Ameri Se Shas of Gay: A Once-Invisible Group Fds the Spotlight
Contents:
- SPECIAL REPORT: THE GAY 90'S
- CAN GAY STARS SHE?
- ENTERTAMENT WEEKLY: THE GAY 90S, SEPTEMBER 8, 1995
- FEEDBACK: THE GAY 90'S
SPECIAL REPORT: THE GAY 90'S
Five years ago, she siphoned om the homosexual g of Harlem an outrageo dance tradn lled "vogug" and spiked straight, whe, mastream dance clubs wh . Or maybe was Tom Hanks, acceptg an Amy Award for his portrayal of a gay lawyer Philalphia, and tearfully thankg his high school drama teacher and a classmate—"two of the ft gay Amerins that I had the good fortune to be associated wh"—before a billn movie fans around the world. But however all began, look at where 's led: Jt as Elvis and his ilk plumbed Ain-Amerin mil tradns and turned them to mastream rock & roll the 1950s, moviemakers, TV producers, media people, and rock stars have turned entertament on s head by eely mg the gay culture for s sarsm and style, s glter and gr, s secrets and celebratns.
CAN GAY STARS SHE?
In 1995, the gay stream flows eely to the mastream. Gay characters are multiplyg on screens big and small.
ENTERTAMENT WEEKLY: THE GAY 90S, SEPTEMBER 8, 1995
Comedy's most popular styl now utilize the gay sensibily—a reliance on irony that's omni-prent products as varied as Letterman (not him, jt his raised eyebrow) and The Ln Kg ( which Timon and Pumbaa are … well, whatever you want them to be).
The old-fashned gay-bag humor of Eddie Murphy and Andrew Dice Clay has been renred obsolete by gay-iendly entertament. On Broadway, gay-themed works are the most domant genre, and for three seasons, gay-themed plays by gay playwrights (Tony Khner's two-part Angels Ameri and, most recently, Terrence McNally's Love! ) But gay culture has brought about even more basic chang—sometim chang as fundamental as how thgs look.
FEEDBACK: THE GAY 90'S
Batman Forever is, fact, emblematic of the new, mutual clivens—the give and take and take back—of gay and straight dienc. A missn by Hollywood to (a) eradite all forms of bigotry and homophobia, or (b) to stroy the valu upon which society rts? Que simply, gay sells.