You certainly have one!
K.
On Jan 3, 2006, at 12:27 AM, David Kusumoto wrote:
Uh-oh. I guess I hit a nerve.
Does one have to be really homosexual to know if BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN
"reflects reality or not"?
Well uh, no i guess not. Perhaps it's an unfair comparison, but
when people
ask, just because I'm Japanese, whether the casting of Chinese
actors and/or
the screenplay itself of "Memoirs of a Geisha" reflects my view of
reality
-- JUST BECAUSE I'm Asian -- well you know, I'm not offended
because I don't
feel such questions are aimed at me w/any arrogance or hubris on my
behalf
-- just a bit of ignorance. And we're all guilty of that at
times. (The
answer is I've got no problem with Chinese actors in that film.
Heck, if
Hollywood can cast a Brit like Vivien Leigh to play the belle of a
southern
planatation, anything is OK if done right. And old Viv was OK in that
role.)
Is it important that one knows whether someone is homosexual or
not, and if
so why? Does it change the way one relates to them as a person?
Yes, it does matter to ME. In conversations for example, there are
gay
friends I know with kids and those who without. There are gays who
are more
conservative in expression while others are out there like me,
sometimes
w/NC-17 words and all. So how we say things depends on what
company is
present, and for me, yeah, I'd like to know who's gay as much as
I'd like to
know who are the left and right-wing zealots, who are the Nazis I
can shoot
and which people in the room like the color blue vs. purple. If I
hear gays
or any minority group bad-mouthed, I feel they're bad mouthing my
friends,
hence they're bad-mouthing me by association. It may not make a
difference
to you, but it does to me. I've lived being a minority all my
life, and the
way I see it, while not comparing sufferings, I regard gays as
members of a
minority group. Like me.
It never entered my head to even ask him if he was gay and if that
was
necessary to show the depth of understanding for the characters in
his film
he so clearly demonstrated.
Well, I'm naturally curious. When a person writes a screenplay
with well
drawn gay characters, or about a woman who's been raped -- it's key
for ME
to know whether their insight is the result of some experience.
People are
always told to "write what you know." So it's a salient question
to ask a
person's background. Brokeback Mountain is based on the novella by
Pulitzer
Prize winning author Annie Proulx. Asking her personal experiences
and
their relationship to what she wrote was a salient question then --
as it is
today. Context is important, otherwise you can easily say, "well that
person is full of crap and doesn't know what he/she is talking about."
Why should anyone feel obliged to "fess up" about what their sexual
preferences are? Why is it important make note that you have 100
(alright
20) homosexual friends?
Don't get heavy on me, Phil. I've got friends of many colors and
persuasion. I'm not bragging about nothin. Oh well, yeah I guess
I am
bragging -- because a person of color (me) who's a minority in this
country
-- is proud to have diverse friends. (Tho most of 'em are white.)
Don't
dare throw me into that cage of people who says, "well, some of my
best
friends are (enter choice minority group here)."
I felt Mr Neal made a statement that was a very thinly veiled
homophobic
and highly judgemental one about a film that he did want to see
because it
was of homosexual content. He even said he'd rather stick pins in
his eyes
before watching such a film.
Oh yeah, I forgot about that. OK, if that was Mr. Neal, you win.
Game
over. Set and match to Phil.
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