Homophobia In The Film Industry
In many cultures, same-sex relationships are socially accepted as normal behavior for humans, but in other societies, even ours, many people believe that sexual contact with someone of the same sex is immoral hose people are considered homophobes. Homophobia is the fear’ of feeling love for members of one’s own sex, therefore the hatred of seeing those feelings in others, or a negative attitude and feelings towards people who are identified as homosexuals.
Although there’s been opposition, I truly believe that the film industry, among with the general public in the United States, has turned more pro-gay in the last decade. With movies such as Bareback Mountain, Sex Positive and Victor/ Victoria breaking new ground in their respective times, homosexuality has had its Tory told and people are starting to realize that it is not a big deal to be homosexual, but it is a big deal that we accept it.
THE ISSUE: Homophobia can still be found in the film industry, which affects the artistic integrity of said films in various ways, despite it being 2014 there’s still actors and actresses who are afraid of coming out as homosexuals, is Hollywood this backwards? Most recently Ellen Page, an actress well known for Junk and the X-Men trilogy, admitted that she was “tired of hiding” and revealed to be a gay woman, which was a result of also recent coming out story by allege football player, Michael Sam.
This news attracted the attention of both gays and straight alike. “l am tired of hiding and I am tired of lying by omission,” Page told the crowd. “l suffered for years, because I was scared to be out. ” What makes her story unique in addition to the timing is also the way she did it, with an amazing coming-out speech at a conference for LIGHT teens. The response has been mostly positive as you would expect in 2014 and she has been regarded as a sort of a hero.
But why was she scared about coming out when a majority of her demographic are in favor of gay rights? Hollywood has a reputation of being a liberal place, supportive of gay marriage as people like George Clooney, Salsa Hayes, Toby Maguire and others have publicly revealed they’re pro- gay marriage, we’ve had Oscar winners such as lain Canning; the producer of The King’s Speech thanked his boyfriend among collaborators and parents which was received with a roaring applause from actors in the building, rarely do we see anyone oppose anymore.
So why did Ellen Page fear coming out for so long? Well, as it turns out, sexual orientation at an early stage of your career can kill your chances of any lead oleos, according to Gay British actor Rupert Everett during an interview where he warned young male actors not to come out unless they made a name for themselves, there’s still prejudice against homosexuals, it is believed it could affect and get in the By Adrian-Dusk is extremely frowned on, and apparently, one of those things is coming out as a homosexual.
Not everyone is outspoken about it, but Arson Scott Card; author of “Mender’s Game”, has admitted to not like homosexuals, and spewed many of his homophobic beliefs, among racist beliefs. This has cost him money and positions, as few months back he was supposed to writer for a Superman comic book in DC, but quit out once his beliefs were made known to the public due to the controversy created, fans of the character did not want Arson Scott Card to speak for Superman, a character who is known for his compassion and kindness towards the human kind.
CORPORATE MEDIA: The response for Ellen Page coming out has been mostly positive, there are rarely any negative comments from mainstream media, and if there are they are mostly anonymous. But there’s some debates going around about whether or not what she did was “brave”. Michael Sam, the football player who announced to the world that he was gay was one of the reasons that motivated Ellen Page to come out as well, in the eyes of some people, that took more guts to do than a popular 20 year old actress in Hollywood coming out as gay. Michael Sam acknowledged he was gay. “[Michael] Cam’s announcement took a great deal of bravery since, as everyone knows, there’s a chance he won’t be drafted now. But how will Page’s coming out affect her career? It’s unlikely that she will never find work again… It seems fair to suggest that such attitudes might be more at home among NFG check signers. (Ambrosial, Time Magazine) Is it fair to rank coming-outs from harder to easier though?
In a time where celebrities are the most involved with their fans as they have ever been before thanks to social network, are we under the impression that we have emotional access to the personal lives of actresses and athletes? In 2014, people think coming-out should not be some cultural novelty, and although it is preferable to live in a world where sexual orientation is not a big deal. Sadly, the United States is still working on it, and we still have situations such as Russia, where homosexuality is more than frowned upon.
When Arson Scott Card revealed his homophobic beliefs, controversy was inevitable. Card was in the middle of writing a story for a new comic book called “Adventures of Superman” which would consist of various authors writing different separate short stories about Superman as opposed to the normal one author, one artist format they usually follow. However, after much criticism and controversy Card quit and walked away from the company, without publishing the story.
DC commented on the situation, stating that the story Arson Scott Card wrote was still ‘on hold’ hoping that Card still plans to make business with them in the future. We’re searching for an artist to work on that story so it’s been tabled until that happens… We have a number of projects that started at the same time, so it moved back in the queue and we have other ones that are further along in production that we’re moving with first. (Lee, DC) It should be noted that despite the obvious disgust fans had for Card, to the point they opened a petition calling for DC to “drop Arson Scott Card” off the story. His book “The Mender’s Game” recently turned into a movie also has carried controversy due to his homophobia, but it is something that does not bother him, he still stands y his beliefs and despite the news reporting that he would not get a dime for The Mender’s Game movie, he is still profiting from the sales of his original novel which release.
INDEPENDENT MEDIA: Ellen Page got a standing ovation for coming out as a homosexual and has gathered a lot of positive feedback from fans and gay rights supporters alike. During her speech she talked about the unfair standards that the industry would hold on women, bringing up a magazine a while back that criticized her for wearing sweatpants and looking like a ‘massive man’ instead of capitalizing on her ‘petite beauty. It was soon reported that the article that referred to her was published by ‘E! A major source of entertainment news, who after being found out, took down the article from the website. The website has not made comments on Page’s remarks since then. Harriet Williamson from the Belfast telegraph defends Ellen Page’s decision against critics who are missing the point and makes a point that coming out the way she did has much more of a positive impact on people than some may think. “It makes being part of the LIGHT community less lonely The normalization of homosexuality by famous names even makes it harder for young people to bully their LIGHT peers. Williamson, Autobiographer’s) People recognize how influential Ellen Page can be, as an actress to go against her agents wishes and put it out there, in a time that it is the most relevant, that she is homosexual. Despite the bashing and criticism, Arson Scott Card is adamant about his position on homosexuality saying, “My sales go up with such attacks. ” He relishes the attention the boycott has gathered on his film.
This might be true to an extent, seeing as they are those who promised would still watch the film even if they did not agree with Card’s point of view. The ideas put forth in both Mender’s Game and Mender’s Shadow fundamentally oppose the hateful words of their author… Both books question the act of dehumidifying one’s enemy, and the role of the “bully” in the society that the main character Bean finds himself living within… The lessons I believe it teaches are vastly more powerful than the words of the truly weak and close- minded man who wrote it. (Dylan Gibson, Arrestor) MY TAKE: I find that the best way to tell my take on the subject is to be transparent about it with past experiences. One of the first instances of hearing gay slurs in my life was directed towards me in elementary school, I didn’t even know what it meant at the time, but it didn’t sound good. I grew up with my mom and sister, along with my grandmother and a handful of aunts, and I guess I was different from other boys at the time, at least different enough for it to be noticeable in my primary education.
The majority if not all of my friends as a kid were girls, and I guess I was a bit of an emotional kid, I would often get mad at the name calling and fight back my bullies on a weekly basis, looking back I realize that, obviously I wasn’t the things they called me, but they med to stereotype me as gay because I didn’t play enough sports, or because I rather hang out with the girls, or because I was in touch with my feelings and emotions, I don’t know for sure, but I realized Just how early an age some kids can start forming erroneous ideas of what a homosexual is, as if you could group them all and say they all like the same things.
I am happy with they way things turned out, that due to an experience I had I can look at Ellen Page, or any other average person, and not even have second thoughts about stereotyping them, I was raised to be impassioned and not look down on others for being different, but I also had some first hand experience that helps me understand what it feels like to be stereotyped, homosexuals go through to understand and leave them be, but maybe that’s what some people need. Because there is no way to control it, I believe it is something you’re born with and it can’t be altered, it might as well Just be as natural as being left-handed.
At some point, hopefully in my lifetime, gay marriage won’t be an issue, just like race mixing is not an issue anymore and people like Arson Scott Card will be nothing but outdated and shameful. There are so many qualities that make us a human being that sexuality and color is irrelevant. People should not be pressured to keep their sexuality as a secret out of fear, not anymore, not ever again. CONCLUSION: In the end, homosexuality is something that is slowly but steadily becoming the norm in the United States, and the general public is in favor of it, but not everyone is.
As of now, gay marriage is only legal in 17 states, and 33 states have a ban through laws or amendments to prevent it. Ellen Page coming out as gay sends a message bigger than Just homosexuality being natural, her case is important cause throughout her career she has been known as a petite girl and would get ridiculed if someone caught a glimpse of ‘masculinity in her, like wearing baggy clothes, it was a surprise to many because many think that they can tell someone’s gay for the way the talk or the way they walk.
Feedback has been great because prior to being gay, anyone could see her and think “Hey, this is a nice, down to earth, girl from Canada” Her credibility in Hollywood is significant to her ability to be liked by masses of people, and that’s dents a hole in homophobia, that her sexuality has thing to do with her character, she could definitely be a role model for young people like her.
Eventually People like Arson Scott Card are not going to have a say on what homosexuals do with their lives without suffering the consequences, burning bridges, and using freedom of speech as an excuse, although there’s still people against gay rights, most of them choose to remain anonymous.
Hollywood films can make a difference, we can watch stories on the subject of homosexuality and have a piece of their perspective, In the world that we live in right now, where we consume information about celebrities and entertainers on a daily basis, the entertainment industry can make a difference, or specifically, the writers and actors in the industry can make a difference, through comic books, movies, books, make characters relatable and find comfort in the fact that you’re not alone.
