Gay/Straight Cable Viewing

Straight Guy,

I hope you and yours had a good Thanksgiving. Did you make one of your famous pies?

It's a quiet Saturday night. I had some ambition to call a friend to see a movie, but it's chilly and dark, and I faded fast and opted for finding something on TV. Turns out that TV is in the gay/straight divide zone tonight.

The 9 p.m. movie line-up: The Wizard of Oz, A Star is Born, and Remember the Titans. The first two have strong gay followings. The third is a football movie -- on the surface. I chose Titans and now find myself in unfamiliar territory.

I know that the Wizard of Oz has a special place in the hearts of gay men, but don't really get into it. I'm happy to see it every now and again, but it doesn't speak to me. Wizard of Oz scores gay points for the "Over the Rainbow" theme: leaving your dusty suppressed life behind for a new technicolor universe where you can pursue finding what your heart truly desires. Plus tragic-victim Judy Garland. The paragraph on the film's appeal in LGBT culture in the Wikipedia entry does a great job of summing it up in a few sentences.

A couple of friends are totally into A Star is Born, and from that fact I may be making too large of a leap to make it a gay classic. I know very little about A Star is Born, other than it stars Judy Garland, features the killer song, "The Man That Got Away," and that the crucial line is, "Hello, everybody. This is Mrs. Norman Maine." Hmm . . . . maybe I know more about this than I suspected. There are three versions of Star. Judy Garland is in the 1954 version. Watch a fabulous period trailer for the film.

I'm enjoying Remember the Titans. It's a football movie, but it's really a movie about race and respect. I am a sucker for come-together-to-win-against-all-odds movies. The movie is based on the true story of the first integrated high school football when schools in Alexandria, Va., were integrated. The real fight is not on the field, but in the community. It's corny and a throat sweller, but good. The New York Times review nails it.

To retain my gay cred, let me hasten to mention that Titans had been on my radar screen if for no other reason than one of the leads is Kip Pardue, a hottie who starred in a movie called Loggerheads, which never built up much steam, but is really well written and acted. Read a review. I'll let Pardue's pics do the talking. Not really my type, but I can appreciate what he brings to the table.

Back to the Titans: The mother of the tragically injured team leader just left his hospital bedside and has entered the stadium for the crucial game to a standing ovation. Mercy, I'm all misty-eyed and useless now.

--Gay Guy