Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Newsweek writer Ramin Setoodeh was widely disliked when he wrote an article in April claiming that openly gay TV star Sean Hayes, best known for his role as the flamboyant Jack in Will and Grace, did not make a convincing straight character in the Broadway play Promises, Promises. In a new article, Setoodeh, who is himself gay, suggests that gay men are not even able to play gay roles because Hollywood prefers to hand them to straight actors.
"The lovable lesbian wives in The Kids Are All Right were played by the heterosexual actresses Annette Bening and Julianne Moore," writes Setoodeh. "The quirky couple in I Love You Phillip Morris were portrayed by straight men Jim Carrey and Ewan McGregor.
"You could say that's why it's called 'acting'. But that's little comfort to gay actors, who are routinely shut out of the studio system, even though Hollywood is supposedly one of the most 'gay-friendly' towns. Movies need to attract the broadest possible audience, and film-makers worry that if they cast a gay person as a romantic lead, audiences will be too grossed out. Instead, straight actors get the roles, and everybody talks about how brave they are."
That's such a shame. It seems every society has its sets of issues. We always feel things are so cool abroad and that everything is ok but no in one way or the other, there is some prejudice that exists everywhere.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2011/jan/04/hollywood-gay-actors-ramin-setoodeh?CMP=twt_fd
