In today’s Morning Jolt today (available by subscription), Jim Geraghty reflects on “the latest offering from the Family Channel”, a drama called “The Fosters” featuring an interracial lesbian couple raising a “brood of adopted, biological and foster children.”

“After watching the pilot, where the parents come across so saintly,” Geraghty suspects . . .

. . . that the writers will be terrified about portraying them with any flaws, either because they’ll be afraid they’re portraying gay parents negatively, or because they fear their audience will be even momentarily repelled by characters that the entire show’s purpose is to get you to love and accept.

In other words, if Hollywood is afraid to portray a gay character as human, with strengths and failings, moments of character and moments of weakness, and so on . . . are they really being all that groundbreaking or brave or honest in their creation?

Reading that concluding question, I recalled an essay that both Bruce and some eaders shared with me, Bret Easton Ellis’s overlong, but insightful rant, “In the Reign of the Gay Magical Elves,” where the novelist also wondered about Hollywood’s depiction of gays:

The reign of The Gay Man as Magical Elf, who whenever he comes out appears before us as some kind of saintly E.T. whose sole purpose is to be put in the position of reminding us only about Tolerance and Our Own Prejudices and To Feel Good About Ourselves and to be a symbol instead of just being a gay dude, is—lamentably—still in media play.

. . . .

Where’s the gay dude who makes crude jokes about other gays in the media (as straight dudes do of each other constantly) or express their hopelessness in seeing Modern Family being rewarded for its depiction of gays, a show where a heterosexual plays the most simpering ka-ween on TV and Wins. Emmys. For. It?  . . . . But being “real” and “human” (i.e. flawed) is not necessarily what The Gay Gatekeepers want straight culture to see.

Interesting how the views of a conservative pundit and a non-conservative gay iconoclast parallel each other. (more…)

Conservative and libertarian pundits have compared the increasing centralization of power in Washington, D.C. along with the concomitant growth in the city’s wealth (particularly compared to the rest of the country) with that of the Capitol of Panem, the brave new nation, in the Hunger Games universe.  The nation’s wealth flows into the city and power flows out from it.

In December, the Washington Examiner reported that six of the country’s 10 richest counties were in the D.C. area. Obama won all of them.

Tonight, at 9 PM EST, Peter Schweizer and Stephen K. Bannon will be exploring this very notion in a one-hour special on FoxNews, “Boomtown: Washington, the Imperial City” which, according to Breitbart News will report “how Washington’s power elite leverage their crony connections to vacuum taxpayer wallets, bankrolling their lifestyles of luxury and opulence—all under the guise of what’s best for America.”

H/t: Reader R, through this link, who though we should promote it.

I have been a fan of Jodie Foster even before confirming, even before hearing, that she liked the ladies.  She is an incredibly versatile actress who has crafted a number of powerful performances, with my favorite one that earned her only a handful of nominations, and two only wins, but no Oscar, not even a nomination, the 1997 film Contact. And I liked her in Panic Room. And she stood out in The Silence of the Lambs, but she did win an Oscar for that–not to mention numerous other honors.

Last night, as nearly everyone knows by now, she, without using the “L” word, acknowledged (as far as I know) for the first time in a public forum that she once had a romantic relationship with another woman and asked, as per the Yahoo! headline below, that people respect her privacy:

. . . I already did my coming out about a thousand years ago back in the Stone Age, in those very quaint days when a fragile young girl would open up to trusted friends and family and co-workers and then gradually, proudly to everyone who knew her, to everyone she actually met. But now I’m told, apparently that every celebrity is expected to honor the details of their private life with a press conference, a fragrance and a prime-time reality show. (more…)

Several years ago, when I learned that Peter Jackson was helming a screen adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit, I found myself scribbling out a plan (not quite an outline) how I would handle the challenging process of producing a prequel to a successful film trilogy, knowing that the book had been written long before the author had even imagined the story behind that trilogy.

That is, in Tolkien’s imagination, The Hobbit came first.

For many filmgoers, however, the Lord of the Rings would be their first taste of the Beowulf scholar’s fantastic realm.

Tolkien himself provides the key.  In the short narrative, “The Quest for Erebor” published by his son Christopher in  Unfinished Tales of Númenor and Middle-earth, he reports of an exchange that took place in Minas Tirith shortly after the coronation of King Elessar.  Some members of the fellowship had asked Gandalf how he had come to ask Bilbo to join the thirteen dwarfs in their quest to recover their treasure — and their long-lost mountain home — from the dragon Smaug (i.e. the quest that takes place in the movie released today).

That is where I would begin it, with the members of the fellowship sitting around in a house (or a pub?) in the restored capital of Gondor, asking Gandalf that very question.  We would fade from his telling not to the first scene in the book (i.e., The Hobbit), with the wizard approaching the hobbit at his home, but to the scene presented in that tale, with him encountering Thorin just outside the village of Bree.

Thorin would show some reluctance to including the hobbit, perhaps familiar with Bilbo’s very bourgeois and bland father.  Durin’s heir would eventually defer to the Maia whom Manwë himself had dispatched to Middle-earth.

Even as he accepts the wizard’s choice, the dwarf leader would often find himself at odds with Bilbo.  The film would present the two as almost opposites, with a tension between them similar to that we often see in cop movies with such pairings.

Now that I have outlined how I would have adopted the classic book, I am prepared to see the movie.  I’ve tried not to watch the previews, but have seen in at least one an image of Cate Blanchett reprising her role as Galadriel, so it seems Jackson has made some changes, given that this daughter of Finarfin does not appear in The Hobbit.  Nor in fact do any women.

I wish I could go into this without expectations, but having been a Tolkien geek for the better part of my life, I cannot alas.

Every since I saw The Sum of All Fears, I have been reluctant to see a movie featuring Ben Affleck. He has this wooden screen presence, coming across, at best, like an underwear model. He sometimes seems like a cardboard cut-out with moving part who sucks the energy out of whatever scene he’s in.

About a month ago, when I first saw a trailer for Argo , I wondered that it engaged me, even as the bearded lead was clearly Affleck.  Maybe he would come across as wooden in the next trailer.  That didn’t happen.  Each time I saw the trailer, I became more interested in watching the film.

I saw it last night and it’s really good, with an excellent script; it moves along at a nice pace.  Not only is Affleck’s direction top-notch, but the editing is simply amazing.  And while it clearly falls into the action/adventure/thriller genre, it has some really funny lines, mostly those making fun of Hollywood.

Now, this is not to say it’s a “perfect” film on the order of, say, The Godfather or On The Waterfront.  The beginning was a little off (and its history a little inaccurate) and there was a cheeseball chase scene toward the end.  But, other than that, it really holds your attention — and sometimes keeps you on the edge of your seat.

If you haven’t already, see this film.

Meanwhile, I’m reconsidering my opinion of the star of Gigli.  He can certainly direct.  And in this film, he can act.

I had not heard for the actress Stacey Dash before I learned of the flak she was receiving for endorsing Mitt Romney. What struck me was not the flak which celebrities have come to expect when they come out in support of a Republican, but that an actress would risk that flak by so coming out.

Maybe it’s that this actress who seems as intelligent as she is attractive senses something going on in this country or perhaps she’s been hearing Hollywood friends and associates (less courageous than she) grumbling about Obama and considering Mitt Romney.  Two days ago, everyone was all abuzz over writer Buzz Bissinger’s piece in the Daily Beast where he put forward his reasons for backing Mitt Romney.

What makes that piece “so damaging“, writes Jeff Greenfield, is that Bissinger “is not retreating from his Democratic roots, nor even embracing Romney’s policies. Rather, he has concluded that Obama is ‘burnt-out. … He is no longer the chosen one.’”  And the acclaimed writer, notes Greenfield, is not the only one in the media establishment who is distancing himself from Obama.

Could this be a sign of more folks in this (in recent years) traditionally Democratic industry backing away from Obama? At Mediaite, Noah Rothman finds that  ”The media” have “shown a conspicuous lack of resolution to continue defending the administration“:

The media has shown a willingness to let the chips fall where they may when it comes to finishing the White House’s sentences for them. This is a significant and unexpected development, and it should horrify the Obama campaign. They may have squandered their greatest asset in the last week. The end of the media’s infatuation with Obama may be the greatest casualty of the debate.

(Rothman via  Joy McCann.)

FROM THE COMMENTS:  V the K ”can’t help wonder if a similar cultural shift happened in the 50s/60s. At one time, the leftist counterculture was on the outside, and leftist actors and writers were blacklisted. Then, it began to tip the other way, and eventually the leftist counterculture became the dominant culture. Wonder if it is now starting to tip and eventually conservatism will once again be the dominant culture.”  We can only hope.   For such a change.

ALSO FROM THE COMMENTS:  Howard Towt contends this is “evidence of the Coming Preference Cascade described by Glenn Reynolds”: (more…)

RELATED: Stacey Dash: I picked my candidate by the content of his character

Up in the Santa Barbara area to hobnob with friends from my grad program in myth (and attend a myth conference).  This afternoon, we took a break to see the hit movie 2016: Obama’s America. Not sure I buy the thesis, but was impressed at the size of the crowd. It looked like over 150 people there for a 1 PM matinee on a Friday. And take a gander at the marquee at the theater where we caught the flick:

Seems an equal opportunity theater, going from showing a movie quite critical of Obama to hosting Obama apologists.

The flick did do one thing which all too many in our legacy media have failed to do, inquire into Obama’a intellectual background, finding the individuals who and considering the ideas which influenced the future president.

Folks in the media keep suggesting that we really don’t know much about Mitt Romney, but, well, we know a lot less about the incumbent President of the United States than we do about the man vying to replace him.  And we knew even less about Barack Obama in 2008 when he, like Mr. Romney this week, was first nominated by a major political party for the highest office in the land.

Last night before bed, I outlined a few posts I wanted to write today, only one related to politics, the others related to dating, putting things in perspective and how a bad movie can put you in a foul mood (might have used that last one to talk a bit about the 1983 Scarface remake, a film which exulted in violence and do little to show any positive examples of humanity).  (In many ways the opposite of the underrated 1932 original which didn’t show the gruesome death scenes, just moved the camera away from the scene and let you hear the shot.)

Anyway, had wanted to build upon the two posts I did get up this afternoon, perhaps as soon as this evening (Pacific Time), but most likely (if at all) tomorrow.

Just a lot of little things hit this afternoon, along with various complications (mostly minor, but generally inconvenient).  Does seem that whenever I resolve to slow down my blogging or, in this case, work on some “thought” pieces nearer and dearer to my heart, some issue or issues come up about which our readers expect us to blog.

Will do my best to get back to regular blogging as soon as is feasible.

Anne Hathaway plays Catwoman in the latest Batman movie, The Dark Knight Rises where Matthew Modine returns to the screen as Foley.  Twenty-four years ago, Modine was in Married to the Mob where he fell for Michelle Pfeiffer who played Catwoman in Batman Returns.

Meanwhile, in the contest for cattiest Catwoman, it’s a real cat fight between Eartha Kitt and Julie Newmar, with Kitt coming out first:

Perhaps, a runoff is in order between her and Hathaway?  Now, Kitt is comfortably cattier, but Hathaway is darker and more duplicitous, very much a female Han Solo with a bit more of an edge.

Having stayed up late last Thursday to see the Dark Knight Rise first thing Friday morning, those in the Aurora cinema when the  shooter walked in were obviously big Batman fans.  Thus, it would be a big deal if the actor playing the caped crusader in that film stopped by to visit the wounded among them.

The Denver Post reports that said actor did just that:

Christian Bale, star of the Batman films, met at the Medical Center of Aurora on Tuesday afternoon with seven patients injured in the mass shooting that occurred during a midnight showing of his new film.

Bill Voloch, interim president of Medical Center of Aurora, said Bale spent about 2½ hours at the hospital, where he met with five people still being treated for their injuries. Two others came from Swedish Medical Center to meet Bale, who stars at Batman in “The Dark Knight Rises.

“The patients were really happy to meet Bale,” Voloch said. “They are obviously big fans of his movies. They wanted to see Batman and were really pleased to see Bale.”

Not only is Bale a great actor, but he is also a great guy.  This guy is a mensch.

Anyone who has spent time about Hollywood wannabes (and yes, I once was just such a wannabe) knows that talent, hard work and determination do not necessarily yield success in this town.

Here, you see people work hard, hone their craft, invest their own money and receive little return.  They may audition for countess roles and never get cast.  They may write, rewrite and re-rewrite scripts only have production companies reject them having only read the log-line or the first few pages.  They may raise their own funds and devote their own time to producing a movie, only to see it languish it film festivals — and never get a distribution deal.

And then you’ll see someone else, knowing the right people (or knowing the people who know the right people) or having the look — or the story — they’re looking for, move to town and find success in a matter of moments.  It may not seem fair, but that’s just the way it is in a competitive business.  Hard work here does not necessarily yield reward.

Perhaps, President Obama was thinking of the way things work in this part of the world when he remarked last Friday in Roanoke, Virginia that “there are a whole bunch of hardworking people out there”:

If you were successful, somebody along the line gave you some help. There was a great teacher somewhere in your life. Somebody helped to create this unbelievable American system that we have that allowed you to thrive. Somebody invested in roads and bridges. If you’ve got a business — you didn’t build that. Somebody else made that happen.

He’s right that every successful person received help along the way.  There’s a reason the ancient Greeks honored Athena — and depicted her helping their heroes.  They knew a man often required the assistance of others to accomplish his goals.

He is, however, wrong about who made things “happen.”  Although most entrepreneurs received assistance as they built their enterprises, they did indeed build them.  No one makes it own their own, that is, without the support of others.  (And more often that support comes from the private sector, a venture capitalist, an encouraging friend or family member, a devoted mentor.)

In the end though, it is, by and large, an individual’s grit and determination which account for his success.

Far too often, in the entertainment industry, however, hard work alone often yields little reward.  Such is the nature of a highly competitive field. (more…)

With just three days until the Dark Knight Rises, we at GayPatriot have been wondering whether Anne Hathaway can hold a candle to the cattiest of Catwomen, Eartha Kitt:

Perhaps we should poll our readers to see who was the cattiest. . . . Was it Miss Kitt, or perhaps Halle Berry or maybe Lee Meriwether, not to mention Julie Newmar or who could forget Michelle Pfeiffer?

Seems my gay friends are torn between Eartha and Julie while my straight male friends gravitate toward Michelle.

Two of the greatest conversations in cinema history are set in cars, one between two brothers, Marlon Brando‘s Terry Mally and Rod Steiger as his brother Charley in On the Waterfront when the former laments that he could have been a contender, the second, between two women, Bette Davis‘s Margo Channing and Celeste Holm‘s Karen Richards in All About Eve when their car has run out of gas as part a stratagem the latter arranged to try to diffuse the growing tension between Davis and Anne Baxter‘s eponymous Eve.

Holm who never enjoyed the leading status of Davis, excelled in supporting roles, winning her first Oscar in just such a role, Elia Kazan’s “1947 dramatic examination of anti-Semitism, “Gentleman’s Agreement.”  The stage and screen actress who played “a smart fashion editor” in that film died today in New York.  She was 95.

“Though a screen natural,” reports Robert Simonson in Playbill,

Ms. Holm resolved that she preferred stage work over film, and made few movies after “All About Eve.” She had first made her mark on Broadway as the original Ado Annie in Oklahoma!, kicking up her gingham skirts and singing about being a girl who “cain’t say no.” The year after, in 1944, she topped the bill, playing a Civil War-era feminist in Harold Arlen and E.Y. Harburg’s Bloomer Girl. The show was a hit and ran for two years. Following her stay in Hollywood, she returned to Broadway with another hit, the comedy Affairs of State by Louis Verneuil. Ms. Holm played Anna Leonowens during Gertrude Lawrence’s vacation from the role in The King and I.

Most of us (alas!) did not have the good fortune to see this talented woman on stage, but she shone in her every screen performance, an incredibly talented woman whose performances either equalled or, more often exceeded those of the leading ladies — and men — her roles supported.

I am about to set off to volunteer yet again at Outfest, LA’s gay and lesbian film festival.  If you’re in the LA area, you can still buy tickets for some great shows.

Over the years, as a Theater Manager, in many ways the ears of the festival, I have heard criticism of the films selected and even about the very idea of a gay film festival, now with the mainstreaming of gay individuals (e.g., Ellen DeGeneres and Neil Patrick Harris) and gay themes and with gay movies regularly selected by other festivals.

I have also heard much praise–how people wish the festival were longer.  Or that it took place in the winter as well as the summer.

There is a spirit this festival has.  I have found it easier to be openly Republican at Outfest than in perhaps any other gay endeavor in which I have participated (save, of course, gathering of our blog readers and meetings of Log Cabin).  Some people do rib me for my politics, but in a friendly manner.  Most accept me for who I am.  And I am not the only right-of-center Theater Manager.  Nor the only Republican supporter of this festival.

Something seems to happen at Outfest.  A number of people notice this every year.  It is one of those few places where you can really feel a gay community.  Others notice that as well.  When some suggest that there is no longer the same “need” for a gay film festival as there was at the first Outfest thirty years ago, I remind them of the sense of community we feel when this particular festival begins — and how many gay people look forward every year to that Thursday in July when we gather downtown at the Orpheum to celebrate our stories on celluloid.

FROM THE COMMENTS:  Neptune wonders “if this is a place where you feel more of a ‘community’ because everyone in attendance has an interest in film? In other words, because no matter your politics, you are all there due to something you have in common? To me, that would be a primary drive of that community feeling.”  Good point.

One of the truly great character actors of the last century has passed.  According to IMDb, “Ernest Borgnine, the rugged, stocky actor with a brassy voice and the face of the local butcher, died today in Los Angeles at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center of renal failure. He was 95.”

A few years ago at Outfest, I had the good fortune to meet this great actor and good man.  He was attending the screening of a film in which, I believe, he played a bit part.  He was a real class act, agreeing to pose for pictures with volunteers and other festival patrons.  When I told him how much I enjoyed his performance in Marty (for which he won an Oscar) — and how that film has stood the test of time, moving us still today, his face lit up in a smile.  ”We made a good picture”, he said.

This the concluding scene from that very, very good picture.

He didn’t always play lovable butchers, playing heavies in such films as From Here to Eternity, Bad Day at Black Rock and The Wild Bunch.  And although he was, in life, a nice guy, on screen he made the malice of this dark characters readily manifest.

To my father’s generation, he was one of the most ubiquitous and versatile character actors on the big screen and the lead in the TV series, McHale’s Navy for which he won an Emmy nomination.  My generation got him in TV movies and mini-series.  And my nieces and nephews know him primarily as Mermaidman on the long-running cartoon, SpongeBob SquarePants.  This first generation American (his parents were born in Italy) has indeed had a distinguished career.

Ernest Borgnine has been gainfully employed in the entertainment industry for over six decades — and leaves behind an incredible body of work, including a number of classic films.  He will be missed, but his performances will endure.

FROM THE COMMENTS:  ”He”, observed ohiochili, “could make you believe he was a saint or a scumbag.”  Yes, he could.

First line of this Yahoo! report pretty much sums it up:

Anderson Cooper has confirmed what most people in the media world and New York already knew: he is gay.

“The fact is, I’m gay,” Cooper wrote in an email to Daily Beast blogger Andrew Sullivan. “Always have been, always will be, and I couldn’t be any more happy, comfortable with myself, and proud.”

I suppose I’m supposed to say something very witty about this, but, well, words fail me.  Perhaps not that Cooper has come out, he won’t feel the need to put on his Edgar R. Murrow “serious journalist” pose.

UPDATE:  Glenn Reynolds laments that he wasn’t told, deadpanning “I mean, who knew, right?”

UP-UPDATE:  A Facebook friend (Bryan Glick of ‘The Film Collaborative‘ and ‘Ariztical Entertainment‘) quips, “Does this even have to be announced? It’s right up there with Dolly Parton saying she wears makeup and Lindsay Lohan saying she has made bad choices.”

UP-UP-UPDATE: Ann Althouse has a fun poll up on the issue; I was pleased to learn that I voted with the majority on this one.

Sometimes things just seem weird (giving that word its original meaning).

On Tuesday, I mentioned Matt Bomer’s coming out in a blog post.  That evening, joining my friend Bridget Johnson for a drink with several other of her friends, including Greg Hernandez, I learned of that latter’s blog, Greg in Hollywood.  And on that web-site, Greg mentioned the aforementioned actor in this post:

But it is clear that Bomer, star of USA Network’s hit White Collar and a co-star in Magic Mike which opens in Friday, doesn’t want to simply be known as ‘the openly gay actor.’

‘What we really have to do is stop the adjective before the job title—whether it’s ‘black actor,’ a ‘gay actor’ or ‘anything actor,” he said. ‘Everybody thinks that equality comes from identifying people, and that’s not where equality comes from. Equality comes from treating everybody the same regardless of who they  are. I hope the media and the press catches on to that because it’s time to move out of 1992.’

If that’s what “equality” is, I’m all for it.  To achieve that goal, we don’t need to expand the scope of government, only change attitudes of individuals.  And that’s already happening — as evidenced by the reaction to Bomer’s coming out.

*as well as the quality of his work — and the nature of his accomplishments.

Yesterday, I alluded briefly to the gay subplot in he Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. Graham Dashwood’s story is one (of many reasons) to see the film.

As I think back on that British film, it struck me how sometimes the most touching portrayals of gay men in film occur in mostly straight movies. The first time I saw such a story realized on screen was the 1994 release Four Weddings and a Funeral. I don’t recall the word “gay” ever being used to portray the relationship between Simon Callow‘s Gareth and John Hannah‘s Matthew, but the actors, one of who is straight, made clear the loving nature of relationship between the men.

Here Matthew eulogizes his late lover:

So powerful had been Hannah’s performance that I was long convinced he was gay. And yet according to IMDB, he’s been married to the same woman for the past sixteen years.

Interesting how we’ve seen some of the most touching portrayals of same-sex romance in British cinema.

FROM THE COMMENTS:  Neptune remembers

. . . a line from that movie that Hugh Grant’s character delivered after Gareth’s funeral. Something to the effect of “Here we are always talking about hoping to get married when for all intents and purposes two of us already were.” For some reason that line always struck me for how it reflected on the very routine acceptance of these two male friends’ relationship. It made a point without being in anyone’s face I thought.

And perhaps that’s why it works so well.