Saturday, January 14, 2006

The 'Brokeback' factor

Gay community hits stride with watershed cowboy flick

POLLY HIGGINS

Tucson Citizen

Every so often, a movie, television show or pop cultural moment occurs and holds up a magnifying glass to where we are socially. In terms of greater acceptance of gays and lesbians, the coming out of Ellen DeGeneres' character on a 1997 episode of "Ellen," Pedro putting a face on AIDS during 1994's "The Real World San Francisco" and name-actor Tom Hanks playing an HIV-positive lawyer in 1993's "Philadelphia" have provided such moments.

"Brokeback Mountain," which opened yesterday in Tucson, is looking to be just such a touchstone as well.

Set in Wyoming in the 1960s, the film stars Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal as cowboys who fall in love. Though each marries, the two carry on a lifelong connection through the occasional stolen fishing trip.

"This is a historic time for film and for LGBT visibility," Damone Romine, entertainment media director for The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, writes in an e-mail interview speaking of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community.

Certainly by now we are used to seeing gay characters in popular culture. But on television they tend to be stereotypical or insignificant, and filmic portrayals generally do reach mainly the art house audience.

"Capote," last year's biopic of the gay author, has received positive reviews, but grossed under $11 million to date. The same with the Oscar-winning "Gods & Monsters," from 1998, which pulled only $6.4 million domestically.

GLAAD's 10th annual diversity study, published in August, states that lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender representation on the broadcast networks' 2005-06 schedule equals less than 2 percent of all characters.

Arguably the most popular gay-centric show in television history is NBC's "Will & Grace," but, University of Arizona Media Arts professor Kevin Sandler says, it's all schtick. "You just don't see them engaging in homosexual acts," he says.

Bree's bisexual son on ABC's "Desperate Housewives" is, so far, little more than a plotpoint. Dr. Kerry Weaver on NBC's "ER" has been allowed in past episodes to explore lesbian-specific issues, though her supporting role has been minimized.

Sandler sees reality shows as sometimes presenting more "dignified" representations of gays and lesbians; he references Kim from UPN's "America's Next Top Model," who was praised for her unique look and made it far in the competition.

"MTV and the 'Real World' really brought visibility of gays and lesbians to television," Romine writes. "An entire generation has grown up with gay, lesbian and bisexual people on reality shows, and it's this generation that overwhelmingly believes in equality for gays and lesbians. That's the power of the media. Visibility leads to understanding and understanding leads to acceptance."

NEXT PAGE» 1, 2, 3