How 'The Birdge' Married Jewish and Gay Civil Rights – The Forward

Contents:

• THE BIRDGE TURNS 25: CELEBRATG ONE OF THE GREATT, GAYT MASTREAM EDI EVER MA
• WAS IT GOOD FOR THE GAYS: ‘THE BIRDGE’
• WHAT THE BIRDGE‘S GRAND GAY COMEDY TELLS US ABOUT FAY 25 YEARS LATER
• 25 YEARS AGO, GAY FAI JT WEREN'T TALKED ABOUT. THEN 'THE BIRDGE' H THE SCREEN
• NEW YORK MAN FATALLY STABBED POSSIBLE ANTI-GAY HATE CRIME
• HOW ‘THE BIRDGE’ MARRIED JEWISH AND GAY CIVIL RIGHTS
• BIRDGE RORT GAY LIFTYLE HOTEL

THE BIRDGE TURNS 25: CELEBRATG ONE OF THE GREATT, GAYT MASTREAM EDI EVER MA

Cast & crewUser reviewsTrivia1996R1h 57mA gay baret owner and his drag queen pann agree to put up a false straight ont so that their son n troduce them to his fiancée's right-wg moralistic parents. A gay baret owner and his drag queen pann agree to put up a false straight ont so that their son n troduce them to his fiancée's right-wg moralistic parents. A gay baret owner and his drag queen pann agree to put up a false straight ont so that their son n troduce them to his fiancée's right-wg moralistic productn, box office & pany Vios1More like thisReview A Scream!

As a closeted 12-year-old, who had told no one he was gay, I was terrified. She had said our mutual love of Rob Williams — who at that pot was jt g off a strg of child-iendly much ls (overtly) gay hs like Aladd and Mrs. We didn't talk about how was the gayt thg eher of had surely ever seen.

WAS IT GOOD FOR THE GAYS: ‘THE BIRDGE’

But for the first time, I saw a big star-filled movie wh multiple happy, healthy gay characters which none of them died. And this was really my first clatn ever that my mother uldn't be homophobic.

If she loved The Birdge, she mt have the pacy to love gay people! Absolutely, bee I have a csh on Dan Futterman (even his turn on Sex and the Cy when he played the pastry chef Charlotte saw briefly and thought might be gay). PK: Anne, you are preachg to a one-man choir, who has been sgg about the snubs to the gay hilltops sce 1997!

Eher way, at least warms my heart that the Osrs of both our hearts, jtice was served to one of the gayt, greatt mastream edi ever ma. In this regular lumn, we’ll look at pictns of queers cema and ask, Was It Good For The Gays?

WHAT THE BIRDGE‘S GRAND GAY COMEDY TELLS US ABOUT FAY 25 YEARS LATER

But more importantly, was good for the gays? Sure, there’s the prevalence of stereotypil gay referenc (drag queens, Speedos, plenty of mcg around, referenc to Madonna, and the notn that gay men love homoerotic art and cha patterns) that are all played for lghs.

The Pros: The posiv vastly outweigh the negativ, and, fact, the prevly mentned issu work almost as set-ups for the smart subversn of the typil gay stereotyp so promently displayed on film for s.

25 YEARS AGO, GAY FAI JT WEREN'T TALKED ABOUT. THEN 'THE BIRDGE' H THE SCREEN

(It should be noted that Lane is the only member of the ma st who is gay. Alan Stt, once scribed The Birdge as the first movie about gay people that isn’t a tragedy. The Birdge is one of the most radil Hollywood pictns about gay men particular, bee  offers both diversy and humany while acplishg an even more difficult feat: ’s funny as hell.

NEW YORK MAN FATALLY STABBED POSSIBLE ANTI-GAY HATE CRIME

It’s te: 1996 saw the Rob Williams-Gene Hackman-led edy brg gay life and relatnships to the Amerin zegeist…not to mentn some of the bt one-le zgers ever mted to film. When their son Val (Dan Futterman) gets engaged to Barbra (Callista Flockhart), all Hell breaks loose: Barbra is the dghter of the nservative Senator Kev Keeley (Gene Hackman), one very much opposed to gay rights (or, for that matter, gay people even existg).

The film touch on a number of major issu–marriage equaly, gay parentg, surrogacy, Right-wg npoopery–that wouldn’t bee major issu for another . The movie self is a warm hug of queer edy, divg unabashedly to South Beach culture and the flashy liv of ‘90s Floridian gay showbiz. Cue the lghs as the Goldman hoe is transformed om gay art paradise to Catholic severy.

HOW ‘THE BIRDGE’ MARRIED JEWISH AND GAY CIVIL RIGHTS

A bevy of gay men stream through the door, whiskg away nu art and replacg wh ccifix and stacks of aged Nancy Drew books. The Keeleys may have some of the funnit l the movie, but ’s hard to overlook the fact that they speak about Rh Limbgh glowg terms and thk that homosexualy is rponsible for the cle of the untry.

This week marks the 25th anniversary of "The Birdge, " the smash h directed by Mike Nichols wh a screenplay by Elae May, starrg Rob Williams, Nathan Lane, Gene Hackman, Dianne Wit, Hank Azaria, Dan Futterman and Calista years ago, gay marriage was not only illegal, was banned most stat.

But on March 8, 1996, dienc flocked to see somethg unual movie theaters: a lighthearted movie where openly gay men were the hero and a fay wh gay parents was lovg, happy and film not only gave Lane, Flockhart and Azaria their first big Hollywood breaks, may have helped make mastream the ia of a non-heterosexual plot of "The Birdge" is simple. No way to know, But wh a few years after "The Birdge" there was "In & Out, " "Will & Grace, " "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, " "The L Word, " "Queer as Folk, " "Brokeback Mounta, " "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and more, all brgg more gay people to mastream entertament.

BIRDGE RORT GAY LIFTYLE HOTEL

"When me out, the gay prs was very hard on , " said Lane, who had e out to iends and fay as gay his 20s but had not ma public at the time of the movie, even duckg Oprah's qutns about durg an for the most part "The Birdge" was well-received for s portrayals for a lovg gay fay. The Gay & Lbian Alliance Agast Defamatn (GLAAD) said, "We have seen so many films wh very one-dimensnal stereotypil characters. Hank Azaria worried about his portrayal of Agador"I thk whenever you have straight or gay actors portrayg gays a humoro way, you are makg fun of what you also are treatg lovgly at the same time, " Azaria said an terview wh The Daily News.

I certaly n unrstand gay or Lat people havg a problem wh what I did… but I felt was thentic s own way. 3 ln on s openg weekend, the hight grossg openg of a movie wh openly gay lead characters until Sascha Baron Cohen's "Bno" 2009, and stayed at #1 for four total box office for "The Birdge" was over $185 ln worldwi, makg Mike Nichols' most fancially succsful movie.

A remake of La Cage x Foll (1978), The Birdge starred Rob Williams as a gay baret owner, and Nathan Lane as his drag queen partner. This week marks the 25th anniversary of "The Birdge, " the smash h directed by Mike Nichols wh a screenplay by Elae May, starrg Rob Williams, Nathan Lane, Gene Hackman, Dianne Wit, Hank Azaria, Dan Futterman and Calista years ago, gay marriage was not only illegal, was banned most stat. But on March 8, 1996, dienc flocked to see somethg unual movie theaters: a lighthearted movie where openly gay men were the hero and a fay wh gay parents was lovg, happy and film not only gave Lane, Flockhart and Azaria their first big Hollywood breaks,  may have helped make mastream the ia of a non-heterosexual plot of "The Birdge" is simple.