I would not go to a movie purely for the theme; they must also have a story that is compelling. Given the caliber of talent on both of these films, I plan on seeing both (if they are even shown here-not a given by all means-as I said, VERY conservative area). I think any actor has an uphill battle to win awards with the subject matter unless their performance is stirling (i.e.Tom Hanks in Philadelphia or Charlize Theron in Monster). There are a few openly gay actors, but can any carry a major film? The closest would probably be Rupert Everett, a very talented actor who usually takes straight roles. Really, it's ACTING-personal proclivity shouldn't matter in any performance. It's really no ones business who anyone chooses to sleep with, unless it's their own spouse. spouse

Autumn B. , October 16, 2008

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This is exactly why this has become my #1 site to check everyday-intelligent discussion.

I couldn't agree more, Autumn.

(And thanks for the kudos. It's hard sometimes to put yourself out there, especially knowing some people think all religion and all religious people are hater kooks. ;) )

Like you, I'm loving this site more & more, as is evidenced by my daily visits! It started for me with the Twilight & Rob Pattinson articles, and now I'm more interested in Little Ashes, How to Be and all the other wonderful stories here.

Paige T , October 16, 2008

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I see films that either, A) interest me subject matter-wise; B) have talent in them that no-matter what the subject matter, I know based on the casting I will like the film; or C) offer a a couple of hours of mindless entertainment.

Why will I see both of these films? Because of 'A' and 'B' of my list above. I'm not seeing them to make a statement. I'm not seeing them because they make a statement. I'm seeing them because Sean Penn and Robert Pattinson are incapable of giving a bad performance. No one should do do anything just to make a point or make a statement, or because they feel they have to prove something to others.

Milk sounds compelling and Gus van Sant is a genius. Little Ashes, well, I'm more involved with this film, and have ready every review written! It has its own special place in my heart. That aside, it sounds beautiful and funny and heart-wrenching and artistic and just everything I love about a great film. Both have a good story behind a great cast. It's amusing to me, and a little sad, that anyone would not want to see films like that.

The whole religion/controversial issue? There are many, many, many small minded, close minded, individuals who are not only hypocritical about gay vs. straight. They are the same people who put down other religion, just because they don't align with their beliefs. Imagine that, Christ-followers who put down others who follow Christ, or their own form of 'God.' They're the ones who forget that Christ loved EVERYONE. The sick, the lepers, the rich, the poor, the perverse, etc... they say God is perfect and makes man in His image, but then condemn the gays and the sinners who God Himself made! They are walking hypocritical contradictions!! Are these types really the kind anyone wants to be sitting next to in a movie theatre? Not me! I say, stay home! I'll see the films two, three, four times in their place!

blearyeyedmesgirl , October 16, 2008 | url

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Excellent article. You know, since homosexuality doesn't bother me a whit, it never really factors into my movie-going decisions. However, am happy to see that gay-themed movies seem to be gaining a bit more acceptance.

In the end, movies are about the human experience. I am beyond excited to see Little Ashes. As they say, it's my kind of film. I love period dramas. I love looking at historical figures from a different perspective. I love less-than-typical love stories. Who hasn't experienced unrequited love and seen that heartbreak? Does it matter who the people involved are? The fact that the individuals invovled are gay doesn't affect the emotions involved, the pain. If it's done well on screen it will be moving...gay or straight.

tracygee , October 16, 2008

Yay, blearyeyed!

Intolerance isn't limited to the religious, either-MANY people that would in no way consider themselves religious are just as bigoted. My dad not only wouldn't see "Philadelphia" (though he loves Tom Hanks), he would not allow it to be brought into his home when it went to video, and he's one of the least religious people I know. I've been thinking about this today, and I think "Milk" has a better chance of awards, simply because the cast is better known and it is being put out by a bigger studio. "Little Ashes" also holds its own place in my heart-of the two, this is the one I'm sure I'll see, by hook or by crook.

Autumn B. , October 16, 2008

Exactly, Autumn and Tracy!

Intolerance isn't limited to the religious, either-MANY people that would in no way consider themselves religious are just as bigoted.

Yes, exactly...small mindedness/close mindedness isn't limited to ANY 'group' of people...Christian or other-wise.

In the end, movies are about the human experience.

Great point! We're all human and imperfect and feel love and hurt and empathize...etc. Little Ashes seems the epitome of the human experience. Is it portrayed in a traditional way? Who am I to say what's traditional or not? But it's clearly a beautiful experience to see...

blearyeyedmesgirl , October 16, 2008 | url

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If anyone is interested, I picked up a book yesterday called The Shameful Life of Salvadore Dali, by Ian Gibson, that has a wonderful section on Dali's life during the time of Little Ashes. Made me long for the movie's release even more!

Autumn B. , October 17, 2008

Reclaiming History

It would be a wonderful utopia if it truly "didn't matter" whether a film were gay-themed or not, but we don't live in that world, and the hard fact of the matter is that most of the strides gay and lesbian people have made towards full equality and inclusion have arisen out of the courageous work of artist-activists. As a gay artist-activist myself, it matters very much to me that films like these are made, because they offer us a chance to reclaim that which has been stolen from us, particularly our own history.

It's something many people don't think about, but the lives and achievements of gay, lesbian and transgendered people have been buried in lies, deception and shame for over two millennia now. Our history is almost completely lost. And even when evidence does come to light that a great cultural hero was "one of ours," immediately the voices of dissent rise up to decry the facts as "historic revisionism by the radical gay agenda". That's what we're seeing even with Little Ashes.

I have to admit I have not actually read Ian Gibson's Shameful Life of Salvador Dali -- up until very recently he didn't particularly interest me, and it seems the book is out of print at the moment. But, in researching Lorca recently, I have read extensively about it, and the controversy that arose around it. But, it wasn't until just the other day that I happened across the story behind the book, which says all there is to say about the matter.

Dali was very slowly dying over the last nine years of his life, and was in very poor shape in 1986 when Ian Gibson's watershed biography of Lorca was released. Someone had read the book to Dali, and surprisingly enough, he loved it. He loved it so much, in fact, that he summoned Ian Gibson to his death-bedside, desperately wanting to speak to the biographer about his relationship with Lorca before it was too late to do so. Dali could barely communicate at all at the time, but in an urgent mixture of Catalan and Castilian he tried to impress upon Gibson what a perfect soulmate Lorca had been for him, and how much he had wanted to be able to reciprocate the poet's passion for him, but he had simply been "too scared." He went on to tell Gibson the story depicted in the film, where Lorca slept with Marguerita Manso while Dali watched, which Dali had mentioned previously in his autobiography, but so much in that book was obviously fictionalized, it was hard to know if this had been truth or fantasy. Here, on his deathbed, Dali insisted on the anecdote's veracity, and the very fact that painter was reaching out in his last hours to tell these stories to him gave Gibson the firm impression Dali wanted this story told, and wanted him to be the one to tell it. And so, he became Dali's biographer, only to have social-conservatives accuse him of revisionism for having the gall to give equal time and weight to Dali's relationship with Lorca as he did to his relationship with his wife Gala.

Dali lived the last fifty years of his life in a bizarre "open-air theatre of the absurd" behind a mask of his own creation, all of which had its roots in fear of his own sexuality. Lorca himself directly decries that mask and calls for the truth to be told in his play The Public, and here finally, with some of his last breaths, Dali had the courage to take the mask off and clearly and directly speak of his love for Lorca, and of his own fear that destroyed the relationship, and he wanted the story told.

I suddenly have a tremendously increased respect for the man, and I wish I could give him a big hug. But I think that story itself says what this struggle is all about. For me, this isn't about ticket sales or what social conservatives will think or say. Their days are limited -- as Michael Stipe has it, "the future is ours and you don't even rate a footnote now."

There are kids all over this world growing up isolated, ashamed, and just as terrified of their own truth as Dali was of his. It is for them that history needs to be reclaimed and told honestly and fearlessly. That is why I am an artist -- because I know how much artists meant to me growing up in similar circumstances. And the rest of this debate seems rather immaterial to me.

Victor Marzowicz-Velasquez , October 18, 2008 | url

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I would like to address the matter of gay roles going to straight actors. This is again a case of the real world versus the ideal world we don't yet live in. Yes, there are some out gay actors, but so far, none of them have been really "big names," and so the sense persists that to come-out as a gay leading-man type actor would be career suicide. Until we have someone like, um, hmm... I'll just pull a random name out of the air here... let's say Tom Cruise! Yes, until Tom Cruise or someone of his ilk finally comes out to stand-up and be counted, the vast majority of gay actors will continue languishing in the closet for fear of having their work marginalized.

And so, the way I feel about it as things stand is that I'd much rather Peter O'Toole or Al Pacino play Dali than some lesser talent who happens to have the balls to be an out gay actor. I hate to say that, but that's how it goes.

I always find it ironic as hell when people in Kansas or Alabama complain about the "liberal Hollywood agenda" and so forth, because it sure seems to me that mainstream Hollywood film industry is one of the most solidly conservative industries out there. Whenever you have huge sums of money riding on the whims of public opinion, you're going to have pronounced timidity, and that's why small-budget independent films are able to get away with so much more, and so are vitally important.

Victor Marzowicz-Velasquez , October 18, 2008 | url

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Oh yeah, and as for "will it sell?" Absolutely. Salvador Dali™ is a perpetual-motion money-making machine. He succeeded in creating an impenetrable enigma of himself, and people just can't get enough of him -- frankly, the kinkier the better (I'm betting "Dali and I: The Surreal Story" with Al Pacino portraying Dali during his later years of utter and complete decadence and corruption will be a HUGE hit.)

Maybe I'm being foolish, but I'm not thinking Robert Pattinson is going to be a major factor in getting people into the seats here. I think Dali + Sexy Controversy is going to sell this one, because though I know virtually nobody in my real life who knows Robert Pattinson by name, everybody knows (and has an opinion -- usually strongly positive or negative) about Salvador Dali.

I think it's sad that this movie will be seen as controversial, based on an ancient and highly ambiguous quote Dali made while living under the last fascist dictator in Europe, which he frankly later mollified considerably saying he was NOT "repulsed," but just honestly scared of what taking this step would mean. God knows Lorca wanted this story told while it was going on, and Dali on his deathbed reached out to tell it to someone who would make sure it was told. Do people really love the lie and the mask so much that they can't handle the truth?

Victor , October 18, 2008 | url

Victor

Yes, sadly enough I DO think many people prefer the lie, though God knows why. Sexuality is such a charged issue that anything perceived as "deviant" makes many uncomfortable. I am only familiar with the U.S., but i wonder if that is more stringent here than in other places-the U.S. is still such a Puritan nation, despite the trappings of acceptance. It seems to me that a much more livable theory is simply not to care who sleeps with whom (unless it is your own spouse). Frankly, it's none of my damned business.

Autumn B. , October 19, 2008

more

Oh, I forgot to add that I checked the book out at the local library, Victor. It is really quite wonderful and seems well researched, though quite heartbreaking-an anguish that causes such change to a person's character should never happen. I had not heard of Lorca until this movie, although I was familiar with Dali and Bernal. Was Gibson's bio of Lorca well done?

Autumn B. , October 19, 2008

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It was excellent -- by far the best biography ever written on the man. A real watershed. It's probably pertinent to note that Ian Gibson is a man who as a young college student found a second hand copy of one of Lorca's books and
fell in love with him. He changed majors to study Spanish, eventually getting his doctorate in Spanish literature, with his doctoral thesis written on Lorca. He emigrated from Britain to Spain in order to continue his research, and in 1974 came out with the first thorough, objective investigation into the details of Lorca's death, which was banned by the Franco regime before it was even printed! He had the book printed in France, instead. He's put out several books on Lorca over the years since then, including one which was dedicated exclusively to the matter of his relationship with Dali, entitled "El Amor que No Pudo Ser" -- "The Love that Could Not Be." But, it was his 1986 "Lorca: A Life" that was his magnum opus to date, and it became an international bestseller, and is still to this day the apex of Lorca biographies. Then, as I said above, Dali called him to his bedside and more or less requested to be next, and so he was. He is currently working on a biography of Luís Buñuel. So, this particular story has become the man's life's work.

Victor , October 19, 2008 | url

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As for Milk, this is the perfect film for the moment, poised as we are to have the first minority elected President of the United States. Harvey Milk was the first openly gay man elected to high public office ever, and was a true friend to the people -- worked hard to make the city a better place for everybody to live in. Unfortunately, he was assassinated by a reactionary nutter tweaked-out on twinkies, who got barely a slap on the wrist for doing so. I have to admit, with the way McCain is rousing the lowest most reactionary elements of our society at the moment -- all those YouTube videos of rednecks calling Obama a "commie faggot" and "Arab terrorist" and calling for his blood -- I'm honestly afraid of a repeat, and utterly appalled by McCain's complete irresponsibility along these lines.

Victor , October 19, 2008 | url

Scary times, indeed

I live in the south, where racism & bigotry are handed down from generation to generation. It's unbelievable that people in this day & time still believe skin color, sexual orientation & sexism can be so widespread. Granted, it's not everyone (thank GOD), but we live in a rural part of the state, and I've heard the 'anti-Christ' remarks (regarding Obama) personally. Ugh...don't even get me started on that. But I agree with your statement that John McCain & Sarah Palin are stirring that pot. Even with a long-handled spoon, it's irresponsible.

Paige T , October 19, 2008

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What I meant to say was, "It's unbelievable that in this day & time people can still be so hateful, irrational & ignorant in regards to skin color, sexual orientation & gender bias."

*sigh* When things begin to come out all jumbled, it's past my bed time. I'll be back when I'm more coherent. :)

Sorry!

Paige T , October 19, 2008

Thanks, Victor!

Thank you for the info on Gibson's bio of Lorca-that's next on my list. And I said "Bernal", when of course I meant "Bunuel"-I think I join Paige in the "up too late league"!

Autumn B. , October 20, 2008

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I think it's utterly bizarre that in a world where racism, gender bias and most other kinds of discrimination are condemned (even if they are still widespread). Discrimination due to sexual orientation is still so acceptable. The media makes gay men a stereotype to be laughed at and not taken seriously and I was overwhelmed by the number of people who thought it was utterly fine to say that the storyline of Little Ashes "wasn't something they would be comfortable with." and state that they hoped the "sex scenes weren't too obvious or they would have to look away." To me that is no different from saying they would be uncomfortable with watching an interracial love story and who would think saying that was acceptable?
I hope films like Milk and Little Ashes represent a shift in the way gay men are portrayed.

Ash , October 20, 2008 | url

I Participated

I arrived in San Francisco in 1979, after the "newsworthy" stuff was complete. There was still a lot of tension between the police and the gay community for years. Last autumn, my boyfriend and I saw a sign advertising for extras for the Milk film. We tried out and got in. I've already seen myself in the trailer. (Whatever. That's me gloating.)

The important thing is visibility. This film adds another positive viewpoint of the gay community, and another necessary acknowledgement that prejudice exists. The important thing is that people will be discussing the film and its content. Will Sean get an award? A nomination? I hope so, but I'm equally as uncertain about the Presidential election, regarless of the polls.

The world will always be a challenge. I do what I can.

Joe Casserly , October 21, 2008

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