straight actors / gay roles

[little man]

Originally Posted by Sparkle

Do you think Gay/Bi/Trans actors should have first dibs on playing gay/bi/trans female roles?

no. unless we require that all parts are played by someone with specific experience. we should only have murderers play murderers, politicians playing politicians (although some are damned fine actors), the clergy should only play clerics? one of the basic premises of movies is the suspension of disbelief. in my mind, it is up to the screenwriter to bring his/her own life experiences to play in any work that is produced. by having that specific experience themselves, they can bring a reality and depth of understanding to the characters. i'd much prefer to see a good actor in a role, based on their skill than a poorly skilled actor giving a painful rendition one aspect of themselves.

What is your opinion on the culture of homophobia among Hollywood film makers?

i think it's a perfect mirror of society in general. the folks running hollywood are just in a position to control what we see as "entertainment". face it, these guys are out to make money. unless the higher percentage of the moviegoing public is LGBT, they are going to pander to the audience. again, social norms are going to drive the industry. if most straight folks in the world were inclined to see queer characters, you can bet there'd be a ton of queer characters on the screen.

until society in at large is more accepting of queers in general, i don't see things changing a great deal.

The encouraging of young actors to remain closeted for the sake of their careers?

i think most folks are encouraged to stay in the closet, whether they work as actors or not. sure, it'd be nice to have queerness normalized in the world at large. i don't think it's incumbent upon anyone who goes into acting as a profession to come out for the benefit of the community. why should anyone be asked to risk the ability to do work they love?

i think, to some degree, we (the moviegoing public) have a tendency to conflate the actors with the roles they play. i know i've had a crush or two...based on an actor's portrayal of a character, rather than who that actor is as a person. their job is to make us believe in the characters they portray. i don't believe that tom hanks is a gay man who succumbed to aids. i do believe he did a magnificent job of portraying a character who did.

in short, i don't really care about the sexual proclivities of people in hollywood. i care about the proclivities of who i'm sleeping with...and that's not up for public consumption. i really don't think anyone "owes" it to us to announce their sexuality. i don't see that it's anyone's business but their own.