It’s been 2012 for a week already and this blog has roundup duties to take care of, but I just gott sneak this in before the Republican presidential freakshow exhibit moves on from New Hampshire and thus renders the results from Iowa even less significant: Is there a better reason to watch election night coverage than to see the elegant and sensible Anderson Cooper make fun of the inanity of his CNN colleagues’ so-called “analysis” (oh, the sanctimoniousness of self-described centrists!), and the network’s grating hangup on slick-looking but ultimately useless digital data-collection tools? Well, no. (Fortunately, Wolf Blitzer doesn’t invoke the phrase the best political team on television nearly as often as he did four years ago. Good on him, since the core of that team still is David Gergen, probably the dullest and most risk-averse pundit in the history of televised punditry.) (more…)
The Gay I Am
27 JanI’ve written about how I feel about being gay from a variety of different angles before, from the more traditional coming-out story to the the hints of the Early Gay Crushes series, or how I’m somewhat uncomfortable with comforming to gay stereotypes, even though I use them myself to navigate. But there is one thing that’s more important than any of these when it comes to what kind of gay I am, and that has to do with how I talk to other people about my gayness.
Like pretty much every person in the world, and especially anyone who writes a blog, I love to talk about myself, and thus I would like for people to talk to me about this stuff (at least some part of me continually hope that I have more closeted gay friends than I know, heh). But still, every time anyone make a reference to my being gay, I find it slightly uncomfortable, because I’m no longer necessarily in charge of where this very personal conversation is going. On the one hand I guess I’m still not past the point where I want the whole world to know, but on the other hand I don’t want that information to make them see me in a different way.
These reflections came to me when I incidentally caught a rerun (season three, episode nine) of Weeds the other day. During season three it is revealed (minor spoiler ahead) that Sanjay (played by Maulik Pancholy), one of Nancy’s dealers, is gay. A scene in which the Botwin family and associates discuss their dealing policies, perfectly captures my own attitude toward other people about my gayness. Nancy has just given Sanjay his instructions when he adds:
And gay bars and dance clubs, ’cause I’m a fag***. I can call myself that, but you can’t, ’cause I’m gay and you’re not. I’m not ashamed. This is who I am.
The ‘I’m not ashamed. This is who I am‘ part is probably added as some sort of joke about the correctness of it all, but to me it carried some significance still. Having been out to everyone for more than two years now, I still have to tell myself that if I don’t want this to be a big deal for my friends, then it shouldn’t be a big deal for me either. In the next moment, Sanjay’s sudden need to re-introduce himself comes to life again, as he blurts out that he’s gay to Nancy’s son Silas (played by the incredibly attractive Hunter Parrish, who currently rests at #3 on the Sexiest Males Alive list). I imagine I would have done pretty much the same thing, just not nearly as confidently.
People who think they might be gay are often told that it’s just a phase. I’m well past that. The phase that’s not talked nearly as much about, but it implies that you actually are gay, and that you neither can nor want to change that, is what happens after you realize you’re gay. I’m talking after the coming out process, about learning to live a gay life without the need to defend yourself against what you think others might think of you, or perhaps just as important, what you think of yourself. Let’s call it the Life is gay. So am I phase. Weeds doesn’t give out the answers, but in a way it made me understand myself better.
‘Desperate Housewives’ Marks Return To Spotlight For ‘Heaven’s Scotty Leavenworth
7 NovSince I’ve already come clean about my long history as a loyal Camdenite, it seems only natural that I write briefly about what has become of the stars of 7th Heaven. Barry Watson went on to do failed sophomore drama What About Bryan and then comedy Samantha Who? for ABC; David Gallagher replaced Watson in the Boogeyman sequel and also headlined The Picture Of Dorian Gray; while Jessica Biel has done projects ranging from Blade Trinity to Cameron Crowe’s maddeningly disappointing Elizabethtown. But we of course knew this already. What triggered my interest in revisiting the ranks of Heaven alumni, was the fact that Scotty Leavenworth reportedly was spotted in this week’s episode of ABC’s still blockbustery Desperate Housewives.
I won’t hold it against you if you don’t remember who Scotty Leavenworth is, but even if you didn’t take note of him during his one season run as a Heaven regular, you might, at different times, have seen him in such movies as Simon Birch, My Life As A House or Donnie Darko. If you watch the delightfully quirky Darko, you can’t avoid him. He’s that who talks about Donnie in the immediate aftermath of Gary Jules’ powerful Mad World. He was also a regular on Steven Bocho one-season drama Philly a couple of years ago.
But to me, he still is Peter Petrowski, Ruthie Camden’s first longer-term boyfriend (meaning for more than one episode, and actually talked about as such) on 7th Heaven. Leavenworth was only in his early teens back then, and his acting of course was nothing to make a fuzz about. The reason why I’ve kept an eye on him, is because I like his character on the show, in some weird way. I’ve written previously about how I think the best episodes were those that spelled out its moralistic intentions in broad terms, and Leavenworth had his part in many of these. In Smoking, for example, that socially insecure loser Peter feels compelled to admit to Ruthie that he thinks smoking is cool, which of course warrants a mini-Inquisition to rid Peter of his unhealthy habit and to convince him that coolness is overrated. Though at times painstakingly transparent in its intentions, it’s also a great laugh. Though I generally have an emotional bond to the goings on in Glenoak, such an episode could not be tolerable without a little dose of cynicism. Or take High And Dry, the episode where Leavenworth’s Peter has to declare himself ‘Sorry for all the drinking and the lies‘ to Ruthie, after having committed the obviously unforgivable sin of simply looking at a can of beer in a Glenoak public park, complete with long-absent, previously alcoholic father lecturing him on the peril of under-age drinking. Not exactly subtle, but quite entertaining still.
Seasons seven and eight, during which Leavenworth was part of the show, it received much criticism from fans for giving such peripheral characters as Peter independent storylines, arguing that it stole the focus from show’s backbone, the Camden family. I always enjoyed his storylines, even though some of them were extremely silly, and those that were not, often were mere launching pads for message-heavy moralism, or maybe for just that reason. For many Camdenites, the first four-or-so seasons are seen as the show’s golden years, but to me Simon’s and Ruthie’s struggles with teenagehood in later season were far more interesting. However platonic and non-threatening, Ruthie’s relationship with Peter marked a rite of passage for the youngest Camden female. Underlining the point, Peter pops by in season nine, only to immediately become Ruthie’s make-out buddy.
And now, that make-out buddy’s status seemingly has elevated to one of the most popular shows on broadcast. Was there another point to this post, other than reliving old TV moments? Oh, y’know, he’s cute (Leavenworth, left, same goes for Charles Carver on the right).
’7th Heaven’s Sexy Puritanism
15 OctI wasn’t supposed to love 7th Heaven. First, it’s a generally conservative show, and second, it always ranked high when Parents Television Council named the ten most family-friendly shows on television, alongside snoozers like Dancing With The Stars and Touched By An Angel. Most of my liberal friends loathed it, and more or less openly looked down on me for falling into the conservative trap. At a certain point it stopped bothering me, however. I calculated that the ridicule would wear off more easily if instead I embraced the show, wholeheartedly, publicly and repeatedly. Once I found a decent rationale, it turned out I was right.
Early on I explained my continued viewership by claiming to be fascinated with the conservative mindset of the Camden family. Put simply, I claimed that I watched 7th Heaven for sociological reasons. I’m not sure anybody actually bought that, but I kept insisting so fervently that the questions soon disappeared. This explanation might have held some clout at some point, but by the time I started using it in public, I was in fact already way past that phase of my fandom. What started out as a mix of boredom and curiosity had matured into a real emotional connection to the ups and downs of the Glenoak community. I actually cared what happened with family rebels Mary and Simon. I wanted my daily dose of Lucyness. Heck, I even wanted to see what would come of Sam and David Camden, the less-than-gifted twins that were added to the family tree a couple of seasons in. By the time I admitted this to my friends, they had probably written me off as a lost cause, and possibly even a closeted conservative. They were right about the lost cause part.
When I first realized that I didn’t want to go back to my pre-7th Heaven days, I soon realized the perks that came with being a Camdenite; most notably a steady stream of cute guys. So steady was that stream, that one could suspect showrunner Brenda Hampton of subscribing to what Slate recently dubbed Sexy Puritanism in describing Republican veep nominee Sarah Palin. The moral outlook of the show is no doubt quite conservative – sex before marriage is seen as an outrage, abortion is never discussed as an opportunity for pregnant teens, and there are never ever any mentions of homosexuality or other controversial culture war topics – but that conservatism is brought to the viewers by the best-looking blood boilers the casting company could find. If the storylines went off the tracks at times, at least you could concentrate your attention on smashing regulars like David Gallagher, Tyler Hoechlin and Adam LaVorgna, and the show had a very impressive list of guest-starring hotness as well; whatever your taste, Thomas Dekker, Kyle Searles, Aaron Carter, Andrew Keegan, Will Estes, Erik von Detten, Jeremy Lelliot, Colton James… they’ve all been there.
I don’t know which of these perspectives offer the most compelling reason for you to give it a chance the next time you catch an old rerun on cable, but they all worked for me, at different times. I suspect I’m not done with the show just yet, even though the show itself folded years ago.
In ‘Weeds’, Hunter Parrish’s From Behind Moment
29 JulI can only hope that the average reader of this blog only pops in occasionally, and that he does not take the time to assess the overarching themes it covers. If thoroughgoing readers actually do exist, I’m afraid they would be led to believe that this is mainly a blog about male behinds. And yes, I admit to having heaped praise on the behinds of a number of young cuties: Daniel Radcliffe, Jamie Bell, Mitch Hewer and Nicholas Hoult have all earned themselves a drooling post. But be patient, dear reader. This blog is about much more than that.
Just not today (either). In a recent post touting the obvious hunkiness of Hunter Parrish, I noted that he was set to have a nude scene this season. Turns out that moment was closer than I knew. In this week’s Weeds episode Silas Botwin gets down to business on his MILF crush, and in the process, Hunter’s ass is visible for little more than a second. The first time I saw the short clip, I briefly paused to appreciate the fact that I live in this day and age, when such scoops are immediately posted on the web, and that stills are instantly available, to be consulted endlessly for pleasure.
So, what do I think about the goods on display? I would be lying if I said I wasn’t a little disappointed. You can’t get a full view of it, and the lighting, too, works to make the scene less pleasurable than it could have been. Still, it seems ungrateful to complain. It’s not everyday one of the world’s sexiest males offers up his ass to the general public, and a muscular and well-tanned one at that. And don’t get my started on his extraordinary back and shoulders. How hot is that!
Nobody’s perfect, but few come as close as Hunter Parrish. And when not even the lasting image of that older woman serves to cool my feelings, I’d consider mission accomplished.
With Shirtless Hunter Parrish, The Sky Is The Limit For ‘Weeds’
26 JulI usually find no reason to hide that I’m gay, or to hide things that might reveal my orientation (except, of course, for gay porn). Quite the opposite, actually. My Attitude issues are on proper display, and I’ve made no secret of my fondness for bands such as Hanson and Savage Garden, neither of which are exactly the straightest acts in pop. Still, for someone like me, who’s still weirdly uncomfortable about other people commenting on my being gay, there’s something utterly relieving about a film, a band or a TV show with hot people in it whose quality is beyond doubt. That way, at least people won’t assume you’re gay simply for watching it, or listening to it.
This was more important before I came out, but still. Try for yourself to explain why their was some plausible, totally non-sexual reason you were caught watching the Jesse McCartney soap Summerland or gay themed tear-jerker Dawson’s Creek. Of course, you’d be hard pressed to find any. Same goes for a more recent example like High School Musical. If you’re not out yet, it won’t out you, but your social status will take a hit. If you’re out, you’ve just stereotyped yourself as a shallow horndog (which of course could be pretty close to the truth, but let’s say it isn’t, for the sake of argument. At least not all the time).
Anyway, all this takes us to Showtime’s comedy Weeds, arguably the best show on American TV. It’s so clever, funny, fresh and unpredictable that no one would ever suspect even the gayest of friends to watch it for shallow reasons. It’s so good it could very well be the perfect comedy to bring people together across sexual orientations. And it holds even though there is an openly gay recurring character (Nancy’s assistant Sanjay) on.
Consider the relationship between Hunter Parrish and Mary-Kate Olsen’s respective characters in season three. I assume more than a few straight guys and lesbians drooled over Olsen, while gays and straight women were having a field day with him. Yet nobody assumed anything about each other. Maybe TV is a force of freedom after all. We’ll see if it holds up in the ongoing fourth season, in which Olsen is out of the picture, and Silas Botwin turns his attention to older women.
But all said, I honestly don’t give a fuck about any of this. What I do care about, however, is Hunter Parrish’s new look, which is super hot. And ditto for his torso. And shoulders. And ass. To top it all of, he’s reported to have a nude scene coming up. I wouldn’t miss it for the world. Weeds sure treats fans well.
Zac Efron, Feel The Love Tonight!
10 JulRewatching High School Musical 2 this weekend did little to change my feelings about the movie (still mostly positive), but, having watched it several times already, my attention was drawn to things I hadn’t noticed the first times around. Most importantly, I realized I kept coming back to this movie not only because Zac Efron is sexy and the movie is pure escapist fun, but also because I quite like the music. I’ve always insisted that I’m not into musicals, but over the last couple of years, Moulin Rouge, Hairspray and the HSM franchise have repeatedly proven me otherwise.
It was one particular scene in High School Musical 2 that convinced me that this anti-musical prejudice is simply stupid. Even though I’ve never though of them as such, I realized that many of my old favorites among the animated Disney classics (The Jungle Book, The Lion King) are basically structured as musicals, and and damn good ones at that. (Both of them have actually been adapted to the stage in recent years.) Thus, I should be neither surprised nor embarrassed to embrace HSM2, a film from the Disney offset Disney Channel, and the more unabashed musical. All this dawned on me while watching Zac Efron perform the incredibly catchy solo number Bet On It. (Think N*Sync-era Justin Timberlake, complete with Cry Me A River-like jumpkicks).
Exactly why Efron’s character Troy Bolton at 2:25 into the song suddenly feels a need to stare at his own image in the water as if he was the reincarnation of Lion King‘s Simba is beyond me, but it’s there, and it’s so corny it’s actually kinda cute. Considering the target audience of HSM2 is barely old enough to have grown out of their Simba-philia, it makes perfect sense, too. Kids live off the safe and recognizable, and HSM2 taps into their rather limited arsenal of common pop culture references, whether intended or not. But if you ask how I noticed this, I will have no answer to offer up.
It doesn’t stop there, however. Could it really be a coincidence that when Efron in Everyday sings “I believe that you and me should grab it while we can“, the melody closely resembles when Elton Johns sings “When the heat of the rolling world can be turned away” from Can You Feel The Love Tonight? I think not.
I’m not sure what this does to my assessment of HSM2, but I’m pretty sure it’s not a bad thing.
Skins Dipping
9 MayThe British teen soap Skins may not be brilliant, but it sure looks good. The show still haven’t premiered in Norway, but I was led to it by a profile in British gaymag Attitude on young leads Nicholas Hoult and Mitch Hewer. The piece was typically well-written, the guys looked smashing, and the plot instilled in me a sense of O.C.-esque soapy drama, all adding up to an almost irresistible sales pitch. I ordered the first season on DVD, and watched it in its entirety over two exhausting days.
Initially, Skins seemed to play to the shallowest of my instincts. All episodes packed with incredibly hot young things, frequently naked, I didn’t ask for substance or some actually engaging dramatic developments. But as the show found its course, even the storylines grew on me. While not fully developed, the gay character Maxxie Oliver is refreshingly sef-assured, and he fits well into this group of people managing their minor troubles, while generally enjoying being young. Of course, it was no drawback that Mitch Hewer is both wildly charming and incredibly attractive. The love triangle storyline he had with Nicholas Hoult’s protagonist cynic felt a bit forced, but to couple two such hunks could never be a bad thing, no matter what you demand from your average telly fare.
Because the first season lowered my guard, and occasionally even managed to get my into the Skins universe, I’m a little surprised that I have not yet signed up for my copy of the season 2 DVD, which was released just last week. Even more so if you consider the fact that Hewer finally will get naked, and they even promise that Maxxie will take center stage for one or more episodes. I’ll probably come to my senses soon, overcoming the creeping feeling that my reasons for enjoying this show are simply too shallow. Until then, I praise some higher power that the essentials are already available for YouTube viewing.
Geek Squad
6 MayApparently, I’m into geeks. This insight came to me a couple of days ago, mindlessly browsing YouTube for something (or someone) pleasant to watch. I don’t remember what I was looking for exactly, but luck directed me towards some old clips from the British pop show Popworld, and, more importantly, its gorgeous co-host Simon Amstell. The show’s run ended a couple of years back, and Amstell abandoned ship still earlier to pursue a career as a stand up comedian, but little tidbits are still available online.
With his big, curly hair, Amstell is probably not your average cutie, but his smile, in combination with his fresh British wit, totally had me melting. He seems to be a great interviewer, but I couldn’t help but focusing more on his looks than on the words that came out of his mouth. He may be slightly older than I usually go for, but I don’t care. And to top it all off, he’s gay, too.
Like Amstell, young actors Michael Cera and Jesse Eisenberg probably aren’t the kind of guys that most people would consider hot, but I am sort of in love with them both. Cera caught my interest with Arrested Development, but with Superbad and Juno he blossomed into an utterly lovable geek. Not all this has to do with looks, of course, as he is also an infectiously charming young man, but he sure looks good as well.
If I were to pick one thing that attracted me physically to all three of them, I’d have to say their smiles. I discovered Eisenberg as the insecure teen Kenny Green in Get Real in the early 2000′s, but his vivid charm is most fully on display in freshman writer-director Dylan Kidd’s Roger Dodger, in which Eisenberg all but repeated his Kenny Green shtick. The film is not your average sex comedy, and Jesse Eisenberg is not your average teen hearthhrob. But he’s mine. (For evidence that Eisenberg can be equally sexy as a moping, stubborn teenager, watch The Squid And The Whale. Several times over, like I did.)
57 Channels And ‘Dawson’ On
1 MayFlipping through the channels yesterday, I ended up with an old Dawson’s Creek episode. Even in its best moments the show was only bearable, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t still have a special place in my heart. I watched the second season of the show on TV in the summer of 2005, and it wouldn’t surprise me if the ‘Jack-McPhee-is-gay’ storyline somehow helped me come to terms with my own feelings, when I finally faced them a year or so later. It was not so much that I thought Kerr Smith was kinda hot, than the pro-gay environment of Capeside in a way felt comforting to an insecure young gay looking into fiction from the real world.
This particular episode – it must’ve been from early in the third season or something – was nothing much, but it was still pleasant. Jack chickened out of his first gay date, because ‘ [then] I would not only tell the world that I’m gay. I would actually be gay.’ That would be a familiar position of sorts, were it not for the fact that I’ve never been on a date, gay or straight. On this sad note, we salute gay Dawson’s writer Greg Berlanti for actually writing some halfways decent scripts on this issue, particularly in the second season. And tomorrow I will probably make that half-conscious flipping of channels thing again, trying to deny that I’m really looking for another dose of Dawson’s escapism.
Recent Comments