Rsia plas over ‘gay bar’ on print’s plot Fland | Fland | The Guardian

Contents:

• THE GRABBER, 'GAYFACE,' AND THE DANGER OF CONFLATG THE TWO IN THE BLACK PHONE
• IS ALBERT FNEY GAY?
• ALBERT FNEY GAY RUMORS?ONLE POLL SHOWS 82 PERCENT DON’T BELIEVE HE’S GAY
• RSIA PLAS OVER ‘GAY BAR’ ON PRINT’S PLOT FLAND

THE GRABBER, 'GAYFACE,' AND THE DANGER OF CONFLATG THE TWO IN THE BLACK PHONE

The character distills and exprs many of the fears that animated whe suburban Ameri the late ’70s and to the 1980s: Wispread ncerns about homosexual pravy and boyhood nocence transformed horrific but rare cints such as the Etan Patz abductn and the Adam Walsh kidnappg and murr to major events wh natnal ronance. But clearly taps to eply rooted moral panics ncerng child sexual exploatn, “groomg, ” and homosexual predatn—panics that are, not cintally, very much ongog today.

Senate hearg, the mother of missg paperboy Johnny Gosch sisted that the North Amerin Man/Boy Love Associatn (and possibly other “homosexual groups”) had kidnapped her son and rporated him to their “anized pedophilia operatns. Bee the are imaged threats rather than substantive on, is not surprisg that the anxieti have alced around vague notns of “groomg” and recg, which were central to the anti-gay mpaigns waged by Ana Bryant and others the late 1970s, the same moment which Fney gets taken by the Grabber.

Bryant famoly claimed that gay men “mt rec” bee they uld not reproduce. Content warng: This article discs homophobia, pedophilia/hebephilia, and child abe at length and ntas spoilers for "The Black Phone.

IS ALBERT FNEY GAY?

" When discsg John Wayne Gacy, we refer to him as a serial killer, a hebephiliac, and a necrophiliac, but what we don't ll him is "gay, " bee he wasn't. So why are some people llg Ethan Hawke's performance of a character spired by him "gayface?

What is 'gayface? Gayface is the term ed to scribe a straight actor performg a riture of a gay person by playg to harmful trop. Admtedly, there sperately needs to be a different name for this practice, as equatg gayface to the unfivably disrpectful "Blackface" is like parg appl to 400 years of systemic racism, but for the time beg, that's the term we have.

Gayface is not only an offensive practice that relegat the reprentatn of queer people the media to paful stereotyp, but also ni queer actors the abily to tell their own stori while implyg that there's only one type of way to be gay. I first heard about the claims of gayface "The Black Phone" followg s premiere at Fantastic Ft 2021, and aga after the Beyond Ft screeng a few weeks later.

ALBERT FNEY GAY RUMORS?ONLE POLL SHOWS 82 PERCENT DON’T BELIEVE HE’S GAY

Callg Hawke's performance this film "gayface" is a take void of any nuance. I went to my send viewg of "The Black Phone" wh the sole tentn of tryg to clock any and all stanc of Ethan Hawke's performance that uld have been perceived, read, or d as gay.

RSIA PLAS OVER ‘GAY BAR’ ON PRINT’S PLOT FLAND

Before I list them all out, please unrstand that the attribut are not herently or exclively "gay, " bee there is no one way to be, act, look, prent, or exist as gay, and to imply otherwise is homophobic.

Believg the aspects make the Grabber a gay riture is so unfathomably harmful hontly mak me physilly ill. In a different genre and wh a lser creative team, I would pletely unrstand why someone would e to this ncln, but bee Derrickson and Cargill aren't homophobic monsters, all of the supposed gayface attribut are explaed the text of "The Black Phone. " The Grabber is so clearly portrayed as a hebephiliac serial killer, not a gay man, and nflatg the two giv legimate power to the opprsive talkg pots of those who are scerely tryg to extermate the existence of queer people real life.