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Stupid, stupid, stupid
Nov. 22nd, 2004 09:05 pmFrom PlanetOut.com
Days before the U.S. opening of "Alexander," controversy over Oliver Stone's film of legendary warrior Alexander the Great has resumed, after a team of lawyers threatened to take legal action over the film's gay content.
The Greek lawyers want Stone to admit that the film is a fictional slant on the hero's life, after taking offense at his decision to incorporate Alexander's bisexuality into the biopic.
The film suggests Alexander, played by Colin Farrell, had affairs with women and men, with its historical adviser claiming this is a true representation of the times he lived in. Farrell's Alexander is seen having a charged bond with Jared Leto's character Hephaistion, but there are also suggestions that he links up with other younger men.
According to The Guardian newspaper, the lawyers believe this part of the historical figure's life is a fabrication.
The film opens in U.S. theaters on Wednesday.
"We are not saying that we are against gays," Yannis Varnakos, the lawyer leading the campaign, is reported as saying. "But we are saying that the production company should make it clear that the film is pure fiction and not a true depiction of the life of Alexander."
The threat of legal action comes despite international gay groups backing the film, although its stars have attempted to downplay the gay content.
The U.S. group Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (news - web sites) (GLAAD) believes the film is truthful in its depiction of Hephaistion as the "true love of Alexander's life."
"Colin Farrell himself has said that, in an ideal world, two men this passionate about each other would have been depicted having a loving, sexual relationship," said Joan Garry, executive director of GLAAD. "And Oliver Stone's willingness to explore the love between these two characters moves us one important step closer to that ideal world."
"It's important to note that big-budget Hollywood films have barely begun to scratch the surface in terms of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender portrayals," she added. "There's a lot of work ahead."
In a recent interview with the Reuters news agency, director Stone said Alexander had "a polymorphous sensuality and was an explorer in the deepest sense of the world."
Okay. I had already decided to boycott the movie because I'm boycotting all movies that could have hot boy-on-boy action and don't because the film makers are too fucking cowardly. I considered changing my mind because of this, but I haven't yet. I won't see movies like this because I'm tired of hot girl-on-girl action being okay, but hot boy-on-boy action being taboo.
I am, however, going to go see Kinsey (if it ever comes to my town) because that movie was made by people brave enough to embrace the bisexuality of it's main character (who is played by Liam Neeson, btw).
Days before the U.S. opening of "Alexander," controversy over Oliver Stone's film of legendary warrior Alexander the Great has resumed, after a team of lawyers threatened to take legal action over the film's gay content.
The Greek lawyers want Stone to admit that the film is a fictional slant on the hero's life, after taking offense at his decision to incorporate Alexander's bisexuality into the biopic.
The film suggests Alexander, played by Colin Farrell, had affairs with women and men, with its historical adviser claiming this is a true representation of the times he lived in. Farrell's Alexander is seen having a charged bond with Jared Leto's character Hephaistion, but there are also suggestions that he links up with other younger men.
According to The Guardian newspaper, the lawyers believe this part of the historical figure's life is a fabrication.
The film opens in U.S. theaters on Wednesday.
"We are not saying that we are against gays," Yannis Varnakos, the lawyer leading the campaign, is reported as saying. "But we are saying that the production company should make it clear that the film is pure fiction and not a true depiction of the life of Alexander."
The threat of legal action comes despite international gay groups backing the film, although its stars have attempted to downplay the gay content.
The U.S. group Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (news - web sites) (GLAAD) believes the film is truthful in its depiction of Hephaistion as the "true love of Alexander's life."
"Colin Farrell himself has said that, in an ideal world, two men this passionate about each other would have been depicted having a loving, sexual relationship," said Joan Garry, executive director of GLAAD. "And Oliver Stone's willingness to explore the love between these two characters moves us one important step closer to that ideal world."
"It's important to note that big-budget Hollywood films have barely begun to scratch the surface in terms of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender portrayals," she added. "There's a lot of work ahead."
In a recent interview with the Reuters news agency, director Stone said Alexander had "a polymorphous sensuality and was an explorer in the deepest sense of the world."
Okay. I had already decided to boycott the movie because I'm boycotting all movies that could have hot boy-on-boy action and don't because the film makers are too fucking cowardly. I considered changing my mind because of this, but I haven't yet. I won't see movies like this because I'm tired of hot girl-on-girl action being okay, but hot boy-on-boy action being taboo.
I am, however, going to go see Kinsey (if it ever comes to my town) because that movie was made by people brave enough to embrace the bisexuality of it's main character (who is played by Liam Neeson, btw).
