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.
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WAS IT GOOD FOR THE GAYS: ‘MY OWN PRIVATE IDAHO’
* is my own private idaho a gay movie *
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 this loose adaptatn of Shakpeare's "Henry IV," Mike Waters is a gay htler afflicted wh narlepsy. Stt Favor 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. * is my own private idaho a gay movie *
” 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. "In 1991, even 14 years before Brokeback Mounta, the nventnal Hollywood wisdom was that was reer suici for a leadg man to be intified as gay, " Gav Edwards, thor of Last Night at the Viper Room: River Phoenix and the Hollywood He Left Behd, tells BBC Culture.