Monday, May 10, 2010

Don't Ask, Don't Care

There's a reason Newsweek magazine is up for sale and it isn't just that magazine sales everywhere have plunged over the last decade or three. It's that Newsweek, which once represented a high standard in journalism, has reached the stage where they'll publish darn near anything. A recent example is this silly piece by Ramin Setoodah that argues — ineffectively, I might add — that while straight actors generally have no trouble playing gay, the opposite is...

Well, I'm not sure if Setoodah's claim is that it never works (which is what the headline on the piece says) or that "it's rare for someone to pull off the trick in reverse," which is what the article itself says. Either way, he makes a pretty lame case for his position by hanging it largely on Sean Hayes' performance in the new Broadway revival of Promises, Promises. He says the critics ignored how "wooden and insincere" the gay guy was playing straight. Well, maybe they ignored it...or maybe they just plain disagreed. The show itself got tepid reviews but Hayes was widely-praised and has recently been nominated for every possible acting award including the Tony.

Hayes' co-star in the show, Kristin Chenoweth, promptly hopped to his defense with a scathing, spot-on rebuttal...and good for her. So what if we know Hayes isn't, in real life, likely to lust after a lady the way he lusts after Ms. Chenoweth on stage? If Mr. Setoodah thinks most people have a problem with that, someone oughta tell him, "No, you have a problem with that." Indeed, his whole piece reflects an unhealthy interest in strangers' sexuality.

Some people have way too much concern over what kind of person others opt to sleep with. Years ago at a comic convention in Detroit, I was answering questions about working in Hollywood and one questioner caused me to do one of those bad, Benny Hill double-takes. He asked, innocent in tone, "How can you work with all those homosexuals in the business?" My answer, once I got my bearings, was that my co-workers' sexuality mattered so little that I didn't really even know how many people around me were gay. Some folks, obviously, advertise it in the way they talk or act. With others, you're aware of it because they casually make reference to their mates. When you hear certain names or pronouns, you think, "Oh, he's gay," and it impacts your life about as much as if you found out a co-worker was Canadian or he came from a large family. It's just something you didn't know about them before, probably because you didn't care. Among the many things wrong with laws like "Don't Ask/Don't Tell" and Prop 8 out here is that they make a legal issue out of sexual identity...and unless someone's signing up for a dating service, that's unnecessary.

If an actor is unconvincing in a role, he or she is unconvincing. I've seen plenty of films and plays where the leading man didn't really seem to have the proper passion for the leading lady but that wasn't because the leading man was gay. Often, it's because he's not a very good actor...and that's what's wrong there. Come to think of it, it's also possible for a heterosexual leading man to not have any romantic interest in his heterosexual leading lady or for a straight guy to not know how to properly woo a lady. If you're out in the audience and you can't get your mind off what the Enquirer says about the love life of the folks on the stage or screen, that's unfortunate...for you.

• Posted at 4:55 PM · LINK

Frank Frazetta, R.I.P.

Okay, I think we have sufficient confirmation. Sadly...

Famed fantasy artist Frank Frazetta has passed away at the age of 82. Born in Brooklyn in 1928, Frazetta was one of those child prodigies, drawing at a very early age. Though he at one point dabbled in baseball and was scouted for major league teams, there was never any doubt that he'd have a long, fabulous career as an artist, commencing with his first sale to comic books at the age of 16. For years, he worked in comics — funny animal comics for Standard Publishing, adventure art for EC and others, plus a long stint assisting Al Capp on the Li'l Abner newspaper strip — before he segued to painting paperback covers. Before long, he had carved out a reputation as perhaps the foremost artist in that field, certainly in his genre. Offers for movie posters soon followed.

It would be difficult to overstate Frazetta's impact and influence. Artists were inspired by his depictions of the human form. Writers were inspired by the evocative moods and imagery. Rarely has an illustrator so "connected" with his audience. That astronomical prices paid for Frazetta originals — one painting recently going for a cool million dollars — testify to his enduring popularity. And despite severe health problems, including a stroke that affected his right hand and forced him to begin working with his left, he continued to produce fine, important work.

Others will write volumes about Frank Frazetta so I don't have to. I only met him briefly a few times and have no particular insights to offer in that area, other than that he seemed — in those brief encounters, at least — to have a genuine delight in the popularity of his work. If anyone ever decides to do a movie of his life, the theme might be, "Poor Kid from Brooklyn Becomes Rich and Famous Doing Something He Loves." And that, of course, was possible just because he did it so well.

• Posted at 11:51 AM · LINK

Monday Morning

Yes, I know many sources are saying that the great fantasy illustrator Frank Frazetta has passed away...and it may be true. Given his poor health lately, it would certainly not be surprising. But we have certain loose standards here about how "verified" this kind of report has to be before we proclaim it, and this one hasn't yet met those standards. Stay tuned.

• Posted at 10:50 AM · LINK

Super Savings

If you suddenly need to fly anywhere tomorrow or Wednesday, go to JetBlue and see what their rate is. They're having a ridiculous sale with coast-to-coast fares for $10.

• Posted at 9:06 AM · LINK

May 9, 2010 • Current • May 11, 2010