A barrage of Gay movies this fall - NPR story

[soccerDad]

Here was an interesting story by NPR. Apparantly, many more of the movies being released now feature Gay themes and characters. You can hear it on podcast at NPR Movies for 4 Nov. Also, by going to this website; npr.org/templates/topics/topic.php?topicId=1045&ft=2&f=1045 you can see the top stories are all about Gay stars.

It seems Hollywood is determined to mainstream the Gay lifestyle. Sometimes I feel like the protagonist in a Brave New World, who can’t believe what the future has become. See the other threads on priests “coming out” in the Catholic News forum.

 

[Benedictus]

soccerDad:

It seems Hollywood is determined to mainstream the Gay lifestyle.

I believe you have it backwards. Gays have become more accepted in today’s world; therefore, movies are more likely to include them.

 

[Riley259]

The same is true for newspapers - especially liberal rags like The Boston Globe and *The New York Times. *The Globe has at least one or two gay themed stories in their newspaper nearly everyday (see today’s paper story below). In both cases, it’s a systematic and deliberate attempt to mainstream and “normalize” the gay lifestyle.

boston.com/news/globe/living/articles/2005/11/08/minds_wide_open/

 

[chicago]

It’s also well known that many people in the theatrical arts are gay. So it was just a matter of time for this to come to the forefront and be seen as more culturally acceptable.

 

[wabrams]

soccerDad:

Here was an interesting story by NPR. Apparantly, many more of the movies being released now feature Gay themes and characters. You can hear it on podcast at NPR Movies for 4 Nov. Also, by going to this website; npr.org/templates/topics/topic.php?topicId=1045&ft=2&f=1045 you can see the top stories are all about Gay stars.

It seems Hollywood is determined to mainstream the Gay lifestyle. Sometimes I feel like the protagonist in a Brave New World, who can’t believe what the future has become. See the other threads on priests “coming out” in the Catholic News forum.

Hollywood will only make movies they are pretty sure people will want to see. It’s simple business.

 

[soccerDad]

But I don’t want to see Gay actors or stories. I don’t know anyone who does. I think Hollywood is forcing that issue.

I don’t think Gay is mainstream and so reflected in our media. I think that is the agenda, but it is not true.

 

[Courtneyjo]

There is a movie about gay cowboys coming to a theater near you. It supposedly has very graphic scenes. There is alot of hype already about Academy Awards for it. The review I read said that the movie will appeal to “a sophisticated urban audience.” Does that mean that real cowboys won’t like it?

 

[wabrams]

soccerDad:

But I don’t want to see Gay actors or stories. I don’t know anyone who does. I think Hollywood is forcing that issue.

I don’t think Gay is mainstream and so reflected in our media. I think that is the agenda, but it is not true.

You can believe what you want, but Hollywood is like any other business: you don’t make a product that won’t sell. You have some duds here and there, but on the whole you make something that will appeal to people. I remember several years ago when people were up in arms over violent movies and several Hollywood directors came out and said that if people didn’t want to see violent movies, then why were the box office revenues through the roof?

 

[Orionthehunter]

wabrams:

You can believe what you want, but Hollywood is like any other business: you don’t make a product that won’t sell. You have some duds here and there, but on the whole you make something that will appeal to people. I remember several years ago when people were up in arms over violent movies and several Hollywood directors came out and said that if people didn’t want to see violent movies, then why were the box office revenues through the roof?

I think that I recently read that movie revenues are down 12% this year and that they are being primarily propped up by movies for children (Chicken Little’s success is critical if they are not to have a more severe downturn). Frankly, I questin the business acumen of the movie industry and their “personal attitude” about homosexuality will only further harm the financial performance of the industry. Broadcast TV’s current problem is a mirror image of that of the movie industry.

 

[SueKrum]

I think a lot of you are right! I mean Hollywood is out for money, but they are working for the Devil as well. They ARE pushing an adgenda and making money at the same time. The two are not mutually exclusive. No one would sin, or think about it if it weren’t appealing to our fallen nature. It’s just like pornogorphy and all the other garbage that’s out there. There are snakes out there tampting our youngsters and filling their heads with lies and most people are just loving it! That’s sad, but true. What were the people of Sodom and Gamora doing right before it was burned to the ground? They were probably having a party!
That’s my rant for now,
Sue

 

[wabrams]

Orionthehunter:

I think that I recently read that movie revenues are down 12% this year and that they are being primarily propped up by movies for children (Chicken Little’s success is critical if they are not to have a more severe downturn). Frankly, I questin the business acumen of the movie industry and their “personal attitude” about homosexuality will only further harm the financial performance of the industry. Broadcast TV’s current problem is a mirror image of that of the movie industry.

There are a ton of factors that go into sales being down 12%; some including drop of price in DVD’s, higher fuel costs, etc. If the revenue’s for gay themed movies tanks, then they’ll quit making them. Again, simple business: if the product doesn’t sell, quit making it.

 

[YinYangMom]

wabrams:

There are a ton of factors that go into sales being down 12%; some including drop of price in DVD’s, higher fuel costs, etc. If the revenue’s for gay themed movies tanks, then they’ll quit making them. Again, simple business: if the product doesn’t sell, quit making it.

Yes, I’m more interested in the followup figures…
I’m looking to see which states show the films…
Which theaters…
And what the ticket sales are for them…

I’m not opposed to the industry making the films.
I’m not even opposed to theaters showing the films, so I’m not about to picket anyone over this. It’s art. It’s real, in that these stories are representative of some peoples’ lives in our country.
And because it’s a product to be sold, the best way to protest is to not pay any money to see the films.

 

[soccerDad]

A lot of good points. But, I don’t agree Hollywood will stop making them if they don’t sell. That hasn’t worked so far. These “artists” most often don’t need the money, and they will follow their passions. I won’t go, but I suspect many will, just out of a sick curiosity, so they can tell their friends they saw the new thing everyone is talking about.

 

[davy39]

soccerDad:

A lot of good points. But, I don’t agree Hollywood will stop making them if they don’t sell. That hasn’t worked so far. These “artists” most often don’t need the money, and they will follow their passions. I won’t go, but I suspect many will, just out of a sick curiosity, so they can tell their friends they saw the new thing everyone is talking about.

I won’t go, either, but I’m afraid that the movies, tv, and music are being shoved down our throat, whether we like them or not. In the past, if something didn’t appeal to people, it soon disappeared, but that doesn’t happen much anymore. They don’t really care if anybody watches or listens to it, they get their message accross anyway. Most of the so-called “stars” have enough money to last them the rest of their lives, anyway.

 

[YinYangMom]

davy39:

I won’t go, either, but I’m afraid that the movies, tv, and music are being shoved down our throat, whether we like them or not. In the past, if something didn’t appeal to people, it soon disappeared, but that doesn’t happen much anymore. They don’t really care if anybody watches or listens to it, they get their message accross anyway. Most of the so-called “stars” have enough money to last them the rest of their lives, anyway.

They **only **care about whether or not a movie makes a profit.

The entertainment executives are not in the business of getting any messages across contrary to popular belief.

Certain celebrities, directors and producers do - so they use their own money to get these messages in a can…but they always need the distributors to get the message out, and that’s where the bottom $$$ line comes into play.

Look at Gibson’s Passion of the Christ…he pretty much did that all on his own, but still needed some distributor to take a risk on his project to show it.

Now, when they take that risk and the returns are great, they’ll most likely be willing to risk again down the line…but if the return is not good, they will not go there again.

Apparently there are several directors/producers out there who are feeling the political climate is ‘ripe’ for these type of stories. Enough to invest money in making the films…and enough to convince certain distributors to release them…

Only time will tell whether or not their ‘feeling’ was correct, and it will be determined by the box office ticket sales numbers. What we need to look for is how many theaters show the movie, how long does the movie run at that theater, and what the ticket sales were for that theater (or chain). The next thing to watch is DVD release/sales…

When those figures come in, then we’ll know whether or not there will be a real barrage of those type of films. What we’re experiencing now is by no means a barrage…it’s a testing of the waters. Pray the test fails!

Thinking back over film history, this tends to come in cycles…I’m recalling “Spartacus” with the deleted scenes of Tony Curtis, the bath, and the oyster dialogue…“Midnight Cowboy”, “The Crying Game”,“Boys Don’t Cry”…each excellent films and I’m certainly glad they exist - but not one of them was enough to get a whole lot of other film executives to follow suit. I don’t think these new releases will fare any better.

 

[Urf]

soccerDad:

But I don’t want to see Gay actors or stories. I don’t know anyone who does. I think Hollywood is forcing that issue.

I don’t think Gay is mainstream and so reflected in our media. I think that is the agenda, but it is not true.

Yeah, that should give you an idea of the people that you are friends with. Hollywood forcing? Can you tell me why Hollywood would do anything it thought the majority of consumers might not like? If people didnt like it, no one would support it, and hollywood would make no money.