QAF 413 Part 2 - A Hollywood Digression
A Hollywood digression. One thing needs to be clear --
Brett Keller, underneath his Hollywood director veneer,
is just another geeky fanboy. He's a comic book nut. And
since he's gay, he's hot for "Rage, The Gay Avenger" and
has made a commitment to bring Rage, in all his gay glory,
to the screen. In an Alternate Stream of Life Brett Keller
might have been Michael Novotny. However, there has been
little indication that "Rage" is still anything more than a
cult item that sells, like a lot of gay-oriented products,
over the internet. In other words, "Rage" is no "Spider-Man"
or even "X-Men." Michael and Justin don't have multi-million
dollar endorsement deals and side-products featuring "Rage."
They aren't making their living from "Rage." Which means
that Brett Keller is going to have a tough sell to his studio.
And it doesn't matter how much his last movie made for the
studio. In Hollywood you're only as good as your NEXT project.
A number of comic book movies have been huge hits, but
even more have been gigantic flops. "The Incredible Hulk"
had big name recognition, a television show, and one of the
best directors in the business (Ang Lee) -- and it still lost
tons of money. "The Shadow" had history, atmosphere, star
power -- and was an infamous flop. You get the idea. Even
a film based on a well-known superhero and featuring
some of the biggest names in the business can still be a
miserable failure. Can you say "Batman and Robin"? So
Brett Keller needs to SELL "Rage." And that's going to be
difficult. Mainstream Hollywood movies with a truly gay
theme and a gay hero are few and far between, unless they
are played strictly for comedy, like "The Birdcage" or "In
and Out." How many times have you seen a truly gay
relationship front and center, let alone a out and out gay
sex scene, in a big budget Hollywood movie? And I don't
mean independent pictures with limited release, like
"Latter Days" or "Big Eden." You get my point. Plus, the
atmosphere in Hollywood recently is even less welcoming
for such projects than it was a few years ago. Dubya's
Right-Wing Media Watchdogs are alive and well and
using their muscle.
So Justin goes to Hollywood to consult on "Rage." Of course,
it takes another one of those familiar Brian Kinney pushes
off the cliff to get him to go. Justin has to know that Brian
is lying about NOT going on the Liberty Ride. Even if he
wasn't in shape, Brian would never let the reality of his
physical condition stand in the way of proving a point --
especially when it involves his ego. Justin knows all there
is to know about THAT, so his resigned face when Brian
tells him, "Go ahead. Sacrifice your future. That's what I
call charity," signals that Justin understands that he's
being dumped off the cliff. One little thing stuck in my head.
One nagging little line. When Michael tells Justin to blow
off the Liberty Ride, Justin says, very earnestly, that he
raised money and got sponsors for his ride. "I made a
COMMITMENT!" he insists. And then he breaks that
commitment and goes to Los Angeles. I hope that's only
a coincidental use of that anvilious word. It is, isn't it?
DanRon? Isn't it only a coincidence?
I also hope that Justin putting up that tent over the bed
instead of elsewhere in a practically empty loft means
that the boys were at least able to PRETEND they were
fucking under the stars before they went their separate
ways to Hollywood and Toronto. I wish we'd seen THAT
little scene instead of Ted talking to his non-existent
pussy in the closet.
I'm not certain how we are supposed to interpret Brett
Keller's Hollywood party. Brett has so far been presented
as a good guy, but the nearest things we've seen to his
birthday bash are the party at Sap's in 214 and Dr.
Crystal's "Tinathons" in S3. Those were obviously
supposed to be "pure evil," so how do we read snorting
massive amounts of cocaine spelling out "Happy Birthday"?
Looked like piles of heaped up sugar to me -- that's quite
a load of coke there! I hope Brett keeps a defibulator handy
for his guests' heart attacks. And how are we to read the
"bitch-banging" Connor James? In the last episode Emmett
spoke out about the contemptible situation of famous closet
cases who want to have it both ways. The Ethan-pretending
-to-be-straight plot in S2 also spoke to this. Is Justin
simply so star-struck that it doesn't matter what a phony
James is? And THIS is the actor who would be "wonderful"
to play the "honest" and "no apologies" Rage? God, I hope not!
Another Hollywood digression. Have you heard about what
happened with "A Home at the End of the World"? An
award-winning gay author, a small, intimate love story
about a gay man, a straight woman, and the bisexual man
they are both in love with. Except... there was a short scene
where Colin Farrell, playing the bi-guy, is shown getting
into bed with the gay man. And -- horrors! -- we see a
flash of cock! Or we would have until they showed it to the
test audience who were apparently "so disturbed" by the
scene that -- zap! -- it's gone. The world is now safe from
Colin Farrell's dick, especially in the vicinity of a gay man.
Just like the world was made safe from any hint that Brad
Pitt -- I mean, Achilles -- felt anything but slight
affection for his "cousin" Patrocles in "Troy." His "cousin"
huh? Yeah, the ancient Greeks never got into any of that
"ass" stuff, thank God! Mr. Fenderman, the studio executive
who will be greenlighting "Rage," definitely has all that
"ass" stuff on his mind -- and not in a good way. That
remark about the Hershey Bar concession losing money
was disgusting, but probably true. When Fenderman
talks about the "bottom line" he's not thinking about
a good rim job!
That said, I almost choked when Justin capped off his
speech to Fenderman by saying that he ought to give
butt-fucking a try! Good one, Justin! If anyone in the
real world thinks this is a smart thing to say to a straight
studio exec who you want to spend $200 million bucks to
make your movie (which is what "Spider-Man 2" cost),
which will then need to play to a huge audience of 16-year
-old boys simply to break even, then I have some swamp
land CowLip might want to buy. Yes, it's cute to have Justin
be a brat and spout off a new version of his famous "I like
dick" speech to the stunned Fenderman and his two stooges,
but in truth Justin and his expensive film project would
be out on their proverbial asses if he ever spoke to Michael
Eisner or one of his ilk this way. Ask Michael Moore about
that sometime -- even after HE won an Oscar AND the
Cannes Film Festival. Or ask Paul Newman, one of the
most powerful actors in the history of Hollywood, who
spent over 10 years trying to get "The Front Runner"
into production before he finally gave up because no studio
would finance an honest and graphic love story about two
men. Remember when "Brokeback Mountain" was going to
be a movie about two guys who were passionately in love
with each other? It now looks like it will be more about a
couple of cowboys who are "really good pals." I think I'll
watch my phantom DVDs of the non-existent film versions
of "The Front Runner," "City of Night," "A Boy's Own Story,"
and "Dream Boy" while I ponder exactly what a major
Hollywood studio would REALLY do to "Rage" to insure that
they get back their $200 million investment from all
those comic-book buying 16-year-old-boys. Mrs. Rage,
anyone? Played by Cameron Diaz, of course! Sweet!
But one thing from Justin's speech keeps ringing in my
ears: "We prefer to be true to our original vision --
Rage wouldn't expect anything less"! CowLip, hear that?
What Would Brian Kinney Do? True to the original vision.
Like doing a gay show and not one where the het sex is
beginning to crowd out that gay stuff! Or a show that doesn't
cut down on the strong language or the sex scenes because
Showtime is nervous that Congress is going to put the
screws down on cable as badly as they've put them down
on the networks. And on it goes. Justin -- please come
home! Now!
And speaking of asses once again, we get a nice glimpse
of Brian's in the first scene of 413. Lovely to see it. And
beautiful to see the guys sleeping peacefully together in
THEIR bed, in THEIR loft. We haven't seen Brian bring
another trick back to the loft since Mr. 11:00 in 309.
Maybe he's got guys in there all the time, but we haven't
seen them. Justin bringing the two tricks back in 407
surprised Brian so much that it can't be something they
do much -- if ever -- anymore. Reserving "their" space
seems to be part of that "commitment" we never heard
outlined. Brian sneaking out in the middle of the night and
Justin's pretty blue eye watching him is delicious, but
there's no way in hell that Justin would wait 3 weeks before
following Brian to see where he was going! My sister asks,
"Is that supposed to be the same night? Because Brian put
on jeans without his gray undershorts (Ouch! Brian's poor
incision rubbing against that denim!), but when he's at
Spyn Werks he's wearing bike shots and his tattered khaki
tank top?" No, that's not weird, Sis, it's the Continuity
Squad on vacation in Ibiza again. But I do LOVE the tattered
tank top. Loved it in 204 during the Pride Celebration.
Loved it at the gym the numerous times it has shown up
there. Loved it when Brian was sitting at the computer,
watching Justin get ready to go out with the Pink Posse in
403. I guess I just love Brian in that top. It's the main
image on my webpage for a good reason. So I loved the top
getting a good "ride" from Justin on the cycle, while Brian
Kinney chomps on his ubiquitous stick of gum. "It's best
to visualize" when trying to achieve your goal. Amen! That's
my mantra. Visualization. And in my visualization this
scene goes on for the remainder of the episode.
But besides feeding into my fantasy life, this scene reiterates
Brian's reason for participating in the Liberty Ride. Yes,
he wants to get the money for Liberty House, but getting
Ramson to kick in $100, 000 has already done that. Brian
needs to prove the "naysayers" wrong. "Poor Kinney," he
tells Justin, imitating "every cunty faggot" who didn't think
he could do it (hm -- does that mean Ted, Ben, and Justin,
too?) "Told ya so!" That's the same little voice that Brian
used in 118 when he told Justin that he wasn't responsible
for his parents' divorce. The "Forever Young" scene. That's
Brian -- Forever Young, on his own terms. Justin assures
him that he won't fail. Brian Kinney knows exactly how to
turn what seems a total failure into a fucking amazing success.
Being the Stud of Liberty Avenue is no longer the be-all
and end-all of what Brian Kinney is. It's nice to prove people
like Tannis and Philip -- or even Ben and Ted -- wrong, but
it isn't everything. Because Brian fucking Kinney will always
be a force to be reckoned with, Stud of Liberty Avenue or not.
Cancer has shown Brian that there's more to his life than
fucking. Shown him that his partner will not abandon him if
he isn't getting sex five times a day. Shown Brian that there
are different ways to be beautiful. Shown Brian his own
mortality. And made him question his own motives for some
of his most closely held beliefs. "Never doing any guy twice"
was tossed overboard early in S1. Then "Brian doesn't do
boyfriends" was admitted to be a thing of the past in 313
-- even a "nondefined, nonconventional" boyfriend is still
a boyfriend. Brian puts his principles before business --
and loses his job, but he rebuilds his career from scratch
-- also on his own terms.
In S4 Brian now has a partner and a commitment. He has a
son. He has a business. He's helping the Gay and Lesbian
Center. He's accepting money from a benefit. He's beginning
to be not merely a part of the community, but a big part of
it. Brian goes from telling Gardner Vance that his sexuality
is nobody's business in 217, to identifying himself as the
most successful gay businessman in Pittsburgh in 411. In
the past four years Brian has faced the birth of his son, the
deaths of his father and his gay mentor, the almost death of
his lover, the loss of his job, starting up a new business, and
cancer. That's a lot of change to process. But Brian emerges
from each new trauma as a stronger person. Brian also makes
the people he comes in contact with stronger people as well.
He encourages Justin to be the "best homosexual he can be"
by pursuing art and not caving in to his homophobic father.
He also helps Justin to heal from the bashing and, later, to
work out his anger through the Pink Posse. Brian gives
Michael the means to open his store by giving him the rare
Captain Astro comic and then assuring that he gets a good
price for it on eBay. He constantly finances Lindsay and Mel
so that Gus will have what he needs. He gets Ted a job not
once, but twice, when Ted is down and out. Brian is the guy
you go to when you are in trouble -- and everyone knows it.
They may not admit it, but they ALL owe Brian Kinney.
And then Brian's basic philosophy is tested once again when
Michael tells him about Ben's marriage proposal. Michael
is Brian's first and longest-standing devotee. Michael has
worshipped Brian from the first day they met -- sort of
like Justin has, but to a very different purpose. Because
Michael has always wanted something different in his life.
For Michael being gay isn't about fucking and being the rebel,
always outside the norms of society. Mikey doesn't want to be
James Dean or Marlon Brando, like Brian. He wants to be
Jimmy Stewart or Fred MacMurray. Being gay is about who
Michael loves and NOT necessarily about how he lives. It's
clear that Michael has always longed for a conventional life
and stable relationship. The Dr. Dave arc in S1, as well as
in the way he and Ben have settled into their domestic
situation, ("Mama Bear, Papa Bear, and Baby Bear!" snarks
Brian) underlines that wish. Hearing that Michael is
thinking about getting married shouldn't be a surprise to
Brian, but it shakes him more than he wants to admit.
"Pathetic!" Brian blasts. But Brian has done such a complete
turnaround in so many of his previously held beliefs that
his screed against marriage for queers doesn't sound very
convincing. He doesn't even seem to convince himself, let
alone convincing Michael. And then Brian does something
unusual for him -- he backs off. "Rewrite the story," he
tells Mikey. Make it your own. Claim it and create the
happy ending you want for yourself and your partner and
your kid. In other words -- Brian Kinney tells Michael to
do it. Get married. And Michael takes that advice. He walks
directly over to Ben and says, "I do."
Brian also has a new, more conventional kind of life these
days. He also has partner. And a kid. And he must be thinking
about how those things would have been undreamed of for the
Brian Kinney of even a few years ago. So it shouldn't surprise
us to see Brian, the supposed hater of marriage, standing as
Michael's Best Man. Brian pretends that he's going to say
something during the "Objection" portion of the ceremony as
his final small protest, but it's a comic moment and not a
self-defining one. Here is Brian Kinney, signing the
marriage registry as a witness. And pigs are flying over
Toronto, winging happily south, along with the Liberty
Riders.
And next week -- Crunch time. Big offers. Big proposals.
Big decisions. And a big crash. The avalanches continue
as we reach the Season 4 finale.
So, until then....
Gaedhal