So everyone is talking about the Newsweek story. To describe it in one sentence or less, the writer (gay himself) said that openly gay actors struggle to convincingly play straight characters. He referenced both Sean Hayes performance in the revival of Promises, Promises and Jonathan Groff from Glee as two examples of not hitting the straight mark. It's fair to say that this article, and the response to it, has been a media explosion.
Let me give my two cents. I saw Promises, Promises last weekend, and I consider myself a Gleek. I was underwhelmed by Promises, Promises, and my friend who went with me to see it agreed that the major problem was Sean Hayes. It's not about his acting skills, or his credibility, but for my generation, he is iconically known for Jack McFarland. Good or bad, once you put such an indelible stamp on pop culture like Hayes did for almost a decade on mainstream television, it is hard to separate yourself from your character. There were so many moments during the show where Sean slipped into Jack, whether he knew it or not. From head bobbing while dancing to his impeccable delivery of lines, there was so much Jack in him. And I think audiences came to see Jack on stage. So was he convincing as a straight man pining for a woman? No- but it's not because he is gay– it is because he made such an impression playing a gay man and his mannerisms from that character melded into this new performance. Plus the source material, not so great. It's not exactly the most macho role to begin with.
The Jonathan Groff example from Glee is interesting. I saw Groff's breakout role in Spring Awakening on Broadway, and whether he was out or not at the time, he wasn't on my radar. His performance was so moving as a troubled teen in love that I didn't think twice about his sexuality. Now he is on Glee, and it is only now that I know he is gay. Does that make him less convincing on the show, where he pines for Rachel? No– because the two of them have such established chemistry, and no offense, but the show is about show choirs, where my experience (three years in high school) is that everyone is flamboyantly fabulous, no matter their sexuality.
So maybe the Newsweek writer was't eloquent in the point he was trying to make. But I think the point he is making is valid. Once you come out in Hollywood, it becomes part of who you are moving forward. It is the"talking point" about you. Every interviewer will ask about it, every studio casting director will think twice about it before casting you. The fact is, in my opinion, that there are probably hundreds of actors currently in the medium playing straight while being gay, and they are doing it convincingly. The sad part is that the culture is just not quite there yet to allow someone to come out without suffering professionally. Yes there are positive cases here and there, but there are certainly also cases where the impact is deafening.
Where I struggle the most with the Newsweek story is the tone of the backlash. We come from a community where we are labeled, good or bad. It's one thing for us to disagree with someone, but it's a whole different story for us to be vicious in attacking because of a difference of opinion and to put labels like "homophobic" on someone who is a member of our own community. It saddens me that sometimes, LGBT or straight, we feel that the best way to get our opposing viewpoint across is to scream it. This might come from the 24-hour cable news cycle, full of pundits who challenge each other every night to see who can speak the loudest. And believe me, I understand that our voice has been silenced for so long, and that we are still oppressed in many circumstances. But civility is so fleeting in an age where we can instantly share our opinions to the world.
So what's the lesson in all of this? I do love freedom of speech, for both the opportunity to share your opinion and to react to others. But when the dialogue becomes so weighted in viciousness, it becomes a battle with no winners.
Most people who reacted to the original story did not read the entire piece, instead focusing on the backlash. Read it first, and tell me what you think. Do you agree?
Have a peaceful weekend.
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I agree that some of the backlash has been rather crude and uninformed, but I’ve also seen a lot of well-written, civilized comments out there–comments that Newsweek’s editor apparently did bother to read in his followup online discussion with the head of GLAAD and Dustin Lance Black. I also agree ‘homophobic’ is the wrong term, but I don’t entirely disagree with the term ‘self-hating’ (or perhaps ‘self-disliking’). The fact that the Newsweek author watches Glee and sees Groff as a ‘theater queen’–an accusation I haven’t seen in any other media outlet, gay or straight–strikes me as the observation of someone who views anything but butch-acting uber-masculinity as abnormal. Your comment about ‘seeing Jack’ is interesting, as I was reminded of watching Megan Mullaly on shows post-Will & Grace and thinking, “I bet everyone expects her to act like Karen Walker.” Leonard Nimoy went through a similar phase–writing a book entitled “I Am Not Spock”–with fears of being typecast. It’s probably worth noting that Hayes’ other big role–Billy’s First Hollywood Screen Kiss–has contributed to the perception that Sean=Jack.
That being said, I think the problem is the perception–propagated by Newsweek and an ill-informed and prejudiced columnist–that if you come out in Hollywood, you’re automatically screwed and typecast. We need to celebrate the array of versatile gay and lesbian actors who can take on any damn role they want–Neil Patrick Harris, Portia de Rossi, John Barrowman, Dan Butler, BD Wong, and Cherry Jones, among others.
Shame on Newsweek for shoddy journalism.