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ombard
Proudly Serving
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F L O W E R S
Located in Historic St. Johns
8 3 0 2 N. LOMBARD • PORTLAND, OREGON 9 7 2 0 3
Phone
5 0 3 2 7 4 -9 9 3 6
KAREN M. 5 WEIGERT, MD
Obstetrics and Gynecology
f”3 X
5 0 3 2 7 4 -2 6 6 0
C mcs M ,
PC
1130 N.W. 22nd, Suite 320, Portland, OR 97210
Mike t haler author of the Black Lagoon series will be
signing copies of his new series Heaven and Mirth
Saturday, March 4 at 2:00pm
9 Saturday March 18, at 11:30 storyteller Roger Coles
will entertain children and adults with interactive tales
tak
Sign up for our Mother/daughter book club-ask Meredith
MUSK
PAMES
4807 NE Fremont Street — 284-8298
Portland's only independent children's bookstore
P ortland ’ s ONLY I ndependent * N orconherlial I
L istener -S ponsored C ondoniti R adio S tation )
. ttiiti 0 ^
,
i
ÍÍ* * *
The Rupert Report
« • © S ®***'14 -
9O.7 fW PORTLAHD « 92.7 (OLUfllM 60I6E » IQO.y WllllHfTTE VALID
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One of the similarities, on the other hand,
between Everett and his character is implicit in
a line written by Everett himself: I’m tired of
all the drugs and body issues and everything
else gay.
“1 do identify with that line, but it’s not
meant to be something critical," Everett can
didly revealed. “1 think it’s a line that comes to
everyone at age 40 on the gay scene, because
the thing that gay people and women, really,
have in common is that we begin to become—
unless you’re lucky genetically— invisible at age
40. So you do tend to start re-evaluating.... I
am slightly bored of all that, for me personally,
but on the other hand 1 think the body atten
tion is also quite fabulous.”
Despite my exhaustive research
and careful packing for this press
junket (1 remembered to bring
my nipple clamps and Play -
boy), it turned out some of
my fellow journalists
knew a few things I did
n’t. Noting that this par
ticular media frenzy was
unique— in that it was
arranged exclusively for
reporters from queer publi- \
cations— one thoughtfully
^
asked why Everett, who mas-
terminded the all-gay press event,
was so keen on reaching out to smaller,
regional gay publications.
“First of all, it’s a film
with the lead character
who’s gay, so, you
know, obviously we
want to make as
many gay people
as aware of the
film as possible,”
Everett
explained,
adding, “My par
ticular problem
with the usual
way that you’d
promote that, i.e.,
in The Adiocate and
Out magazine, is that I
don’t terribly like those
publications.”
Although no one on the
interview panel questioned his dislike for
the two glossies— and some eagerly testified to
their own disdain— Everett spelled it out: “I
find that politically I’m not in line with a lot of
those people, I don’t really have a political
enough stance. And I find that every time I’ve
dealt with those magazines— and I don’t really
have any criticism of them— but if you don’t
share the political angle of these ‘modem day
prophets,’ they tend to take quite a hard line
for you.... I’m not suggesting that I’ve got you
here so you don’t take a hard line for me.”
(This last comment was greeted by knowing
smiles from the journalists, many of whom had
come from much colder climes than Portland
to bask in Miami’s sun and Paramount Pictures’
largesse.)
“ I like very much the gay press that is more
to do with practical events, like new drugs,
club venues, hookers,’’ he continued. “If I go to
a town, the type of gay magazine 1 want to find
is one which will tell me where to go and
what’s going on in that town.... I much prefer
the idea of someone just leafing through me in
a club, so to speak, than showing myself up for
not having enough o f a political line in an in-
depth kind of wank-off in The Advocate or
something.”
Everett isn’t limiting his outreach to the gay
community, however. He believes The Next
Best Thing will appeal to hetero audiences too,
even while it deals with issues, such as “family
values,” that often divide queers from straight
folks. Not that the professedly apolitical
Everett would necessarily explain it that way...
“The thing that appealed to me about it—
coming from My Best Friend’s Wedding, where I
didn’t really expect to become so successful—
was that I was looking to do another gay role
that was still funny and accessible to middle-
American straight people, not just a ghetto
film, not just a specialized film,” Everett said
after a contemplative pause. “And the story of
this seemed to me kind of ideal, because it’s
jokey and fun to start with and then it has a
turn, which personally I like a lot. And it deals
in the end with a series of serious subjects.
One of the things that was most
beguiling for me was that you can
be a practicing homosexual
and a really good father, and
1 think from my point of
view it was a very impor
tant thing to do.”
Asked whether he
approached the film pri
marily to advance his
career or as an opportunity
to have a social impact out
side the movie theaters,
Everett responded frankly and
ith less hesitation than before:
Both things. It’s obviously exciting for
me to become more successful,
because that’s what actors are
about, partly. But then it’s
also really exciting to be
part of a movement to
destereotype charac
ters like this. I
think this gay
character is a real
ly positive image
for the most part,
and I think it
would be great if
this film is very
successful— there’ll
be a million more
gay films happen
ing....
“My fantasy for this
film has always been that if
every gay and lesbian person came
to this movie it would be more successful
than Titanic, and if that happened there would
be so many movies coming out with gay and
lesbian characters, because all Hollywood
needs is the financial incentive. It’s a great
opportunity for gay characters to join the Hol
lywood family in a mainstream way. It means, if
this film really worked well, there would be a
lot more opportunity for a lot of other things
that went further, more diverse.”
It’s been rumored that The Next Best Thmg
met with a lot of resistance from anti-gay forces
in the entertainment industry, but Everett dis
agreed strongly, saying that Hollywood’s reputa
tion for homophobia is overblown.
“People always say Hollywotxl’s homopho
bic, but Hollywood’s not really homophobic,
Hollywood’s just business oriented,” he
explained. “So whatever’s gonna make the
money is what they’re interested in; they don’t
really have homophobia. 1 think films like this
are very puzzling to them because they’re not
sure where the audiences are, if there’s an audi
ence, if one audience is gonna be turned off
because it’s too in your face.”
“First of all, it's a film with
the lead character who's gay,
so, you know, obviously we want to make
as many gay people as aware of the film
as possible. My particular problem with the
usual way that you’d promote that, i.e.,
in The Advocate and Out magazine,
is that I don't terribly like
those publications."
$79 9
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$149
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