Like us, the US gay activists quoted in The Globe and Mail were delighted by the Oscar speeches by Sean Penn and Dustin Lance Black:
“Many gay advocates are hoping the win adds momentum to their cause as
the California Supreme Court prepares to consider the legality of
Proposition 8, which banned gay marriage in the state.”
Me too but, at the risk of being Debbie Downer, let’s remember that Hollywood isn’t that influential. Just ask Rupert Everett:
A solid profile in the New York Times recognizes that Everett never become the movie star he should have been. While it’s delightful that actors like Penn, Tom Hanks, William Hurt, Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Hilary Swank have won Oscars for playing gay roles, actual gay winners are rare or, in the case of our brilliant actor Ian McKellen, they lose out to Roberto fucking Benigni. Just sayin’!
But true progress, of course, is always slow — while we honour the memory of Canadian writer Scott Symonds, remember that he had to flee the country in 1967 with his younger lover. Now there’s a movie waiting to be made!
And progress is bumpy — last week, we praised another Canadian literary legend Margaret Atwood for spurning a Dubai book festival for censoring a gay-themed book. Now it turns out we were all conned by some publicist. I’m still glad Atwood stood up for us but I would not be the guy who crossed her — dude, her book’s called “Bodily Harm” for a reason!
And progress is strange — check out this past Saturday’s Scrabble Word of the Day:
So who knows where all this is headed — let’s just relax and smile on the way, preferably with a soundtrack from Royksopp:
Why you can trust Xtra
