It’s been almost a year since Ramin Setoodeh published an essay in Newsweek declaring that openly gay actors can’t convincingly pull off the sexual orientation that’s so foreign to them. But just when the dust was settling on the furious hubbub, which included a call for a Newsweek boycott from Glee creator Ryan Murphy and writers denouncing the article in every corner of the blogosphere, Setoodeh decided to fire up the issue again, this time in The Daily Beast.
In the new article, Setoodeh changes his tune a bit, cutting out most of the cringingly homophobic remarks and getting to the root of the issue: the lack of gays in the entertainment industry. He writes,
It’s not just that audiences don’t often see openly gay actors in straight roles. What’s even more unsettling is that Hollywood doesn’t even allow gay actors to play gay. … Movies need to attract the broadest possible audience, and filmmakers 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. … Society still shows a prejudice against gay people, especially those who fit the stereotype: feminine men and masculine women.
He cites heterosexual stars like Ewan McGregor and Jim Carrey in I Love You, Phillip Morris and Julianne Moore and Annette Bening in The Kids Are All Right as straight actors awarded meaty homosexual roles over gay actors.
The writer’s criticisms of Hollywood as an overly conservative climate that’s hesitant to cast gay people are targeted almost exclusively at the film industry. And while I can’t think of too many high-profile films featuring gay actors playing gay or straight characters (unless we’re including Kevin Spacey), there’s a long list of gays and lesbians finding successful work in the television industry. The gay Chris Colfer is blazing a trail as gay teen Kurt on Glee. Jesse Tyler Ferguson’s a dad in a committed homo relationship on Modern Family. Cynthia Nixon did the hetero thing for years on Sex and the City. And gay actors Portia de Rossi (Better Off Ted, Arrested Development), Cherry Jones (24), Jane Lynch (Glee), Cheyenne Jackson (30 Rock), Matthew Bomer (White Collar) and Alan Cumming (The Good Wife) all handle opposite-sex attraction just fine on their shows.
Setoodeh has acknowledged and dismissed some of that long list of “exceptions” before, most notably regarding Neil Patrick Harris, a gay man playing a heterosexual womanizer on How I Met Your Mother, on Joy Behar’s CNN Headline News show last May.
[Harris] was playing that role as a straight man, [and] we came to accept him as a straight man. On top of that it’s a TV character, it’s not a movie character, and it’s also a caricature. … It’s [an] over-the-top, funny, humorous character. It’s not a romantic lead where women, like, actually are supposed to believe him as a heterosexual character.
But that doesn’t explain the dozens of other gay actors in supporting and leading roles on television (hell, it’s hardly a logical explanation for Harris’ success). And it’s definitely a question worth exploring: Are Hollywood creatives more likely to cast gay actors on television shows as opposed to in movies? And why would that be the case? Does advice from the likes of Richard Chamberlain and Rupert Everett for actors to stay in the closet to protect their careers only apply to film stars? And maybe most importantly, when will the silver screen take a cue from the small screen and start proving Setoodeh wrong?
Film and TV serve different audiences. The main target audience for movies are the people most likely to go to theaters over and over: young straight men, hence the domination of movies by the action, sci-fi, and horror genres. The business model on network and basic cable television is revenue based on desirable demographics for advertisers. Since women control the majority of household purchasing decisions, much of television is programmed for female audiences. This is how Elllen and Oprah and “Grey’s Anatomy” became so successful. Straight women have typically also been more supportive of LGBT rights and more open to… Read more »
Completely agree Kane. As a fan of White Collar I’m on their social media sites a lot. Interestingly Kane, women have been more harsh then men on finding out Matt B is gay, most stay because they ‘love’ the guy but a good few have sworn to not watch the show due to heartbreak because he is gay. BUT saying that on the official Facebook WC, more guys have an issue with MB being gay and often post comments saying ‘how can you love/fancy/want him, he’s gay!’ They also seem to struggle with the fact he is gay because they… Read more »
GregV, I think you’ve made some great points, and it’s interesting that Rupert Everett’s been perhaps the most vocal about the dangers of coming out in Hollywood when he’s doing just fine. And Johnny, I’d agree that your argument makes sense for why there are more gay plotlines on TV shows rather than in movies. However, the number of openly gay actors on TV—regardless of whether their character is hetero or homo—dwarfs the number of openly gay actors in movies—again, regardless of whether their character is hetero or homo. When there’s been so much success with gay actors like Cynthia… Read more »
I’m not an industry expert, but I feel this article misses the main motive behind any entertainment endeavor: MONEY It’s the single biggest reason that TV is gayer than the movies, IMO. Producers of films are probably extremely scared that any movie with a pointedly gay theme (regardless of Brokeback’s success) will not recoup their outlay. After all, they may theorize, what straight 20-something male (their biggest demographic) is going to be caught dead in a theater showing a gay movie? Whereas with TV, the audience is captive and the advertisers foot the bill in whatever time slots hey feel… Read more »
Gay male actors have been among the most successful leading men (and usually playing heterosexual characters) from the silent movie era (William Haines) through the romantic leads of the 1950’s and 1960’s(Montgomery Clift, Rock Hudson, Tab Hunter, Richard Chamberlain). Gay male actors played the male leads on the old TV shows Perry Mason and Ironside, Dr. Kildare, Bewitched and The Brady Bunch, among many others. (Other shows like the Beverly Hillbillies and Family Ties have featured gay actresses in prominent or leading roles.) Of course, most of them had to either stay in the closet or, in cases like that… Read more »
Matthew Bomer is gay and refuses to discuss it with the press. His friends claim he’s “out” to them. In other words it’s the old “Glass Closet Syndrome,” epitomized by Anderson Cooper. In a recent Daily Beast interview with Kevin Sessums, Spacey came this close to coming out. But he’s resisted doing so as a result of several scandals. But I’m not one to gossip so you didn’t hear this from me. Let’s review, shall we? Nathan Lane is the biggest Broadway star since Ethel Mer. There are out gays and lesbians all over televison and it’s Neil Patrick Harri’s… Read more »
you go girl!
There has been at least one public comment from Bomer regarding raising a family with his partner. This was made when an old photo surfaced of him kissing a
An who was not his partner.
The only actor I’ve mentioned in this piece who may merit an asterisk beside his name is Matthew Bomer, who’s been reported to be in same-sex relationships, although he’s officially refused comment about his sexuality. That may not make him gay, but the media attention surrounding his sexuality and photos certainly haven’t made the producers of White Collar think that he was “distracting” enough to not cast him in a leading man role, which only furthers the idea that an actor who’s been labeled as not-quite-straight can “convincingly” play a straight person. All of the other actors are out publicly.… Read more »
Uh, what?
First of all, about some of those names on your list of supposedly gay actors, the rumors are particularly ill founded (and very weak). You’re not reporting here; you’re spreading gossip.
Second, about the topic in the title, you may have a point about recent shows on TV. But overall, long term, I think there’s a case to be made that the movies are *far* more gay (and gay-friendly) than TV has been.
Actually all of the actors he mentions, except for Kevin Spacey, are publicly out. Spacey has long been rumored to be gay but has never confirmed his sexual orientation one way or the other.