The AP reports that Star Trek's Mr. Sulu, actor George Takei, has come out in an interview with Frontiers magazine. This continues the recent trend of late-in-life (ok, I won't say "over the hill") Hollywood B-list celebs coming clean about being gay-think Richard Chamberlain and Tab Hunter or, a bit earlier, the late Dick Sargent.
But while coming out before time passes by is now easier in the pop music world (from George Michael to Rufus Wainwright) and on reality TV (examples too numerous to mention), few successful young actors are willing to cross the line. More distressingly, while the number of gay roles in movies and TV has greatly increased, they're being played by actors who are either straight (as in Ang Lee's new "Brokeback Mountain") or closeted. Britain's Rupert Everett stands out as such an exception that he helps prove the rule.
Seeing straight actors playing gay, while I appreciate their
willingness, always makes me feel queasy-sort of like watching
Ricardo Montalban with heavy eye makeup playing Japanese in the
film "Sayonara" back in the 50s. It was called "yellow face" and
outlived the more obviously racist "black face" period. I guess we
remain in the era of "gay face"- and gay actors coming out only
when they have no more roles to lose.
More Recent Postings
10/23/05 - 10/29/05