Why In & Out Remas a Good-Hearted Gay Film

Contents:

• 25 YEARS LATER, 'IN & OUT' REMAS A GOOD-HEARTED GAY FILM AHEAD OF ITS TIME
• KEV MAXEN BE FIRST MALE ACH A US MEN’S PROFSNAL SPORTS LEAGUE TO PUBLICLY E OUT AS GAY
• 'PASSAG' DIRECTOR NOUNC 'DANGERO' NC-17 RATG ON A FILM PICTG A GAY LOVE STORY
• HOW IN & OUT “BLEW THE ROOF OFF THE THEATER” 20 YEARS AGOSCREENWRER PL RUDNICK ON HIS GROUNDBREAKG G-OUT EDY, OM S UNUAL ORIGS TO S LIGHTFUL LEGACY. (BARBRA’S A FAN!)BY GAR PIRNIASEPTEMBER 20, 2017PL RUDNICK SPEAKS WH DIRECTOR FRANK OZ AND PRODUCER STT RUD WHILE FILMG "IN & OUT" 1997.FROM PARAMOUNT PICTUR/EVERETT COLLECTN.SAVE THIS STORYSAVESAVE THIS STORYSAVEWHEN TOM HANKS WON THE BT-ACTOR OSR FOR PHILALPHIA 1994, HE GAVE AN IMPASSNED SPEECH ABOUT HIS HIGH-SCHOOL DRAMA TEACHER, RAWLEY FARNSWORTH—REFERRG TO FARNSWORTH AND A FORMER CLASSMATE AS “TWO OF THE FT GAY AMERINS.” PERHAPS HANKS DIDN’T REALIZE THE ATTENTN THAT WOULD BRG TO HIS MENTOR. THE SPEECH SPIRED PRODUCER STT RUD TO DREAM UP IN & OUT, RELEASED SEPTEMBER 1997. THE FILM STARS KEV KLE AS 40-SOMETHG HIGH-SCHOOL ENGLISH TEACHER HOWARD BRACKETT, WHO IS ENGAGED TO THE LONG-SUFFERG EY (JOAN CACK). WHEN ONE OF HIS NOW-FAMO STUNTS, CAMERON DRAKE (MATT DILLON), WS AN OSR, HE THANKS BRACKETT FOR BEG “A GREAT, GAY TEACHER”—ACCINTALLY OUTG HOWARD THE PROCS.RUD TAPPED SISTER ACT, ADDAMS FAY VALU, AND FIRST WIV CLUB SCRIBE/PLAYWRIGHT PL RUDNICK TO TRANSFORM HIS IA TO A SCREENPLAY. “AT FIRST I WAS A LTLE RISTANT,” RUDNICK, WHO’S OPENLY GAY, TELLS VANY FAIR. “THEN I ASKED STT: ‘WHAT IF THIS ALL HAPPENED TO A MAN WHO IS GETTG MARRIED?’ OH, SUDNLY I ULD SEE.“I WAS PECIALLY EAGER TO DO A G-OUT STORY THAT WAS NO WAY TRAGIC,” HE NTU. “I THOUGHT EVEN WHILE THERE ARE STORI ABOUT PEOPLE FACG TERRIBLE REJECTNS OM THEIR FAI AND MUNI—AND THOSE ARE ENTIRELY VALID—I WANTED TO TRY SOMETHG THAT WAS MORE ALONG THE L OF G G OUT AS A ROMANTIC-EDY VICE.”PL RUDNICK SPEAKS WH DIRECTOR FRANK OZ AND PRODUCER STT RUD WHILE FILMG "IN & OUT" 1997.FROM PARAMOUNT PICTUR/EVERETT COLLECTN.HE PURPOSELY SET THE MOVIE THE MIDWT, FICTNAL GREENLEAF, INDIANA—“A NSERVATIVE, FAY-ORIENTED SMALL TOWN—THAT SEEMED ALMOST MORE OF A CHALLENGE THAN ANOTHER STORY SET ON THE EAST COAST”—AND DIDN’T HOLD BACK ON S G-OUT NARRATIVE, EVEN THOUGH HE REALIZED THAT MIGHT E AS A SHOCK TO UNSPECTG DIENC. “I KNOW A LOT OF PEOPLE WHO SAW THE TRAILERS ASSUMED THAT WAS GOG BE A MISTAKE—THAT HE’D REALLY BE STRAIGHT, AND THAT WOULD BE THE SOURCE OF THE MOVIE’S EDY,” RUDNICK EXPLAS. “SO WHEN THEY WENT TO THE MOVIE AND REALIZED NO, NO, NO, THIS IS A MOVIE ABOUT A GAY MAN, THAT WAS A SURPRISE.”IT’S NOT QUE AS SURPRISG TO HOWARD’S FAY AND IENDS, WHO QUTN HIS HETEROSEXUALY AFTER THE SPEECH. AT HOWARD’S BACHELOR PARTY, HE WANTS TO WATCH QUEER IN BARBRA STREISAND’S FUNNY GIRL; HE ALSO GETS TO A FIGHT WH A IEND WHO CLAIMS THAT YENTL “SUCKS.” EVEN 20 YEARS LATER, THE JOK STILL H: “I FOUND THAT EVEN AMONG VERY YOUNG GAY MEN, BARBRA ENDUR,” RUDNICK SAYS. “THERE ARE OTHER GAY INS WHO ARE NO LONGER AS FAIAR; I THK BARBRA DON’T GO OUT OF STYLE.” (WHILE RUDNICK HASN’T MET STREISAND HIMSELF, HE HEARS SHE WAS ENTERTAED BY THE FILM.)DIRECTOR FRANK OZ STACKED THE ST OF IN & OUT WH BABY-FACED, SOON-TO-BE-FAMO ACTORS—CLUDG LREN AMBROSE (SIX FEET UNR), ZAK ORTH (WET HOT AMERIN SUMMER), AND SELMA BLAIR (CEL INTENTNS)—AS WELL AS STAGE STALWARTS LIKE J. SMH-CAMERON (RECTIFY) AND BECKY ANN BAKER (GIRLS). SCREEN VETS DEBBIE REYNOLDS AND BOB NEWHART ROUND OUT THE ROSTER. “WHEREVER YOU LOOKED, THERE WAS SOMEONE LIC,” SAYS RUDNICK. “NO ONE DROPPED THE BALL.” RUD AND RUDNICK PAID BACK OZ, WHO IS STRAIGHT, BY GIFTG HIM WH A “STARTER GAY-MAN K”—WHICH CLUD “SOMETHG WH A RABOW ON ,” A V.H.S. PY OF BEACH, AND A ST RERDG OF GYPSY.THE MOVIE WAS RELEASED DURG A WATERSHED ERA L.G.B.T.Q. HISTORY. ELLEN DEGENER ME OUT HERSELF APRIL OF 1997; TWO MONTHS LATER, TRISTAR RELEASED MY BT FRIEND’S WEDDG, FEATURG RUPERT EVERETT A MAJOR GAY ROLE. A YEAR AFTER THAT, WILL & GRACE BUTED ON NBC. “REMEMBER, THIS WAS A MOVIE THAT WAS MA AFTER THE PEAK OF THE AIDS CRISIS,” RUDNICK SAYS. “IF THERE WAS ANY BENEF OM THE AIDS CRISIS, WHICH IS AWFUL TO SAY, THERE WAS AT LEAST THIS NEW SENSE OF VISIBILY, AND A SENSE THE LIV ULD NO LONGER BE HIDN. THERE WAS A CREATIVE TSUNAMI A WAY, THAT SENSE OF ‘NOW’S THE TIME.’”OF URSE, SPE ALL THAT, NOT EVERYONE WAS READY FOR THE FILM. RUDNICK SAYS A KISS BETWEEN KLE’S CHARACTER AND A GAY REPORTER PLAYED BY TOM SELLECK “BLEW THE ROOF OFF THE THEATER,” SPIRG PASSNATE RPONS BOTH NEGATIVE AND POSIVE; ONE SCREENG, HE WATCHED A TEENAGE BOY TRY TO CLIMB BEHD HIS GIRLIEND SO HE WOULDN’T HAVE TO WATCH . RUDNICK ALSO REMEMBERS A WOMAN WHO RAVED ABOUT THE MOVIE ON A TT-SCREENG RD, BUT SHE WOULDN’T REMEND THE FILM TO A IEND: “NO, AGAST GOD’S LAW,” SHE WROTE.“THAT’S THE KD OF THG YOU EHER FD TRAGIC, HEARTBREAKG, HATEFUL, OR HILAR, AND I THOUGHT ALL OF [THE] ABOVE,” RUDNICK SAYS NOW. “IF WE GAVE HER EVERYTHG A HOLLYWOOD MOVIE EDY ULD OFFER AND SHE STILL HAD THIS RIDUAL RISTANCE TO , THAT SEEMED, AMONG OTHER THGS, SANE. THAT’S WHAT THE MOVIE WAS GETTG AT.”TWO S LATER, MARRIAGE EQUALY IS THE LAW OF THE LAND AND G-OUT NARRATIV ARE NO LONGER SHOCKG—BUT MID-BUDGET HOLLYWOOD FILMS FEATURG THREE-DIMENSNAL GAY CHARACTERS ARE STILL SRCE. ONLY A SMALL ACTN OF 2016’S STUD FILMS FEATURED L.G.B.T.Q. CHARACTERS AT ALL, ACRDG TO A RECENT GLAAD STUDY; THE DIFFICULTI OF GETTG GAY-THEMED MOVI MA ARE WELL DOCUMENTED, EVEN WHEN THOSE MOV HAVE TY BUDGETS AND ROBT BOX-OFFICE NUMBERS. (IN 2005, BROKEBACK MOUNTA GROSSED $178 LN WORLDWI; MOONLIGHT, AGAST A $4 LN BUDGET, GROSSED $65 LN WORLDWI.)MOST POPULARVANY FAIR’S “IT’S RAG TEENS” COVER AT 20: WHERE ARE THEY NOW?BY SAVANNAH WALSHRED, WHE & ROYAL BLUE MAY BE “THE MOST EXPENSIVE B OF FAN FICTN EVER”BY SAVANNAH WALSHTHE CAST OF OPPENHEIMER AND THE REAL PEOPLE THEY PLAYBY HILLARY BIS“IT’S BEEN PROVEN TIME AND AGA THAT MOVI ABOUT GAY LIV AND GAY CHARACTERS N BE SUCCSFUL EVERYWHERE, AND NOT JT ON THE AST,” RUDNICK SAYS, “YET THE STUDS N BE VERY RISTANT. IT’S STILL NSIRED A TOUGH BET, AND I THK THAT’S WHY A LOT OF PEOPLE TAKE THAT MATERIAL TO TELEVISN, PECIALLY TO BLE—THE NORMAL HEART WAS FILMED BETIFULLY BY RYAN MURPHY FOR HBO. BUT YOU THK, WHY HADN’T THAT BEEN MA SOONER? YOU’LL TAKE A CHANCE ON THE 5 LNTH SUPERHERO FILM, BUT YOU WON’T TAKE A CHANCE ON A GREAT GAY FILM LIKE MOONLIGHT? YOU WONR, HOW MANY HS DO YOU NEED?”AT S RE, THOUGH, IN & OUT IS REALLY ABOUT ACCEPTANCE—OF ONELF AND OF OTHERS. “I WANTED TO MAKE SURE BY THE END OF THE FILM, HOWARD BRACKETT WAS SURROUND BY LOVE AND ACCEPTANCE, PECIALLY OM HIMSELF,” RUDNICK SAYS. “IT’S WHY ENDS WH THAT DANCE. WE PLAYED AROUND WH MULTIPLE ENDGS: DID HOWARD NEED A BOYIEND AT THE END? DID HOWARD NEED TO GET MARRIED? NO. WHAT HOWARD NEEDS IS TO BE HAPPY AND TO LOVE WHO HE IS AND TO REALIZE EVERYONE AROUND HIM LOV HIM AS WELL AND CHERISH HIM.” RUDNICK IS PROUD THAT HIS FILM ALLOWS DIENC “TO LGH WH GAY CHARACTERS STEAD OF AT THEM.” AND HE’S RIGHT—EVERYTHG OM KLE STTTG TO “MACHO MAN” TO JOAN CACK BAWLG HER WEDDG DRS AND SAYG, “FUCK BARBRA STREISAND,” IS GAY EDY GOLD.“WHENEVER I SEE ON HBO, I GET UGHT UP,” RUDNICK SAYS. “I WA FOR KEV TO DANCE, AND I WA FOR JOAN HER WEDDG GOWN. I LOVED WORKG ON THAT MOVIE.”8 MOVIE STARS WH UNBELIEVABLE CONTRACT CLS1 / 8CHEVRONCHEVRONFROM SCREEN GEMS/EVERETT COLLECTN.SAMUEL L. JACKSONWHEN YOU’RE ONE OF THE HIGHT-GROSSG ACTORS THE WORLD, YOU’RE ALLOWED TO TAKE A GOLF BREAK. SAMUEL L. JACKSON LOV THE SPORT SO MUCH THAT ALL HIS NTRACTS, HE HAS A CLSE THAT ALLOWS HIM TO GOLF TWICE A WEEK DURG MOVIE SHOOTS.GAR PIRNIA
• IS RON HOWARD GAY? WHO ARE HIS WIFE AND DGHTERS?
• WAS IT GOOD FOR THE GAYS: ‘IN & OUT’

25 YEARS LATER, 'IN & OUT' REMAS A GOOD-HEARTED GAY FILM AHEAD OF ITS TIME

The implitn here, of urse, is that Will and Grace are no more gay or Jewish than actors playg rol wh those intifiers, who are not those thgs real life. It’s a plat still lodged agast mastream queer films today—why do Hollywood still sist on nsirg straight actors for gay rol when there is an endls list of eligible queer actors? Box office succs, no doubt, but the mentaly that an creasg number of queer moviegoers tend to hold where they won’t support films starrg straight actors as gay characters n also cloud our visn of enjoyg gay films that hold up spe their flaws.

KEV MAXEN BE FIRST MALE ACH A US MEN’S PROFSNAL SPORTS LEAGUE TO PUBLICLY E OUT AS GAY

Released 25 years ago this week, In & Out stars Kev Kle as Howard Bracken, a high school English teacher Greenleaf, Indiana who is outed as gay by a former stunt, Cameron Drake (Matt Dillon), durg his acceptance speech for the Amy Award for Bt Actor.

Referrg his speech to a former teacher and classmate as “two of the ft gay Amerins, two wonrful men that I had the good fortune to be associated wh, ” In & Out imag a fictnalized acunt om the perspective of one of those men, who didn’t believe himself to be gay until that very moment. I watched In & Out for the first time about a month ago and would be lyg if I said I didn’t watch wh bated breath for all the ways this gay edy film that was so obvly ma for straight dienc didn't age well. The fight for gay rights was an entirely different place, pecially Hollywood, where the thought of stg gay actors gay rol was surely on no one’s radar.

'PASSAG' DIRECTOR NOUNC 'DANGERO' NC-17 RATG ON A FILM PICTG A GAY LOVE STORY

Whether ’s the fact that the film was perhaps mentg however subtly on Hollywood’s tenncy to shower straight actors wh aclas for gay rol (Cameron sr his Osr for playg a gay soldier what looks like a precursor to Brokeback Mounta) or Joan Cack’s brilliant performance as Howard’s fiancée who promptly has a breakdown when he announc he’s gay at the altar (“Fuck Barbra Streisand!

”), In & Out don’t so much make a mockery of gay people but allows them to be their te, unabashed selv, even if those selv happen to le up wh “tired” gay stereotyp.

Although do rporate homophobia when Howard’s stunts beg potg out his effemate mannerisms or when he ends up beg fired over his newfound sexualy, the film remds that those gay stereotyp only beme “tired” once straight people started g them agast .

HOW IN & OUT “BLEW THE ROOF OFF THE THEATER” 20 YEARS AGOSCREENWRER PL RUDNICK ON HIS GROUNDBREAKG G-OUT EDY, OM S UNUAL ORIGS TO S LIGHTFUL LEGACY. (BARBRA’S A FAN!)BY GAR PIRNIASEPTEMBER 20, 2017PL RUDNICK SPEAKS WH DIRECTOR FRANK OZ AND PRODUCER STT RUD WHILE FILMG "IN & OUT" 1997.FROM PARAMOUNT PICTUR/EVERETT COLLECTN.SAVE THIS STORYSAVESAVE THIS STORYSAVEWHEN TOM HANKS WON THE BT-ACTOR OSR FOR PHILALPHIA 1994, HE GAVE AN IMPASSNED SPEECH ABOUT HIS HIGH-SCHOOL DRAMA TEACHER, RAWLEY FARNSWORTH—REFERRG TO FARNSWORTH AND A FORMER CLASSMATE AS “TWO OF THE FT GAY AMERINS.” PERHAPS HANKS DIDN’T REALIZE THE ATTENTN THAT WOULD BRG TO HIS MENTOR. THE SPEECH SPIRED PRODUCER STT RUD TO DREAM UP IN & OUT, RELEASED SEPTEMBER 1997. THE FILM STARS KEV KLE AS 40-SOMETHG HIGH-SCHOOL ENGLISH TEACHER HOWARD BRACKETT, WHO IS ENGAGED TO THE LONG-SUFFERG EY (JOAN CACK). WHEN ONE OF HIS NOW-FAMO STUNTS, CAMERON DRAKE (MATT DILLON), WS AN OSR, HE THANKS BRACKETT FOR BEG “A GREAT, GAY TEACHER”—ACCINTALLY OUTG HOWARD THE PROCS.RUD TAPPED SISTER ACT, ADDAMS FAY VALU, AND FIRST WIV CLUB SCRIBE/PLAYWRIGHT PL RUDNICK TO TRANSFORM HIS IA TO A SCREENPLAY. “AT FIRST I WAS A LTLE RISTANT,” RUDNICK, WHO’S OPENLY GAY, TELLS VANY FAIR. “THEN I ASKED STT: ‘WHAT IF THIS ALL HAPPENED TO A MAN WHO IS GETTG MARRIED?’ OH, SUDNLY I ULD SEE.“I WAS PECIALLY EAGER TO DO A G-OUT STORY THAT WAS NO WAY TRAGIC,” HE NTU. “I THOUGHT EVEN WHILE THERE ARE STORI ABOUT PEOPLE FACG TERRIBLE REJECTNS OM THEIR FAI AND MUNI—AND THOSE ARE ENTIRELY VALID—I WANTED TO TRY SOMETHG THAT WAS MORE ALONG THE L OF G G OUT AS A ROMANTIC-EDY VICE.”PL RUDNICK SPEAKS WH DIRECTOR FRANK OZ AND PRODUCER STT RUD WHILE FILMG "IN & OUT" 1997.FROM PARAMOUNT PICTUR/EVERETT COLLECTN.HE PURPOSELY SET THE MOVIE THE MIDWT, FICTNAL GREENLEAF, INDIANA—“A NSERVATIVE, FAY-ORIENTED SMALL TOWN—THAT SEEMED ALMOST MORE OF A CHALLENGE THAN ANOTHER STORY SET ON THE EAST COAST”—AND DIDN’T HOLD BACK ON S G-OUT NARRATIVE, EVEN THOUGH HE REALIZED THAT MIGHT E AS A SHOCK TO UNSPECTG DIENC. “I KNOW A LOT OF PEOPLE WHO SAW THE TRAILERS ASSUMED THAT WAS GOG BE A MISTAKE—THAT HE’D REALLY BE STRAIGHT, AND THAT WOULD BE THE SOURCE OF THE MOVIE’S EDY,” RUDNICK EXPLAS. “SO WHEN THEY WENT TO THE MOVIE AND REALIZED NO, NO, NO, THIS IS A MOVIE ABOUT A GAY MAN, THAT WAS A SURPRISE.”IT’S NOT QUE AS SURPRISG TO HOWARD’S FAY AND IENDS, WHO QUTN HIS HETEROSEXUALY AFTER THE SPEECH. AT HOWARD’S BACHELOR PARTY, HE WANTS TO WATCH QUEER IN BARBRA STREISAND’S FUNNY GIRL; HE ALSO GETS TO A FIGHT WH A IEND WHO CLAIMS THAT YENTL “SUCKS.” EVEN 20 YEARS LATER, THE JOK STILL H: “I FOUND THAT EVEN AMONG VERY YOUNG GAY MEN, BARBRA ENDUR,” RUDNICK SAYS. “THERE ARE OTHER GAY INS WHO ARE NO LONGER AS FAIAR; I THK BARBRA DON’T GO OUT OF STYLE.” (WHILE RUDNICK HASN’T MET STREISAND HIMSELF, HE HEARS SHE WAS ENTERTAED BY THE FILM.)DIRECTOR FRANK OZ STACKED THE ST OF IN & OUT WH BABY-FACED, SOON-TO-BE-FAMO ACTORS—CLUDG LREN AMBROSE (SIX FEET UNR), ZAK ORTH (WET HOT AMERIN SUMMER), AND SELMA BLAIR (CEL INTENTNS)—AS WELL AS STAGE STALWARTS LIKE J. SMH-CAMERON (RECTIFY) AND BECKY ANN BAKER (GIRLS). SCREEN VETS DEBBIE REYNOLDS AND BOB NEWHART ROUND OUT THE ROSTER. “WHEREVER YOU LOOKED, THERE WAS SOMEONE LIC,” SAYS RUDNICK. “NO ONE DROPPED THE BALL.” RUD AND RUDNICK PAID BACK OZ, WHO IS STRAIGHT, BY GIFTG HIM WH A “STARTER GAY-MAN K”—WHICH CLUD “SOMETHG WH A RABOW ON ,” A V.H.S. PY OF BEACH, AND A ST RERDG OF GYPSY.THE MOVIE WAS RELEASED DURG A WATERSHED ERA L.G.B.T.Q. HISTORY. ELLEN DEGENER ME OUT HERSELF APRIL OF 1997; TWO MONTHS LATER, TRISTAR RELEASED MY BT FRIEND’S WEDDG, FEATURG RUPERT EVERETT A MAJOR GAY ROLE. A YEAR AFTER THAT, WILL & GRACE BUTED ON NBC. “REMEMBER, THIS WAS A MOVIE THAT WAS MA AFTER THE PEAK OF THE AIDS CRISIS,” RUDNICK SAYS. “IF THERE WAS ANY BENEF OM THE AIDS CRISIS, WHICH IS AWFUL TO SAY, THERE WAS AT LEAST THIS NEW SENSE OF VISIBILY, AND A SENSE THE LIV ULD NO LONGER BE HIDN. THERE WAS A CREATIVE TSUNAMI A WAY, THAT SENSE OF ‘NOW’S THE TIME.’”OF URSE, SPE ALL THAT, NOT EVERYONE WAS READY FOR THE FILM. RUDNICK SAYS A KISS BETWEEN KLE’S CHARACTER AND A GAY REPORTER PLAYED BY TOM SELLECK “BLEW THE ROOF OFF THE THEATER,” SPIRG PASSNATE RPONS BOTH NEGATIVE AND POSIVE; ONE SCREENG, HE WATCHED A TEENAGE BOY TRY TO CLIMB BEHD HIS GIRLIEND SO HE WOULDN’T HAVE TO WATCH . RUDNICK ALSO REMEMBERS A WOMAN WHO RAVED ABOUT THE MOVIE ON A TT-SCREENG RD, BUT SHE WOULDN’T REMEND THE FILM TO A IEND: “NO, AGAST GOD’S LAW,” SHE WROTE.“THAT’S THE KD OF THG YOU EHER FD TRAGIC, HEARTBREAKG, HATEFUL, OR HILAR, AND I THOUGHT ALL OF [THE] ABOVE,” RUDNICK SAYS NOW. “IF WE GAVE HER EVERYTHG A HOLLYWOOD MOVIE EDY ULD OFFER AND SHE STILL HAD THIS RIDUAL RISTANCE TO , THAT SEEMED, AMONG OTHER THGS, SANE. THAT’S WHAT THE MOVIE WAS GETTG AT.”TWO S LATER, MARRIAGE EQUALY IS THE LAW OF THE LAND AND G-OUT NARRATIV ARE NO LONGER SHOCKG—BUT MID-BUDGET HOLLYWOOD FILMS FEATURG THREE-DIMENSNAL GAY CHARACTERS ARE STILL SRCE. ONLY A SMALL ACTN OF 2016’S STUD FILMS FEATURED L.G.B.T.Q. CHARACTERS AT ALL, ACRDG TO A RECENT GLAAD STUDY; THE DIFFICULTI OF GETTG GAY-THEMED MOVI MA ARE WELL DOCUMENTED, EVEN WHEN THOSE MOV HAVE TY BUDGETS AND ROBT BOX-OFFICE NUMBERS. (IN 2005, BROKEBACK MOUNTA GROSSED $178 LN WORLDWI; MOONLIGHT, AGAST A $4 LN BUDGET, GROSSED $65 LN WORLDWI.)MOST POPULARVANY FAIR’S “IT’S RAG TEENS” COVER AT 20: WHERE ARE THEY NOW?BY SAVANNAH WALSHRED, WHE & ROYAL BLUE MAY BE “THE MOST EXPENSIVE B OF FAN FICTN EVER”BY SAVANNAH WALSHTHE CAST OF OPPENHEIMER AND THE REAL PEOPLE THEY PLAYBY HILLARY BIS“IT’S BEEN PROVEN TIME AND AGA THAT MOVI ABOUT GAY LIV AND GAY CHARACTERS N BE SUCCSFUL EVERYWHERE, AND NOT JT ON THE AST,” RUDNICK SAYS, “YET THE STUDS N BE VERY RISTANT. IT’S STILL NSIRED A TOUGH BET, AND I THK THAT’S WHY A LOT OF PEOPLE TAKE THAT MATERIAL TO TELEVISN, PECIALLY TO BLE—THE NORMAL HEART WAS FILMED BETIFULLY BY RYAN MURPHY FOR HBO. BUT YOU THK, WHY HADN’T THAT BEEN MA SOONER? YOU’LL TAKE A CHANCE ON THE 5 LNTH SUPERHERO FILM, BUT YOU WON’T TAKE A CHANCE ON A GREAT GAY FILM LIKE MOONLIGHT? YOU WONR, HOW MANY HS DO YOU NEED?”AT S RE, THOUGH, IN & OUT IS REALLY ABOUT ACCEPTANCE—OF ONELF AND OF OTHERS. “I WANTED TO MAKE SURE BY THE END OF THE FILM, HOWARD BRACKETT WAS SURROUND BY LOVE AND ACCEPTANCE, PECIALLY OM HIMSELF,” RUDNICK SAYS. “IT’S WHY ENDS WH THAT DANCE. WE PLAYED AROUND WH MULTIPLE ENDGS: DID HOWARD NEED A BOYIEND AT THE END? DID HOWARD NEED TO GET MARRIED? NO. WHAT HOWARD NEEDS IS TO BE HAPPY AND TO LOVE WHO HE IS AND TO REALIZE EVERYONE AROUND HIM LOV HIM AS WELL AND CHERISH HIM.” RUDNICK IS PROUD THAT HIS FILM ALLOWS DIENC “TO LGH WH GAY CHARACTERS STEAD OF AT THEM.” AND HE’S RIGHT—EVERYTHG OM KLE STTTG TO “MACHO MAN” TO JOAN CACK BAWLG HER WEDDG DRS AND SAYG, “FUCK BARBRA STREISAND,” IS GAY EDY GOLD.“WHENEVER I SEE ON HBO, I GET UGHT UP,” RUDNICK SAYS. “I WA FOR KEV TO DANCE, AND I WA FOR JOAN HER WEDDG GOWN. I LOVED WORKG ON THAT MOVIE.”8 MOVIE STARS WH UNBELIEVABLE CONTRACT CLS1 / 8CHEVRONCHEVRONFROM SCREEN GEMS/EVERETT COLLECTN.SAMUEL L. JACKSONWHEN YOU’RE ONE OF THE HIGHT-GROSSG ACTORS THE WORLD, YOU’RE ALLOWED TO TAKE A GOLF BREAK. SAMUEL L. JACKSON LOV THE SPORT SO MUCH THAT ALL HIS NTRACTS, HE HAS A CLSE THAT ALLOWS HIM TO GOLF TWICE A WEEK DURG MOVIE SHOOTS.GAR PIRNIA

It would have been so easy to have Howard’s queerns be the punchle of every joke like most gay reprentatn up until this pot, but stead, the film mak society the punchle for not nsirg that there is more than one way to be a man. Whether ’s the soundtrack’s repeated e of The Village People’s “Macho Man” or Tom Selleck’s legimately pellg portrayal of a gay tabloid reporter followg Howard and his story, In & Out subverts all.

IS RON HOWARD GAY? WHO ARE HIS WIFE AND DGHTERS?

Ined, an era of “Don’t Say Gay” where rights for queer and trans people are still unr attack the Uned Stat, the film’s penultimate scene—where the high school’s graduatg class, as well as Cameron and several proment muny members, stand up for Howard beg gay the face of his firg—reads as at least a ahead of s time. Perhaps helps that In & Out was wrten by a gay man (Pl Rudnick), but the film appears to have aged regardls a way that most films of s kd aspire to - socpolil mentary that might have seemed darg at the time that now reads as ahead of the game. I have never stopped potg out the hypocrisy to of people have wrten about how In & Out, which is currently streamg on Amazon, is problematic, sexls, and a generally unrealistic pictn of gayns.

WAS IT GOOD FOR THE GAYS: ‘IN & OUT’

Kev Kle and Tom Selleck’s kiss looks like was done unr the Hays Co, and homosexualy is boiled down to keepg a tidy hoe and listeng to Barbra Streisand. And the unfortunate lson of the movie is that ’s bee he's gay, not bee “I Will Survive” is a banger and ’s absurd to thk anyone, no matter their sexual orientatn, wouldn’t dance to movie, directed by Frank Oz, has that Muppet-y, goofy yet sardonic sense of humor, skewerg Osr-ba films, pompo Hollywood actors, and neighbors who are acceptg theory but who bristle when a possibly gay person is their kids’ teacher. Anyone outsi of is e for film ends wh the whole town, men and women alike, dancg to "Macho Man, " a likely tentnally ironic choice of song about a mascule ial om an tentnally gay, mpy pot of view.

The movie is hysteril, really is a funny film, and one that tri s bt to stand up for Gay Rights back the late 90s when Don't Ask Don't Tell was the height of Gay Rights. Unfortunately people are reviewg this wh an eye to the prent and claimg that stereotyp Gay men, and do to an extent, but I do believe that a lot of the sgle star reviews would have ma the same plat no matter what they did wh the lead fact is, for s time, for s era, was part of the wave of films and TV shows that helped to normalize homosexualy Ameri, and 's that normalizatn that, more than any activism, helped for the Civil Rights victori we are seeg the shun over polics is lerally to be the hand that feeds you, pecially sce has a clear msage that homophobia is wrong and was movi and TV shows like this that helped brg the attus and views on homosexualy that everyone supports, hontly, none of that matters. Their small town is not only abuzz wh this gossip, but abuzz wh the onslght of the sleazy prs, out to get a scene-stealg Kle has some mighty tough petn here between over-the-top Cack, gay in Reynolds, brassy Brimley and hunky Tom Selleck, st agast type as a gay reporter who tak his own tert Kle.