SLASH FANS: We have been vindicated.
Behold, a Facebook reply from Zack Stentz, a screenwriter at Dreamworks, when he decided to intervene on a Facebook convo about XMen having underlying gay messages.
This.
is.
HUGE.
Now, it doesn't take a genius to draw a line from XMen to gay allegory. All that talk about being "born differently" and shunned from society should've been a big enough clue to anyone with command of at least three of the five senses, but subverted gayness in movies exists in a weird blind spot of American consciousness. I mean really, any slash fan who's tried to explain the basis of their ship has inevitably run into this comment from a friend/relative: "Oh, you're just reading into things. You see what you want to see."
Uh, no. You don't see what you don't want to see. Slight effing difference.
This is something that just doesn't compute with me. People are ready and willing to talk about the layers and complexity of well crafted characters, drawing on visual and textual evidence to support their theories, but the second someone tries to suggest a character might be less than straight all of the sudden they're “over-thinking” or "just imagining things."
Hello, do you know how many gays are in Hollywood?
Do you think maybe a few of them have something to say?
Well then, why don’t they just say it? Why hide in the subtext of mainstream films when they could just make one themselves? Possibly because, in America, if you make a "real" gay movie that's not Brokeback Mountain, you lose 2/3 of your audience. And get a much lower budget. And a release into select theaters, if you’re lucky. All of which depends on if your overtly gay script gets sold in the first place. Given that info, you can see why gay and gay friendly people in Hollywood have adopted the “If you can't bring America to the homo, you bring the homo to America” tactic. The only way to do that right now is to hide behind words like "friends," "brothers" or, if you really want to up the gay and get past the homophobes, throwing in an irrelevant female love interest. Just ask Boston Legal, they perfected the art of misdirection, which is how they were able to make Alan and Denny flamingos who get married without being labeled as a gay show and losing half their audience.
America is getting fooled way more often than it realizes. Not all the time, but more than they're comfortable admitting.
Another fascinating aspect is the director and actors involved with subtextual gayness never fully out the characters. The reasons for this are obvious, (losing 2/3 of the audience, angering the studio, etc) but what's really entertaining is watching those involved get tired of talking around it all the damn time. Watch some interviews with Robert Downey Jr when he was promoting the first Sherlock Holmes, or James McAvoy talking about XMen: First Class, or Channing Tatum chatting about The Eagle. Those guys ship their characters more than some fangirls do, and you can see it peek through the cracks of the studio's protective shield.
It's basically Don't Ask Don't Tell, but without the camo.
So, please, don’t tell me that I’m stretching canon in order to fantasize about two hot men making out, don’t tell me I’m reading too far into things and, for the love of god, don’t tell me that they have to be straight because they kiss girls. Because, seriously? “Mutant and proud?”
You’re the one getting duped, not me.
This.
is.
HUGE.
Now, it doesn't take a genius to draw a line from XMen to gay allegory. All that talk about being "born differently" and shunned from society should've been a big enough clue to anyone with command of at least three of the five senses, but subverted gayness in movies exists in a weird blind spot of American consciousness. I mean really, any slash fan who's tried to explain the basis of their ship has inevitably run into this comment from a friend/relative: "Oh, you're just reading into things. You see what you want to see."
Uh, no. You don't see what you don't want to see. Slight effing difference.
This is something that just doesn't compute with me. People are ready and willing to talk about the layers and complexity of well crafted characters, drawing on visual and textual evidence to support their theories, but the second someone tries to suggest a character might be less than straight all of the sudden they're “over-thinking” or "just imagining things."
Hello, do you know how many gays are in Hollywood?
Do you think maybe a few of them have something to say?
Well then, why don’t they just say it? Why hide in the subtext of mainstream films when they could just make one themselves? Possibly because, in America, if you make a "real" gay movie that's not Brokeback Mountain, you lose 2/3 of your audience. And get a much lower budget. And a release into select theaters, if you’re lucky. All of which depends on if your overtly gay script gets sold in the first place. Given that info, you can see why gay and gay friendly people in Hollywood have adopted the “If you can't bring America to the homo, you bring the homo to America” tactic. The only way to do that right now is to hide behind words like "friends," "brothers" or, if you really want to up the gay and get past the homophobes, throwing in an irrelevant female love interest. Just ask Boston Legal, they perfected the art of misdirection, which is how they were able to make Alan and Denny flamingos who get married without being labeled as a gay show and losing half their audience.
America is getting fooled way more often than it realizes. Not all the time, but more than they're comfortable admitting.
Another fascinating aspect is the director and actors involved with subtextual gayness never fully out the characters. The reasons for this are obvious, (losing 2/3 of the audience, angering the studio, etc) but what's really entertaining is watching those involved get tired of talking around it all the damn time. Watch some interviews with Robert Downey Jr when he was promoting the first Sherlock Holmes, or James McAvoy talking about XMen: First Class, or Channing Tatum chatting about The Eagle. Those guys ship their characters more than some fangirls do, and you can see it peek through the cracks of the studio's protective shield.
It's basically Don't Ask Don't Tell, but without the camo.
So, please, don’t tell me that I’m stretching canon in order to fantasize about two hot men making out, don’t tell me I’m reading too far into things and, for the love of god, don’t tell me that they have to be straight because they kiss girls. Because, seriously? “Mutant and proud?”
You’re the one getting duped, not me.