Knight at the Movies ARCHIVES
Oscar Comes Out of the Closet:
The Year of the Gay Oscars
3-1-06 Knight at the Movies/Windy City Times Column
by Richard Knight, Jr.
Gay cowboys, a gay literary icon, a transgendered female are just the start of this year's films
getting the Oscar nod

I’m going to celebrate Oscar night, the gay man’s equivalent of Christmas Eve, like millions of other folks – by hosting an
Academy Awards party.  This annual tradition will feature the usual stunning buffet, Oscar décor and gift bags courtesy of my partner
as well as the expected ballot for our guests to predict their winners, my usual assortment of medium to difficult Oscar related trivia
and those imitation gold statuettes for our winner.  Before the parties begin this year, however, there’s a lot to celebrate.  

After all, this is the year the Academy has gone ga ga over gay themed movies.  Brokeback Mountain, Capote, and Transamerica are
heavily nominated and the most obvious of movies with either a GLBT theme or major character.  The media’s drowning in a sea of
stories headlining the fact that this is the year of the gay Oscars.  You can say that again – and there’s a lot more to celebrate when
one takes a closer look at the acting categories.  It’s probably not surprising to find that just about EVERYONE nominated this year
has played a gay or bisexual character at some point in their film careers.  A quick perusal of this year’s crop of acting nominees
finds enough gay and lesbian characters to populate a good sized Oscar party all their own.  A random sampling (far from
comprehensive):

BEST ACTRESS

Judi Dench (nominated for Mrs. Henderson Presents) played a lesbian in The Shipping News based on Annie Prolux’s novel as well as
bisexual writer Iris Murdoch in Iris, both in 2001.  Out lesbian writer Prolux also penned the short story “Brokeback Mountain,” the
basis for that little cowboy movie you may have heard about.

Felicity Huffman (nominated for Transamerica) played a lesbian stage designer trying to get her banker girlfriend to come out of the
closet in the short lived Showtime series Bedtime in 1996.

Keira Knightly (nominated for Pride & Prejudice) played real life lesbian Domino Harvey earlier this year in Tony Scott’s atrocious action
misfire Domino, based on Harvey’s life (though the film erased any traces of Harvey’s sexuality).

Charlize Theron (up for North Country) won Best Actress in 2004 for Monster, playing Aileen Wuornos, the female serial killer
motivated to kill in part to support her girlfriend.


BEST ACTOR

Philip Seymour Hoffman (nominated for Capote) memorably played drag performer Rusty Zimmerman in Flawless (2000) in which he
gave macho Robert DeNiro voice coaching – and a lesson in tolerance after DeNiro suffers a stroke.  Hoffman also played gay in
Boogie Nights as the hilarious Scotty J who secretly nurses a crush on stud muffin Dirk Diggler (played by Mark Wahlberg).

Terrence Howard (nominated for Hustle & Flow) told Interview magazine in 2000 while promoting The Best Man that he was going to
play a gay man with epilepsy in Sextet, a film about a hip-hop band that Howard said would co-star Djimon Honsou and Omar Epps.  
But to my knowledge, nothing came of the movie.

Heath Ledger (up for Brokeback Mountain) started his career with a bang (and set a million hearts aflame) playing a gay Olympic
cyclist in Sweat, a TV drama set in Australia, Ledger’s homeland.

Joaquin Phoenix (up for I Walk the Line) was memorable as the prissy, evil Roman emperor Commodus with the ambiguous sexuality
in Gladiator who sported more eye make-up than Dusty Springfield or Elizabeth Taylor in Cleopatra.

David Strathairn (nominated for Good Night, And Good Luck) doesn’t seem to have played a gay character in the movies or on
television though I wouldn’t be surprised if the theatre trained actor has taken a walk on our side while treading the boards.  Let me
know if you’re aware of a gay character in Strathairn’s resume.

Outside of these big categories, special mention must be made, of course, of William Hurt, nominated this year in the Supporting
Actor category for A History of Violence.  Hurt has the distinction of being the first actor to win Oscar gold portraying an openly gay
character – in 1985’s Kiss of the Spider Woman.  Tom Hanks was the second in 1993’s Philadelphia.  We have yet to see a third –
though either Philip Seymour Hoffman (my choice) for Capote or Heath Ledger for Brokeback Mountain (my I Wouldn’t Be Terribly Upset
If He Wins choice) might make it the charming third.

I’m also rooting for Felicity Huffman to walk onstage when her name’s called as Best Actress for Transamerica, the first win for an
actress playing a transgendered character.  Maureen Stapelton won an Oscar as bisexual activist Emma Goldman in 1981 for Reds as
did Nicole Kidman as writer (and perhaps closeted lesbian) Virginia Woolf in The Hours in 2002.

A lot of the performances and films that I think are worthy, naturally, have been overlooked once again by the Academy and awards
shows are as much about the way they’re presented (she wore that on purpose? Beyoncé’s really going to sing EVERY song?)
anyway.  Honestly, this gay man’s national holiday is more a social event than anything else.  But that won’t stop me from hoping
that this year we have something more to celebrate at the conclusion of the show’s usual 3 ½ hour running time than hideously
wrong designer gowns, delightfully awful Best Song performances, clever lines scripted backstage by gay icon Bruce Vilanch, and
merciless close-ups on anxious stars.

Here’s hoping come Sunday that the Year of the Gay Movies is also the Year of the Gay Movies that won Academy Awards.

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Oscar, Oscar:  Aside from all the private shindigs (sorry, our guest list is full), there are numerous Academy Award shindigs around
town.  Many of these are benefits for Our People and offer everything from big fancy dinners, the chance to dress in formal wear and
hobnob with fellow Oscar revelers, wide screen projections of the show, and drag performers costumed as iconic movie stars.  

But the only local fete officially sanctioned by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences itself is being held at the Gene Siskel
Film Center 164 N. State Street).  The party, the 12th annual, is a benefit for the Center and will kick off at 5:30 and go until
Midnight.  Guests (hopefully in the suggested black tie or “Awards glam” attire) will get to watch the awards show on one of the
theatre’s two screens while browsing through the official awards program distributed to the Hollywood folks.  VIP guests also get the
official poster.  Everyone gets to partake of the buffet, donated by Food for Thought, mingle on the red carpet with a Joan Rivers
impersonator, and bid on silent auction items.  Tickets range from $100-$1,000.  Further information at 312-846-2072.  
www.siskelfilmcenter.com