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Hollywood slowly opening door to gay drama
AFP - Monday, February 16
HOLLYWOOD, USA (AFP) - - Three years after gay cowboy romance "Brokeback Mountain" missed out on best picture at the Oscars, can "Milk" be the cream of the crop at the 81st Academy Awards?
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Director Gus Van Sant's inspirational biopic charts the life and death of California's first openly gay elected official, Harvey Milk, who was murdered by a fellow San Francisco politician in 1978.
The film, which stars Sean Penn as Milk, heads into next Sunday's Oscars with eight nominations -- including best picture, best director, best actor, best supporting actor and best original screenplay.
But recent history suggests that admirers of "Milk" should not be banking on a multi-Oscar-winning haul. "The memory of "Brokeback Mountain's" defeat, led some commentators to wonder if the Academy was ready to name a "gay" film for its top prize.
Although "Brokeback Mountain" was widely acclaimed and managed three Oscars -- direction, score and attempted screenplay -- it was beaten by "Crash" as best picture.
It was voted for by the now 6,000-plus member Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which rarely comments on its picks.
"I don't think that there was any doubt that homophobia and the nature of the film 'Brokeback Mountain' caused some members of the Academy not to support it," said Neil Guiliano, president of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD). "I don't think it was the majority, but it might have been enough to tip that vote, one way or another."
"This year I'm optimistic that those kind of issues from three years ago have been very instructive for all the members of the Academy and they will simply cast their ballot for what they truly believe to be the best picture of the year."
While "Brokeback Mountain" enraged conservative critics for turning the conventional movie representation of cowboys on its head, "Milk" has not attracted the same level of debate.
Larry Gross, professor of communication at the University of Southern California, says that is because the film "is sort of a classic biopic," with little explicit sex.
"The possible controversy is the fact that we still have gay leading roles played by straight actors," Gross said. "Why is it still not possible or difficult for gay actors to come out?"
Guiliano believes that day will come. For now he is optimistic that the success of "Milk" reflects a change in attitudes.
"I would not say that (gay movies) have become mainstream at all," Guiliano said. "A bit more commonplace, and certainly we know now that audiences are welcoming and ready to engage with stories about gay and lesbian people, much more so than they were in the past. That's certainly a positive development.
The fact that "Milk" was made, even after a 15-year wait and only with the presence of an A-lister such as Penn in the project, reflected that shift.
"That shows that our culture is changing, and is becoming more accepting, and the reason why it's becoming more accepting is because the media is telling our stories more frequently, more fairly and accurately," Guiliano said.
Todd Heusen, the director of Los Angeles's gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender film festival "Outfest", shares Guiliano's optimism.
Heusen traces the shift in Hollywood's attitudes back to Tom Hanks and his Oscar-winning performance as a man dying of AIDS in 1993's "Philadelphia."
"The change in the US is typically incremental, so starting with Tom Hanks being recognized for Philadelphia, the growth of independent gay cinema, the particular growth of gay characters in mainstream media or television shows, had all led us to a point where a film like 'Brokeback' could be so successful and so accepted by a mainstream population," Heusen said.
"The fact that it was nominated and got best director was quite an achievement. It showed the power of cinema to affect to affect change in that in was a well told love story."
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Enlarge Photo
Actor Sean Penn and "Milk" director Gus Van Sant (left) are seen arriving at the Academy Awards nominee luncheon at the Beverly Hilton Hotel, on February 2. Three years after gay cowboy romance "Brokeback Mountain" missed out on best picture at the Oscars, can "Milk" be the cream of the crop at the 81st Academy Awards?
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