I just watched Julie & Julia over the weekend and I loved it…I LOVED it. But I love everything Meryl Streep does – and I’m not alone. Streep has generated an astonishing billion dollars in box office revenue over the past few years with her films (Mamma Mia!, The Devil Wears Prada, Julie & Julia) and she shows no sign of slowing down.
She breaks the mold and old Hollywood axiom that a woman over the age of 40 is box office poison. At 60, Streep is more successful now than ever. Screw convention.
We’re in dire need of a queer cinema renaissance
All this talk about surprise success from an unlikely source makes me think about queer cinema. We are in dire need of a queer cinema renaissance. While beauty is in the eye of the beholder and art is subjective, it’s challenging to find a good queer movie that doesn’t rely on tragedy, over-the-top pathos or super sexualization to propel its story.
Too many queer films are wrapped in clichés and stereotypes that get boring and repetitive. I have been trying in earnest to beef up my queer film collection and am challenged to find more than a scant handful with lasting appeal or are watchable more than once. For the record, I don’t consider Milk or Brokeback Mountain to be queer films, although the former was terrific.
Create a new genre and get queer actors, writers and directors producing films that can be blockbusters
There are great gay actors out there who are charming, funny and even maudlin: Harvey Fierstein, Sir Ian McKellan, Mario Cantone, Bryan Batt, Lea DeLaria, Portia de Rossi to name just a few.
Here’s my dream: assemble an amazing cast (like they do in buddy movies or “chick flicks”) of high-profile queer thespians, a great script propelled by characters – could be a comedy, could be a drama, could be a mystery. The point is to create a new genre and get queer actors, writers and directors (Tom Ford looks like he has a stellar future as an auteur) working and producing films that can be blockbusters. We have the talent! If the magnificent Meryl can break conventions of age, looks, genre and do boffo box office, why can’t we?
Please, give me a great gay film. I’ll buy a ticket to that!
