Defamer joins the Ben Foster discussion by linking to After Elton's review of 3:10 to Yuma, by Michael Jensen. (Emphases mine.)
Ben Foster stars as Charlie Prince, Wade’s villainous henchman and second in command who oozes gay subtext.
To be perfectly clear, Foster’s part is actually rather small [dirty!], so don’t expect GLAAD to issue a press release taking director James Mangold to task for denigrating the gay community. That being said, there is also no mistaking that Foster’s character is indeed coded as gay and is done so to make him even more unsettling to filmgoers since being a murderous sociopath apparently isn't bad enough.
When we first see Charlie Prince, he is astride his horse, one hand draped delicately over the other with the limpest wrist this side of the Mississippi river. He is by far the nattiest dresser in the entire cast, and if that isn’t mascara he’s wearing when we first meet him then I’m Buffalo Bill.
Foster’s casting tells us a great deal about what Mangold intended for the character. He is a slight man, probably best known as Angel in X-Men: The Last Stand and as Russell, Claire’s sexually ambiguous boyfriend in Six Feet Under. Macho isn’t a word likely to often be used in describing Foster.
First of all, Mr. Jensen, if you're going to spend almost the entire two pages talking about Ben Foster, I'd rethink your choice to title your article "Review of Russell Crowe's "3:10 to Yuma". Second, I don't think most people remember that Ben Foster was actually in the third X-Men movie, considering his onscreen time totaled less than five minutes. Third, not all of us like our men "macho." Cases in point: the Spider-Man and Pirates of the Caribbean trilogies. No one in their right mind would call Orlando Bloom "macho," but that elf has done pretty well for himself.
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Speaking of olde tyme closet cases, you all should have watched Mad Men last night. If you didn't and you do get AMC, then shame on you. I suggest you all read Todd's review on South Dakota Dark, and James Poniewozik's review on Tuned In. Also, Crista Flanagan of Mad TV made a surprise guest appearance, and she was adorable!
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I will get to all of your comments soon. I'm so happy that you all left them. It has been a challenging time for me, and I appreciate your continuing to share your opinions here. Even if I don't always agree with every comment, I'm thrilled that you're reading and thinking about what I have to say.
6 comments:
Ugh. Sounds like the reviewer is simply projecting his own image of a homosexual man on top of the character. A pretty stereotypical image at that.
Last time I checked, none of my gay friends were slight, fey, and nattily dressed. They come in all shapes, colors, and manners of dress.
And speaking of gentile, well-dressed cowboys, what about Val Kilmer as Doc Holliday in Tombstone? He's certainly not gay in that. Riddled with TB, maybe, but not gay.
stephanie, I have never heard of that book. How did you find it? It's Canadian.
I'm not saying there wasn't stereotyping going on in this movie. I'm not sure if it was caused maliciously by the director, or if the director was making a commentary on the time, or if the director didn't think there was anything significant about portraying a gay character in that way since so many other movies and TV shows have done so in the past. I am saying that the role isn't necessarily stereotypical because Ben Foster is playing it. The reviewer's main qualm was with the plot of the character, and how and why he is killed. Casting may have been a component in the secret gayness, but another actor could have taken the same requests from the director and played the same part. There was no need to focus on Ben's macho-ness or lack thereof.
I haven't seen Tombstone. I did see Batman Forever. Now there's a macho gay icon.
Not just Orlando in "Pirates" -- I think Johnny Depp as Jack Sparrow is gut-bustingly hilarious, and he was shown as worthy of Keira/Elizabeth's affections as a rival for Orlando/William, right?
I guess I should keep reading Meg Cabot's Diary. So many blogs, so little time.
amy, Johnny Depp is indeed talented. I liked when Orlando was playing himself on Extras and he was so jealous of Johnny:
"They're going 'oh, Orlando, who's that freak over there that we didn't notice?' I'm going, 'it's Johnny Depp!' They're going 'who cares? You were Legolas in Lord of the Rings!' 'Ooh, look at me, I make art-house movies! Ooh, I've got scissors for hands!' Willy Wonka? Johnny *Wanker.*"
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