# Mainstream movies with gay main characters: how hard could it be? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 29, 2007, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mainstream-movies-with-gay-main-characters-how-hard-could-it-be/424493 "2007-10-29T20:46:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2007, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mainstream-movies-with-gay-main-characters-how-hard-could-it-be/424493/121 "2007-11-01T06:53:31Z")
Okay. Thought of one. For real. **Bedrooms and Hallways**. Granted, the “gay” lead (mmmm, Kevin McKidd) does end up in a relationship with a woman. But the one who starts off straight ends up pursuing a guy at the end (that’s super yummy James Purefoy). So I guess the message is that we’re all a little gay/sexuality is fluid, all that good stuff. The movie is basically about this gay guy pursuing an obstensibly straight guy, them dealing with the straight guy’s girlfriend, etc. But it’s not really about coming out, exactly. It’s more about…the fluidity of sexuality in this day and age. And a bunch of super sexy fantasies. Definitely a must see. ---
**Author:** ![tonedef](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f05b48/32.png) [@tonedef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tonedef)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2007, 8:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mainstream-movies-with-gay-main-characters-how-hard-could-it-be/424493/122 "2007-11-01T08:02:51Z")
[QUOTE=BobMmm] It’s insulting to have a straight person play gay. [/QUOTE] So I should be insulted to see a gay person play a straight role? ---
**Author:** ![tonedef](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f05b48/32.png) [@tonedef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tonedef)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2007, 8:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mainstream-movies-with-gay-main-characters-how-hard-could-it-be/424493/123 "2007-11-01T08:10:08Z")
I must admit there are plenty of great movies with the main character being gay or bisexual [Briana Loves Jenna](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0301070/) [Bella Loves Jenna](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0404816/) [Krystal Method](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0435111/) [Janine Loves Jenna](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1000110/) [Jenna Does Carman](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0851395/) ---
**Author:** ![Rachael\_Rage](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/71c47a/32.png) [@Rachael\_Rage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachael_Rage)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2007, 8:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mainstream-movies-with-gay-main-characters-how-hard-could-it-be/424493/124 "2007-11-01T08:12:46Z")
[QUOTE=DrDeth] Here’s the problem Fish- your OP, where you said “So the trick is to come up with a **mainstream movie** that also has a gay main character or two — preferably as something more substantial than the comedy-relief hairdresser! — which straight audiences will shell out money for.” Thus, even though that is only part of your OP, we are responding to that part. [/QUOTE] No you aren’t. **Fish** was asking Dopers to _invent_ that film, not try to name one. At least that’s how I took it. The pre-BBM titles given are relevant in that they show how Hollywood has progressed and a few lovely times have given us a film very close to what the OP is asking for, such as the wonderful _Kiss Kiss Bang Bang_, _Little Miss Sunshine_ and (less wonderful but the most mainstream of the lot) _The Mexican_. I loved that in all of these films, a lead character played by a big star is gay. And while being gay was fundamental to the character, it wasn’t fundamental to the plot, and it felt totally right and organic to the story, not plastered on for no reason, and not hastily dismissed either. Sadly, I am not the one to come up with the next one of these that will make a bazillion at the box office, but these are the types of films I would love to see more of. BTW, I may be fantasizing (right there with you, **BrainGlutton** ), but I seem to recall a deleted scene in _Aliens_ that shows a postcoital Ripley and Hicks. No, wait, I think I’m mixing it up with a scene in _Alien3_, which I’ve seen far fewer times, and is more of a soulless hookup with the only sympathetic guy in the movie. And then he gets killed very shortly thereafter, …though I may be badly misremembering. I don’t really want to pull my DVD out and watch it again. On preview… oh, and wasn’t _Will and Grace_ used upthread as an argument that when it is important that the character be gay, s/he must be played by a homosexual? :rolleyes: Putting aside the absurdity of that argument, the guy who played Will in that show - for, what, _eight years_? - is **straight**. ---
**Author:** ![Slypork](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc29f/32.png) [@Slypork](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slypork)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2007, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mainstream-movies-with-gay-main-characters-how-hard-could-it-be/424493/125 "2007-11-01T15:00:01Z")
[QUOTE=BrainGlutton] What if it weren’t quite so straight? 😃 [/QUOTE] Well, if it’s not straight then it definitely belongs in a thread about homosexuals in movies, doesn’t it? I agree that LBGTetc (listen folks, please [del]straighten[/del] figure out what the acronym will be) characters don’t have to be blatantly gay in order to work. Sharon Stone’s bisexuality in _Basic Instinct_ was more about her personality as a user of people for her own gratification and as a tool to manipulate Michael Douglas. It had nothing to do with her being a killer. The Whoopi Goldberg movie _Burglar_ (an absolutely crappy movie, IMHO) had a killer who was gay but you didn’t discover it until the end. _Deathtrap_ had Michael Caine and Christopher Reeves both as gay, or at least bi. Nothing camp or stereotypical in their behavior. The movie would have worked if Reeve’s role had been played by a woman. For all that movies like _Brokeback_ do well, they still don’t have the broad appeal to the majority of America because the majority of America isn’t gay. For many people homosexuality is outside the norm and tilting towards a perversion. It is acceptable if it is camped up (_The Birdcage_ or _Victor/Victoria_), or charming in a non-threatening manner (_My Best Friends Wedding_). Movies like _Brokeback_ put the sexuality in the public’s face (so to speak) and _Philadelphia_ and _Boys Don’t Cry_ showed the unpleasant faces of homosexuality (AIDS and homophobia) that many people would prefer not to think about and don’t see as “entertainment”. We need a gay action film star and movie. I don’t mean _Die Hard in Drag_ (though that would be hilarious). I mean a kick ass, huge explosion, shoot-em-up, blood soaked adrenaline extravaganza with the star diving through the air blasting away with both 9mm automatics. Imagine a muscular hero, his shirt half ripped open to show his perfect chest, taking down the evil terrorists, firing RPGs at the helicopter carrying the criminal mastermind, and saving his true love from certain death. It would just happen to be that his true love is named Bruce, not Brittany. The establishing story of the relationship wouldn’t need anything sexual. Merely showing them sharing a house, shooting the shit the way that all couples do, before our hero (who would look like Matt Damon or Brad Pitt, handsome and macho, not effeminate) leaves for work as the top agent at the Bureau for the Elimination of Assassins, Rebels and Spies (B.E.A.R.S.)\*. As he walks out the door they can have a quick kiss goodbye, again the way that everyone does. No groping, no tonsil-hockey. They are a typical couple. Period. That would be a movie that more people would pay to see. \*(OK, I had to throw that one in.) ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2007, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mainstream-movies-with-gay-main-characters-how-hard-could-it-be/424493/126 "2007-11-01T20:19:34Z")
[QUOTE=tonedef] So I should be insulted to see a gay person play a straight role? [/QUOTE] I’m not insulted by straights playing gay characters. Actors should be able to do that. I’d be insulted by a director selecting a big-name actor to play a gay role he or she wasn’t talented enough or committed to pulling off convincingly. It’s like slapping some makeup on a white guy to play a native American when there are plenty of native American actors available. As for gays playing straights - that’s the nature of theater. They’ve been doing it since the beginning. You might as well be insulted by your male flight attendant being gay. ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2007, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mainstream-movies-with-gay-main-characters-how-hard-could-it-be/424493/127 "2007-11-01T20:23:40Z")
[QUOTE=DMark] scripts with predominantly homosexual characters would not be seriously considered, UNLESS one or more characters could be changed to become heterosexual. [/QUOTE] And I just read the _Hollywood Reporter_ review of **Martian Child** with the following quote (bolding is mine): “Adapting David Gerrold’s autobiographical novel about a **single gay man** who adopts a troubled child, scripters Seth E. Bass and Jonathan Tolins have made the protagonist a **widowed straight man** – screenplay shorthand for noble, selfless good guy.” And there you have it. ---
**Author:** ![well\_he\_s\_back](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/3ab097/32.png) [@well\_he\_s\_back](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/well_he_s_back)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2007, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mainstream-movies-with-gay-main-characters-how-hard-could-it-be/424493/128 "2007-11-01T20:49:53Z")
oh my gosh. that information about the Martian Child movie makes me a lot less interested in seeing it. ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2007, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mainstream-movies-with-gay-main-characters-how-hard-could-it-be/424493/129 "2007-11-01T20:55:09Z")
Champ Baily in _Anchorman_ is probably gay, but won’t admit it to himself. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2007, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mainstream-movies-with-gay-main-characters-how-hard-could-it-be/424493/130 "2007-11-01T20:59:23Z")
[QUOTE=Gangster Octopus] Champ Baily in _Anchorman_ is probably gay, but won’t admit it to himself. [/QUOTE] Champ Kind? ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2007, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mainstream-movies-with-gay-main-characters-how-hard-could-it-be/424493/131 "2007-11-01T23:58:12Z")
[QUOTE=DMark] And I just read the _Hollywood Reporter_ review of **Martian Child** with the following quote (bolding is mine): “Adapting David Gerrold’s autobiographical novel about a **single gay man** who adopts a troubled child, scripters Seth E. Bass and Jonathan Tolins have made the protagonist a **widowed straight man** – screenplay shorthand for noble, selfless good guy.” And there you have it. [/QUOTE] 😕 I know you wrote “autobiographical,” but is it even **possible,** IRL, for a single gay man (or single straight man, for that matter) to adopt a child? ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2007, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mainstream-movies-with-gay-main-characters-how-hard-could-it-be/424493/132 "2007-11-02T00:34:40Z")
[QUOTE=BrainGlutton] I know you wrote “autobiographical,” but is it even **possible,** IRL, for a single gay man (or single straight man, for that matter) to adopt a child? [/QUOTE] Given that the film is in fact based on an autobiographical novella written by a gay man who adopted a child (David Gerrold), the answer obviously is yes. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mainstream-movies-with-gay-main-characters-how-hard-could-it-be/424493.md?page=6)