Page 10 | AIBU to be completely on the fence? Straight men playing 'gay' roles

Wheresmykimchi · 2021-01-16T15:39:44+00:00

Article here - [[https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/showbiz-news/corrie-star-hits-back-after-19618647]] Russell T Davies has decided to cast only gay men in roles for an AIDS drama. Peter Ash , who is a straight man playing a gay man in Coronation Street , disagrees. I'm usually a dog with a bone , irritating poster on topics I feel passionately about and LGBT is one but on this I just can't decide. I can see Russell's point given the nature of the drama , and I'm never sure I agree with people playing 'gay' , in theory But then I look at the gay characters in soaps in recent years , Peter's character being am excellent example along with Aaron Lindsay in Emmerdale , Kate Connor and Sophie Webster in Coronation Street , and see Peters point that the whole idea is that there is no such thing as acting 'gay', they are playing people. I'm so on the fence I've got splinters. AIBU?

SleepingStandingUp · 16/01/2021 23:10

@SnowflakeCulture

19:29SleepingStandingUp

It's still disgusting yes

But if you were straight man why would you put your mouth on another man's mouth - for money? Then as good as a prostitute.

That's just ridiculous.

If a man kissing a man in a movie for which he is paid is prostitution, then it's prostitution whomever he kisses. He might not be attracted to the woman he's missing either, and either way is ultimately doing it because he's being paid.

Why are people kissing in a show or movie disgusting??

SleepingStandingUp · 16/01/2021 23:11

Or is it only disgusting if they're not both single?

Is it ok if they have a relationship as a result?

Branleuse · 16/01/2021 23:11

I dont think gay men are underrepresented in acting are they?

VestaTilley · 16/01/2021 23:12

I think it’s a lowest common denominator argument- actors are meant to act. Having only gay men cast to play gay men is daft. Where does it end? The woke crowd would be up in arms if the position was reversed.

MrsTerryPratchett · 16/01/2021 23:47

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Wheresmykimchi · 16/01/2021 23:49

@SnowflakeCulture

19:29SleepingStandingUp

It's still disgusting yes

But if you were straight man why would you put your mouth on another man's mouth - for money? Then as good as a prostitute.

Utterly ridiculous.

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Wheresmykimchi · 16/01/2021 23:50

Was weirdly enough just reading that Jonathan Bailey (star of Bridgeton) was told not to come out.

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SleepingStandingUp · 16/01/2021 23:54

@Wheresmykimchi

Was weirdly enough just reading that Jonathan Bailey (star of Bridgeton) was told not to come out.

And for anyone questioning whether people can act the other sexulality convincingly, he sure did 😅😅😅 he romped with that woman as good as any straight man ever has!!

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Wheresmykimchi · 16/01/2021 23:58

I've seen him before in a few things and this was my point about not 'presenting' gay, if you will.

But how can someone tell him that?!

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SleepingStandingUp · 17/01/2021 00:08

@Wheresmykimchi

I've seen him before in a few things and this was my point about not 'presenting' gay, if you will.

But how can someone tell him that?!

Because if the women's don't think they have a chance of fucking him for real, they won't watch. Apparently. Please, we were all watching for the Duke!!

I remember Will Young being told not to come out because females wouldn't vote for him, and a woman working to a newspaper when it came out saying her daughter was heartbroken he was gay and they wouldn't have voted for him if they'd known because she's basically voted for him cos she fancied him (hello, Gareth Gates was well hotter)

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Wheresmykimchi · 17/01/2021 00:10

Omg who would think that Will was hotter?!

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Butterymuffin · 17/01/2021 00:10

This is all going to backfire if then the view that gay actors should only play gay roles becomes prevalent. Better to work more generally on encouraging all forms of diversity in casting and scriptwriting.

Davros · 17/01/2021 00:11

No one seems to mind Derek Jacobi in Last Tango in Halifax. Very different to his role in Vicious. Both good imo

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Wheresmykimchi · 17/01/2021 00:12

I'm inclined to agree that at that point it becomes positive discrimination...

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SleepingStandingUp · 17/01/2021 00:15

@Wheresmykimchi

Omg who would think that Will was hotter?!

Precisely! Then Gareth shagged Katie Price when she was pregnant and it kinda ruined it for me

LonnyVonnyWilsonFrickett · 17/01/2021 00:15

@CalishataFolkart

“Acting”’is not just turning up, putting on a costume and saying the words. There are conversations and discussions about characters. It is a collaborative process.

You might have an actor who read a monologue beautifully in the audition but when it comes to rehearsal and they don’t understand a part of their character’s lived experience it could slow things down. They can research, discuss and obviously act, but having a shared experience with your character is going to help. That applies to fantasy as well, but you might have to dig a little deeper. By the time you’re as accomplished as Sir Ian McKellan maybe you can just learn the lines and say them

People asking how would you know an actor’s sexuality from an audition? Maybe in this audition there is a scene where a character is subject to a homophobic attack. You could ask something along the lines of “Have you ever experienced anything like that?” There’s no obligation to answer.

An audition isn’t just come in, perform your Hamlet soliloquy and “don’t call us, we’ll call you.”

No one has responded to my question about whether we’re happy with men taking roles away from women, if it’s only “acting.”

I don't recognise this picture of auditions at all. When I auditioned for The Bondagers there was a lot of chat about accents, not so much about being a feudal land slave.

Yes, it's your job as an actor to find the shared emotional truth in a role, but that's pretty much a given. And again, I've never heard of anyone being asked their sexual orientation either.

SleepingStandingUp · 17/01/2021 00:17

Also doesn't it rather suggest that homosexuality is so other, so far from the norm that one couldn't possibly fathom it sufficiently unless they're been there. Mass murderer? Oh you can totally okay that even though you're a vegan Pagan . But a gay person? Golly that's so... No. I've couldn't possibly put themselves in the shoes of such a person....

Littlelilyx · 17/01/2021 00:18

I think all of us are actually attracted to both sexes... just my opinion 🙈

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Wheresmykimchi · 17/01/2021 00:18

@SleepingStandingUp

Also doesn't it rather suggest that homosexuality is so other, so far from the norm that one couldn't possibly fathom it sufficiently unless they're been there. Mass murderer? Oh you can totally okay that even though you're a vegan Pagan . But a gay person? Golly that's so... No. I've couldn't possibly put themselves in the shoes of such a person....

To an extent.

But I think the idea that someone who has always been straight mind find it easier to manage the process of accepting their sexuality , if you will, ie Danny Miller. But on balance, there are plenty of gay actors who didn't shoot out of the womb gay.

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LonnyVonnyWilsonFrickett · 17/01/2021 00:19

To answer your point about men taking women's roles @CalishataFolkart - I'm not wild about it because I know that women are underrepresented both in terms of volumes of parts and well-written parts. I was on Netflix earlier and saw the trailer for Hairspray which totally focused on John Travolta, which annoyed me all over again. But I can see why directors do it and sometimes it's great - I love Matthew Bourne's work, for example, though that's dance.

turnitonagain · 17/01/2021 00:26

Jonathan Groff has played many straight characters - Glee, Mindhunter, Kristoff from Frozen - despite being openly gay.

But I do think the issue is opportunity, many gay actors can’t or don’t get cast for straight roles so if something is written specifically as a gay character it’s can really help their careers.

SleepingStandingUp · 17/01/2021 00:27

I do get your point re those sort of storylines but as per Lonny's point about shared emotional truth, being gay, at the heart of the love story, isn't something mentally insurmountable to get. You might need to read around homophobic abuse in the same way you'd research a donation violence storyline, there may be aspects you take guidance on, but we're asking actors to take feelings for another human, not a horse. It shouldn't be beyond the skill of a good actor so it seems better that all across have access to all jobs re sexual orientation and we break down barriers as to why gay people disproportionally don't get big jobs if that's the fact

MrsTerryPratchett · 17/01/2021 00:41

Because if the women's don't think they have a chance of fucking him for real, they won't watch. Apparently. Please, we were all watching for the Duke!!

Yeah because the reason incredibly hot, young, famous star Regé-Jean Page isn't going to shag me is his sexuality. OK then. Jason Statham better show up soon

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Wheresmykimchi · 17/01/2021 01:05

@SleepingStandingUp

I do get your point re those sort of storylines but as per Lonny's point about shared emotional truth, being gay, at the heart of the love story, isn't something mentally insurmountable to get. You might need to read around homophobic abuse in the same way you'd research a donation violence storyline, there may be aspects you take guidance on, but we're asking actors to take feelings for another human, not a horse. It shouldn't be beyond the skill of a good actor so it seems better that all across have access to all jobs re sexual orientation and we break down barriers as to why gay people disproportionally don't get big jobs if that's the fact

But the two aren't connected.

Why are gay people disproportionally not getting jobs?

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VanGoghsDog · 17/01/2021 01:05

But on balance, there are plenty of gay actors who didn't shoot out of the womb gay

What?