Empire 's Gay Son Is the Show's Greatt Asset

Contents:

• EMPIRE'S GAY SON IS THE SHOW'S GREATT ASSET
• ‘EMPIRE’ ACTOR JSIE SMOLLETT REVEALS HE’S GAY ON ‘ELLEN’: ‘THERE IS NO CLOSET’
• EMPIRE 'S GAY SON IS THE SHOW'S GREATT ASSET

EMPIRE'S GAY SON IS THE SHOW'S GREATT ASSET

Rather than jt flailg agast his father's homophobia and retreatg to the fort of his keyboard, Jamal summoned his anger to a missn statement: He pledged to take over his father's pany.

First, and I fear we've unrsold this our last two reps, how spectacular is that a work TV show picts not only a gay man of lor, but a gay man of lor the hetero-domated world of hip-hop?

Lee Daniels and his team may have unrled Luc's homophobia too hard so far, havg him nsistently refer to Jamal as female and sist homosexualy is a choice egregly bluntly, but 's probably (and sadly) realistic—and mak Jamal's assertn that he is a gay man, emphasis on both of those scriptors, all the more valuable.

‘EMPIRE’ ACTOR JSIE SMOLLETT REVEALS HE’S GAY ON ‘ELLEN’: ‘THERE IS NO CLOSET’

"The 31-year-old "Empire" star me out on "The Ellen DeGener Show" after his character om the h Fox seri revealed he's gay.

"WITH A JUICY BLEND OF MUSIC, DRAMA AND OUTRAGEOUSNESS, 'EMPIRE' HAS BECOME THE BREAKOUT HIT OF 2015Jsie Smollett discs his role on ‘Empire’ and how he had to dn seven tim before landg the role of Jamal Lyon, who me out as gay a recent episo.

Smollett also revealed he's gay real life. "Followg the episo when his character me out, Smollett received hate onle, but didn't ter him om movg forward wh the storyle or revealg he's also gay real life. Throughout the history of cema, there have been grippg and groundbreakg LGBTQ+ films – stori takg the liv, history, and experienc of people who intify as gay, lbian, bisexual, transgenr, pansexual and beyond.

EMPIRE 'S GAY SON IS THE SHOW'S GREATT ASSET

A key shkicker the early '90s New Queer Cema movement, Araki took a baseball bat to hetero-normative culture and explored gay life on the margs durg Bh's admistratn films by turns funny, ank and anguished. The Livg End is his bt picture, a so-lled 'gay Thelma & Louise', as film cric Jon (Craig Gilmore) and drifter Le (Mike Dytri), both diagnosed as HIV-posive ("the Neo-Nazi Republin fal solutn, " says Jon about AIDS), kill a homophobic p and go on the lam, offg any bigot who stand their way.

It's a rare early '90s gay film which no-one di or trmatilly out. Buy on Amazon UK3 of 5048) Beach Rats (2017)Eliza Htman's send film is an timate portra of ternalised homophobia and toxic masculy, the bed force of which sends Frankie (a brilliant breakout om future star Harris Dickson) to a tailsp. Pched very much as an antihero, Woodroof is shown as toxilly homophobic before his illns, velopg empathy for fellow gay and trans patients across the film.

All that, and am Dive as a pneer who preced the trends of punk, dis and techno before they h big, and reveals the very human vulnerabily behd the sndalo on Amazon UK7 of 5044) The Mistn Of Cameron Post (2018)Conversn therapy isn't new ground for LGBTQ+ cema, but Diree Akhavan's take on one of the most sid forms of homophobia blends drama, edy, and an timate die sensibily a film that wtily rais a cked eyebrow at their ridiculo practic, whout unrmg the pa and harm they e to those forced to enter them. They don't know she's gay.