LETTERS From CAMP Rehoboth |
Gay 'n Gray |
by John Siegfried |
Blurred Vision
Blurred vision means trouble for most of us in the gray set, and for non-grays blurred vision still means trouble. It could be high blood pressure, a brain tumor, concussion, diabetes run-amok, or a slew of other problemsnone good. A recent Advocate book review, however, reminded me that I frequently experience blurred vision of a less life threatening nature. The review was of Patricia Nell Warren's latest book, The Wild Man. Her first book, a 1974 gay hit, was The Front Runner, a novel about a suburban Philadelphia collegiate track coach who falls in love with one of his runners. It was one of the first gay novels I read (the first time always holds a special place in memory-land) and I read it several times. The sex scenes I read several times plus. Actually, I read them any time I was horny and wanting to play. They were evocative, erotic and exactly what I'd want to happen to me if I had the legsor any other equipmentwhich would qualify me as a collegiate runner. What puzzled me back in '74 was that supposedly a womana Patricia, not a Patrickwrote the novel. I decided that Patricia was really a man, using a pen name, because no one could possibly write gay male sex scenes like those in The Front Runner unless they had personally experienced gay male sex. That turned out to be a case of blurred vision. I was able to enjoy my hypothesis for about a decade and then I read an interview with Patricia Nell Warren and found that she was a genuine real live feminine dame of the lesbian variety. The Advocate goes one further and includes a photo of a very attractive Patricia Nell Warren with authorship of a credible line of gay male fiction that includes very credible gay male sex. Perhaps it was by accident, or by serendipity, that the same issue of The Advocate focused on the TV series Queer As Folk with a cover story of Emmett, one of the two characters in the cast acted by gay men. Again, I found that I was suffering from blurred vision because in the episodes of QAF that I've seen I was convinced all the actors were gay. If they are straight men portraying gay sex, they do a convincing job of slithering skin to skin, grunting and groaning with the look of ecstasy in their eyeballs. I thought they were all gay. Peter Paige, the out gay actor who plays the Emmett role, had to face the prospect that this role would so significantly typecast him that it might be the death knell of his TV career. His take is, "I find the idea that straight actors playing gay roles is somehow exotic, offensive, in the same way that I find the notion that I as a gay actor might not be able to play straight characters after this show, offensive." It does seem like societal blurred vision, or perhaps even a blind spot, that straight actors, including major items like Tom Hanks, can accept a gay film role with impunity, but a gay man playing a straight role risks audience incredulity and subtle studio blacklisting. Do I as a reader, or a viewer, require that the author or actor personally authenticate that which is portrayed? Must Rock Hudson be straight (or at least silent, if gay) to be credible opposite Doris Day? Must Ellen's ex marry to continue playing hetero roles? By that standard every portrayal of adultery should be by an adulterer (and Hollywood has no shortage). Every Southern Gothic tale would have to be penned by a southern gothic (and again, there's no shortage). But it might knock the best seller list to hell and send the TV ratings to the pits. According to the trade press, Queer As Folk has claimed a solid audience of Sunday night viewers and a significant portion are something other than gay. They may be watching out of curiosity as to what the gay world is really like (and they certainly won't get much help from this show), or they may be watching for the brief episodes of full frontal male nudity (that even hotel flicks don't include). But hopefully they're not watching with blurred vision using sexual orientation of cast members as the yardstick for evaluating performance. I really don't care if Patricia Nell Warren is femaleor even if she's straight. She knows how to use her pen to get the juices flowing. This may be one type of blurred vision that improves with age. It's called acceptance. John Siegfried, a retired association executive, resides in Rehoboth Beach and Ft. Lauderdale. |
LETTERS From CAMP Rehoboth, Vol. 11, No. 9, July 13, 2001 |