In this loose adaptatn of Shakpeare's "Henry IV," Mike Waters (River Phoenix) is a gay htler afflicted wh narlepsy. Stt Favor (Keanu Reev) is the rebell son of a mayor. Together, the two travel om Portland, Oregon to Idaho and fally to the ast of Italy a qut to fd Mike's tranged mother. Along the way they turn tricks for money and dgs, eventually attractg the attentn of a wealthy benefactor and sexual viant.
Contents:
- 'TWO BOYS SNOGGG WAS REVOLUTNARY': THE GREATT GAY MOMENTS CEMA
- WAS IT GOOD FOR THE GAYS: ‘MY OWN PRIVATE IDAHO’
'TWO BOYS SNOGGG WAS REVOLUTNARY': THE GREATT GAY MOMENTS CEMA
Stt Favor is not gay. He only has sex wh a guy for money. * is scott favor gay *
He only has sex wh a guy for money, so he says he is not gay. And picture the actors dog whout teasg their gay fan bas wh nods and wks, and whout any sense of an ch for progrsive street cred. ” In 2016, a straight actor plays a gay character and gets pots for bravery: aclas for dog right, butt taps om his lleagu for rpectg the character’s “humany, ” and a chance to nfirm, by bnt of irony, that he really isn’t gay.
Playg gay characters hadn’t yet bee the pole or profsnal thg for actors, particularly those pale, slenr charmers of the gnge era, to do. In 2016, when the threats to gay life have bee subsumed beneath performanc of pole polics and the needs of the middle class, ’s helpful to remember a movie like this, full of people like the, who nont wh who they are whout givg a chance to tell them who to be.
WAS IT GOOD FOR THE GAYS: ‘MY OWN PRIVATE IDAHO’
In “Swan Song,” the acclaimed German actor plays a character whose gay history mirrors his own ntributns to queerg the movi * is scott favor gay *
“I have suggted to others that not only would I like to see Roe, Casey, and Griswold on ntraceptn dified but I’ve also ma clear my support for, for gay marriage years ago, ” she said. The handheld phantasmagoria of The Last of EnglandG Van Sant, director of My Own Private Idaho, Good Will Huntg, To Die For, MilkDerek Jarman’s The Last of England is an amazg barrage of memori, obssns, taclysmic visns, where Derek plays a gay memoirist wrg his thoughts down. An amazg soundtrack by the geni Simon ’n’roll blar, as England falls, a fairy danc, betiful soldiers drk vodka and have gay sex.
Halfway through the film, on a hot summer night, the two teenage boys sneak off to a gay pub for the first time their liv. Omar and Johnny’s hedonistic, forbidn soapy sex the lnrette was a slap the face to Conservativ g the Aids epimic to further monise gay people. Here was another woman – like me – gleefully takg ntrol of her own passn VictimTerence Davi, director of Distant Voic, Still Liv, The Long Day Clos, The Hoe of Mirth, A Quiet PassnIn Victim, Dirk Bogar plays a closet homosexual barrister who risks both his reer and marriage to break a blackmailg gang when his young iend kills himself rather than implite is a small scene towards the end of the film when Bogar lls for his clerk to jo him.
Idaho was clearly the film for s release, Gay Tim ran a ver featurg an embrace between the two leads. But, for the generatn of young gay men watchg the early 90s, somethg more explosive than a kiss – or even full-on sex – had already happened.