Entertainment is so far out

By Susan Wloszczyna
USA Today

Gay people used to be depicted by Hollywood as angst-ridden people living sad, lonely lives. Sean Hayes blows that notion to bits as Jack on "Will and Grace." NBC

Nathan Lane, left, and Robin Williams played it just for laughs as a gay couple in the 1996 film "The Birdcage." Advertiser library photo

In "Bend It Like Beckham," soccer aces Keira Knightley and Parminder Nagra are presumed to be lesbian. Fox Searchlight

And we aren't just talking about happy and carefree.

Suddenly, with little fanfare or fuss, mainstream entertainment has fallen head over heels for gays and lesbians, and the occasional transgender or bisexual counterpart, with an embrace that goes beyond passing flirtations of the past.

A subject long explored and exploited by niche venues such as independent films, pay cable and off-Broadway, the gay infatuation started to grow more serious about a decade ago. Before the box-office novelty wore off, major Hollywood studios milked homosexuality for obvious laughs and mawkish tears in "The Birdcage," "Philadelphia" and "In & Out." The AIDS-themed stage drama "Angels in America" won a Pulitzer, and Ellen DeGeneres came out of her sitcom closet.

That was then.

This, however, is now: Barbara Walters experimentally locks lips with Julianne Moore during a discussion of Moore's Oscar-nominated role as a sexually confused '50s homemaker in "The Hours." "American Idol" host Ryan Seacrest and judge Simon Cowell josh each other with blatant gay banter. Willow the witch (Alyson Hannigan) and her female companion refuse to settle for the usual peck on the lips on the third-to-last episode of UPN's "Buffy the Vampire Slayer."

That's just prime-time TV in the past couple of months.

The most slyly subversive gay statement now playing is found in the action movie blockbuster "X2: X-Men United."

Bobby, the teen known as Iceman, is forced to reveal to his parents that he is, yes, a mutant. His concerned mother's reply: "Have you tried ... not being a mutant?"

Says "X2's" gay director, Bryan Singer: "It's a sort of coming-out scene that goes terribly wrong. It was an opportunity to have real fun with the situation. It's all not just the joke, though. It's a sensitive moment."

Gay entertainment is no longer a ponderous check-off list of historical landmarks that elicit protests and piety. It also can be simple fun — like Bravo's new dating show, "Boy Meets Boy," starting in July. The trick: Some of the contestants are straight ringers.

"There's been an enormous change if you compare what's out there with what was out there 15 years ago," observes gay playwright and screenwriter Paul Rudnick ("In & Out," "Jeffrey"). "Back then, we had no visible gay characters, or the ones we did have were used only in angsty docu-drama situations to illustrate their sad, lonely lives. Now we are in the era of 'Will & Grace,' and that's been a great leap. To be successful, a movie or show has to appeal to general consumers, and everyone wants to watch 'Will & Grace.' "

The attitude shift is a natural progression, says Scott Seomin, entertainment watchdog and spokes-man for the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation.

"As more and more people come out in this country, the more straight people know a co-worker, a friend or a family member who is gay," Seomin says. "They are going to learn that the gay community is just as human as the straight world."

" 'X-Men' is based on the exploration of the differences between people," says Lisa Dombrowski, assistant professor of film studies at Wesleyan University in Middletown, Conn. "Do we celebrate those who are different, or fear and attack them? It resonates with any teen since they all feel different."

So, how "in" is gay today? Let us "out" the ways:

At the movies

In "Bend It Like Beckham," the female soccer aces are presumed to be lesbians and a male friend is secretly gay. Some women fondle suggestively in "Anger Management," while Jack Nicholson displays homo-erotic tendencies. Ewan McGregor and David Hyde Pierce are mistaken for gay blades in "Down With Love."

Coming soon: Jennifer Lopez, as a lesbian assassin who tantalizes real-life fiance Ben Affleck in "Gigli" (Aug. 1), is the latest straight sex symbol to swing both ways onscreen. Famke Janssen and Kelly Preston tangle as a twosome in "Eulogy" (Oct. 17). Charlize Theron and Penelope Cruz are caught in a triangle with a man and reportedly smooch in "Head in the Clouds."

Rampantly hetero Colin Farrell co-stars in the gay-themed "A Home at the End of the World" and goes bisexual in Oliver Stone's epic bio of conqueror Alexander the Great. Paul "Crocodile Dundee" Hogan hopes rekindle his career by playing a straight man who feigns gayness for tax-cut purposes in the Aussie comedy "Strange Bedfellows." Nia Vardalos follows up "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" by posing as a dinner-theater drag queen opposite Toni Collette in "Connie and Carla."

On TV

The popularity of "Will & Grace," about a straight woman and a gay man who are best friends, is long established. Next season, though, ABC goes a step beyond with its new culture-clash sitcom, tentatively titled, "It's All Relative." The setup: A woman raised by two liberal, gay men is engaged to the son of Irish Catholic conservatives who run a bar.

Producers Neil Meron and Craig Zadan say it was network executives who felt the time was right for a sitcom with gay parents.

There is more gaiety on tap this fall. On Fox's "A Minute With Stan Hooper," Norm MacDonald searches for the real America in Wisconsin and finds a gay couple running the local diner. Meanwhile, after Jon Cryer separates from his possibly lesbian wife, he moves in with brother Charlie Sheen on CBS' "Two and a Half Men."

There are still milestones to be met, but they're noted with toned-down hoopla. A possibility for midseason on ABC is "Mr. and Mr. Nash," about gay interior decorators who solve murders. Think "Hart to Hart" with a killer design sense. Says Cumming, who is one Mr. Nash, "It would be the first time on TV where gay people would be in a show and it wouldn't be about them being gay."

After the success of its male-oriented "Queer as Folk," Showtime will unveil the first lesbian-focused series, "The L-Word," next year.

On Broadway

"Take Me Out" concerns the repercussions when a major-league player announces he is gay — including a lingering nude shower-room scene.

Then there's "Hairspray," which first came to life in 1988 as a no-star comedy by that guru of garbage cinema, John Waters, who always has been out — way, way out. Now the stage musical about a chubby '60s teen who yearns to integrate a TV dance show and her equally big mama (Harvey Fierstein, in maternal drag), is positively populist as it tops the Tony nomination list with 13.

But even with tuneful bios based on gay music men Peter Allen ("The Boy From Oz" with Hugh Jackman) and Boy George ("Taboo") in the wings, Fierstein is less optimistic about the state of the gay entertainment nation.

"We openly gay writers write our own stories, and openly gay directors direct. But when it comes to portraying ourselves, we still seek heterosexuals to do it," says Fierstein. The real test, Seomin suggests, "will be when a Vin Diesel comes out of the closet after making a huge film that opens at No. 1. Let's see how that career does."