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| We've written before about out Newsweek reporter Ramin Setoodeh and his ... puzzling opinions when it comes to gay issues. Last year he wrote an article suggesting that effeminate gay men on American TV were hurting the fight for GLBT equality. That article seemed to have more to do with Setoodeh's own issues with effeminate men than anything else. Setoodeh is back with another article that seems deliberately provocative as he suggests gay actors really can't play straight roles. Setoodeh starts off with the reviews for the recent Broadway production of Promises, Promises starring Sean Hayes which Setoodeh notes didn't get great reviews, and, according to him, missed "... the big, pink elephant in the room." Namely that Hayes is gay. Unlike Jerry Orbach, whom Setoodeh says had "macho swagger," Hayes doesn't work in the role specifically because he's gay. Says Setoodeh: But frankly, it's weird seeing Hayes play straight. He comes off as wooden and insincere, like he's trying to hide something, which of course he is. Um, what is Hayes trying to hide exactly? Hayes is open about his sexual orientation, so it can't be that. Presumably Setoodeh means Hayes' is trying to make the audience forget he's gay in real life? Setoodeh then goes on to discuss out actor Jonathan Groff, the "latest fabulous player to join Glee." Groff plays Jesse, the love interest for Rachel (Lea Michele), but according to Setoodeh: ...there's something about his performance that feels off. In half his scenes, he scowls—is that a substitute for being straight? When he smiles or giggles, he seems more like your average theater queen, a better romantic match for Kurt than Rachel. It doesn't help that he tried to bed his girlfriend while singing (and writhing to) Madonna's Like a Virgin. He is so distracting, I'm starting to wonder if Groff's character on the show is supposed to be secretly gay. |
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| Kristen Chenoweth wrote: As a longtime fan of Newsweek and as the actress currently starring opposite the incredibly talented (and sexy!) Sean Hayes in the Broadway revival of “Promises, Promises,” I was shocked on many levels to see Newsweek publishing Ramin Setoodeh’s horrendously homophobic “Straight Jacket,” which argues that gay actors are simply unfit to play straight. From where I stand, on stage, with Hayes, every night — I’ve observed nothing “wooden” or “weird” in his performance, nor have I noticed the seemingly unwieldy presence of a “pink elephant” in the Broadway Theater. (The Drama League, Outer Critics Circle and Tony members must have also missed that large animal when nominating Hayes’ performance for its highest honors this year.) I’d normally keep silent on such matters and write such small-minded viewpoints off as perhaps a blip in common sense. But the offense I take to this article, and your decision to publish it, is not really even related to my profession or my work with Hayes or Jonathan Groff (also singled out in the article as too “queeny” to play “straight.”) This article offends me because I am a human being, a woman and a Christian. For example, there was a time when Jewish actors had to change their names because anti-Semites thought no Jew could convincingly play Gentile. Setoodeh even goes so far as to justify his knee-jerk homophobic reaction to gay actors by accepting and endorsing that “as viewers, we are molded by a society obsessed with dissecting sexuality, starting with the locker room torture in junior high school.” Really? We want to maintain and proliferate the same kind of bullying that makes children cry and in some recent cases have even taken their own lives? That’s so sad, Newsweek! The examples he provides (what scientists call “selection bias”) to prove his “gays can’t play straight” hypothesis are sloppy in my opinion. Come on now! Openly gay Groff is too “queeny” to play Lea Michelle’s boyfriend in GLEE, but is a “heartthrob” when he does it in Spring Awakening? Cynthia Nixon only “got away with it” ’cause she peaked before coming out? I don’t know if you’ve missed the giant Sex and the City movie posters, but it seems most of America is “buying it.” I could go on, but I assume these will be taken care of in your “Corrections” this week. Similarly, thousands of people have traveled from all over the world to enjoy Hayes’ performance and don’t seem to have one single issue with his sexuality! They have no problem buying him as a love-torn heterosexual man. Audiences aren’t giving a darn about who a person is sleeping with or his personal life. Give me a break! We’re actors first, whether we’re playing prostitutes, baseball players, or the Lion King. Audiences come to theater to go on a journey. It’s a character and it’s called acting, and I’d put Hayes and his brilliance up there with some of the greatest actors period. Lastly, as someone who’s been proudly advocating for equal rights and supporting GLBT causes for as long as I can remember, I know how much it means to young people struggling with their sexuality to see out & proud actors like Sean Hayes, Jonathan Groff, Neil Patrick Harris and Cynthia Nixon succeeding in their work without having to keep their sexuality a secret. No one needs to see a bigoted, factually inaccurate article that tells people who deviate from heterosexual norms that they can’t be open about who they are and still achieve their dreams. I am told on good authority that Mr. Setoodeh is a gay man himself and I would hope, as the author of this article, he would at least understand that. I encourage Newsweek to embrace stories which promote acceptance, love, unity and singing and dancing for all! |
It seems to me that it's usually only after an actor comes out that a lot of people start pointing out all of the qualities that make them "gay" and saying things like "I always knew he wasn't straight."
I mean, I think people like Johnny Depp, Peter Sarsgaard and Robert Downey Jr come off as way more gay (whatever that means) than Neil Patrick Harris does.
Isn't it funny that the notion of masculinity is such a fragile thing that it can be destroyed by what people perceive as being even a hint of "teh gay"?
