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DIVERSIONS
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But this doesn’t have anything to do with ’
Ellen being gay.
I’m no t naive enough to think that
being gay doesn’t make a difference; a
lot of people will or won’t watch any
show starring Ellen based on her being
openly lesbian. But a gcxxl queer show
will (and should) outlast a bad queer
show any time. (O f course, Will &
Grace also sucks, and it’s still on the air,
so what do I know?)
Anyway, if this eventual queer channel—
which promises to run movies, sitcoms, specials
and maybe even game shows all around being
bent— is good, it’s OK with me. If it’s not at all
good, it’s no t OK. T hat seems simple enough.
A nd speaking of being gay, how about those
Academy Awards? Wow, we queers have never
had so much influence and content in Oscar-
he reports have been coming in for more
nom inated movies as this year. Too bad spokes-
than a year now about the all-gay cable
people are pretending that “gay” just doesn’t
network. Reportedly, Showtime and •
matter.
M TV ’s joint venture called O utlet will
Everyone who has anything to do with The
launch in the next few months. In the m ean Hours, for instance, are quick to point out that
time, C anada’s all-queer channel has gone
the sexuality of the characters has nothing to
bankrupt.
do with the emotional impact of the Best Pic
T he am ount of conjecture in the press
ture contender. T he March 18 issue of The
about w hether this kind o f cable channel is a
Advocate notes that the lead actors “argue that
good or bad thing is deafening. Is this the next
transcending such labels is exactly what has
logical step of queer acceptance into the m ain
made the film so successful.” A nd the British
playwright who adapted the novel for the
stream, or will it prompt networks to stop
putting queer characters into programming
i screen insists, “The Hours is not a gay film.”
with the notion we’re all congregated in one
(Isn’t it funny how you don’t have anyone
place? In essence, are we being ghettoized?
jumping to m ention when films aren’t straight?
Forgive me, but my response is, W ho cares?
There’s none of this nervous, “O h, gosh, no,
There is one reason and one reason only to
this movie isn’t just for hets" or “T he married
tune into any cable channel, any cable show,
| couple in this movie transcends those kind of
any show on any station anywhere, anytime. Is ! sexual labels.”)
it good?
W hile I agree The Hours, like any film, is
■ W hy did the British first-of-its-kind Queer
| appropriate for any adult who wants to see it,
as Folk fare so well amid the naysayers who said | let’s not pretend that being a queer in the
the world just wasn’t ready for this kind of in-
world today doesn’t matter. Let’s not pretend
your-face gay sexuality and th at it would make
th at sitting in a theater full of straight people
us all look bad? It was good! It was fun, the per , who see Meryl Streep and Allison Janney play
formances were great, th e style was hip, the
ing women in a long-term relationship and
stories were a hoot, the sex was hot. My part
their perfectly well-adjusted daughter and their
ner and I rented it and watched the whole sea
intense, poetic friend dying of AIDS (Ed H ar
son in one weekend. We couldn’t stop. A nd
ris, no less) isn’t a thrilling, positive influence.
then Showtime copied the whole thing to wide
It’s easy to say queer doesn’t m atter when
acclaim, too.
you’re straight.
It seems to me a lot of T V works this way.
We finally get some great recognition at the
For instance, I may be going out on a limb
Academy Awards (Frida and Far from Heaven,
here, but I think the reason Ellen DeGeneres’
too), and now we’re supposed to be beyond
first series got canceled is because it sucked.
those labels? W hen were we supposed to be
happy about it? Did we miss a decade or some
T he second one— The Ellen Show— did not
thing? I’ll be post-gay in a post-homophobic
suck and would have done fine if the network
executives (as they have done with other gcxxl
world, thanks.
Put your big, queer arms around these big
shows) hadn’t moved it all over trying to save
queer movies and shout Hallelujah. JT1
it until no one could find it and just gave up.
wood offer backdrops for everyone from The Ora
cle to Darth Vader. Annals of history reappear as
historical figures rant, while head honchos (and
honchas) of the university’s humanities depart
ment pick through Milton’s Paradise Lost via
appropriations of thesis advisers, school funding
and almost-make-out scenes. (Yes, kids, even one
with S<crates and his muscle-bound protégé.)
Moses weaves two acts of multiple plot layers
with a set complete with giant arched stairway,
tiered substages and a circular map of the sky.
Outrage offers a chance to romp in both ancient
and modem pretty-boy land, where teachers can
be students and students can he, well.. .you’ll see.
Outrage shows at 8 p.m. March 7 and at 2
and 8 p.m. March 8 and 9. Tickets are $ 12-$47
from the box office or 503-274-6588.
It’s all about
quality
T
Wyoming in Oregon
H e is M en M agazine's H u n k of the M onth,
graces the pages of Honcho and is walking
among us
Straight shot
I l f orget T h o r...A ll Hail the Mighty Atlas!”
hanks to Equity Foundation, Artists Reper
tory Theatre will take its production of The
Laramie Project— seen last summer in Port
land— on the road to rural parts of Oregon.
Equity initially raised money to get the
show prtxluced in Portland and has come up
with nearly $10,000 to help get it out to com
munities that otherwise wouldn’t see it.
T he play is about the people of Laramie,
Wyo., in th e afterm ath of th e M atthew
Shepard murder and, according to A R T ’s
A llen Nause, “utilizes a structure th at
reflects th a t of most any com m unity in
A m erica.” He feels it “asks questions of our
T
■■ So reads the headline to the nude photo
I spread of Portland hottie Zeb Atlas (not
his real name, believe it or not) in the March
issue of M en Magazine.
The 32-year-old, straight pharmaceutical
salesman and personal
trainer is also the cover
hoy for this m onth’s
Honcho Magazine and
one of the featured
performers in Body
Image Prcxluctions’
Sob Series, Volume 4-
A t 6 feet 3 inches
tall, Atlas is a m oun
tain of muscle with an
appealingly goofy face.
A nd he handily won
Men Magazine’s “Hunk
of the M onth” contest
with 65 percent of vot
ers casting their ballots
for the dark-haired
beauty. Comments
A rtists Repertory Theatre takes The Laramie Project on the road
range from “h o t” to
around Oregon
“cutie” to “amazing"
and include ones that feature sexual fantasies
selves about where we stand on issues o f to l
with the local stud.
erance. O ur hope is th a t it will resonate w ith
com m unities across our state.”
Atlas certainly isn’t the first straight rruxlel
to pose for m en’s magazines or appear in gay
The prcxluction has already played in Pendle
pom. (Is a solo jerk-off scene technically
ton and will show March 8 in Bend (ticket info
pom?) But his appearance does make one won
from 541-383-7575), March 10 in The Dalles
der what kind of thrill straight men get by
(ticket info from 541-993-0678) and March 12 in
being sexual fantasies for gay men and what his
Newport (ticket info from 541-265-2787.)
family and friends think about it.
Unfortunately, Atlas declined to talk with
Just Out, so we weren’t able to find any
ollowing in the f<x>tsteps of other organiza
answers. We can only gaze and wonder.
tions around the country, Portland’s Explorers
Club is sponsoring N ude for Peace— a group
nude photo to protest the war against Iraq.
A t 2 p.m. M arch 16, organizers will herd
hat could Stx:rates, Galileo, a humanities
people into the shape of the Chinese symbol
professor and Bertolt Brecht have in
for peace for an aerial photograph. Spokes
common besides controversial politics?
woman Theresa Reed (aka Dark lady) explains,
Well, we could just tell you, hut that would he,
“Although
we are no fans of Saddam Hussein
ahem, an outrage.
or his com ipt and cmel administration, we do
Running through March 9 is Portland
not believe that Bush is being honest ah m t his
C enter Stage’s prcxluction of 26-year-old Yale
reasons for pushing for this war.”
graduate Itam ar Moses’ new play Outrage at
To participate in Nude for Peace, register at
Newmark Theatre. It is, according to artistic
www.explorers-cluh.com/peace or e-mail
director Chris G )lem an, “perhaps the most
edie@explorers-cluh.com. J H
ambitious play by a new playwright that I’ve
read in the past decade.”
Compiled by L isa B radshaw , M arie
A college campus in 1999, ancient Greece,
F leischmann and F loyd S klaver
1940s Nazi Germany and 20th century Holly
Get naked for peace
Outrageous!
PHOTO BY OWEN CABEY
W
F