Category: Essays

Remember Guns ‘n’ Roses? Music in the 80’s had degenerated into synthesized fluff and a morass of pop platitudes that left the remnants of the Rock generation cold. Then suddenly, from nowhere, there they were – hairspray and tattoos and miles and miles of attitude. Black leather and heroin and biceps to die for. And Guitars – actual balls-to-the-wall riffs wailing and screaming and scratching their way into our very souls. Not a synthesizer in sight. Fuck the New Wave – Rock was BACK, baby, all the way.”Welcome to the Jungle” became the anthem of a new generation of Drugs, Sex and Rock ‘n’Roll. That, my friends, was a GESTALT. For one brief moment in time, the planets aligned and all the elements clicked into perfect Harmony and the whole became more than the sum of its parts. It didn’t matter that it didn’t last. Frankly, they should have stopped with one album. They started going to hell the minute Axl stopped teasing his hair. Music was fun and gritty and blues-y like the Stones and the Faces before them. Those of us who enjoyed the torrent of Metal and Grunge that followed owe most of it to G’n’R.

At this point, you’re asking yourself “what has this got to do with Gale Harold?” My answer would be “Everything!” The producers of Queer As Folk have stated that “he fell out of the sky – there’s no other explanation” but I disagree. It was time – more than time – for a Gay Superhero/Anti-Hero and he needed to pull the mainstream, mediocre Middle just a little farther toward the Lascivious Left . If Gays are ever going to have true political representation, full exercise of their civil rights, and the safety and dignity that Middle America takes for granted, they have to lose the stigma of being “different”. The only way that happens is for the Middle to move past its adolescent views of sexuality. The average person must become, in effect, “unshockable” where Gay sex is concerned. That’s a tall order. Where to start?

Well our Gay Hero – let’s call him G.H. for simplicity’s sake – has to appeal to more than just the 10% of the population that happen to be Gay. (I think that number is really LOW. Gay men run the world is my perception, and most people have some kind of homosexual experience. 50% is probably closer, but that’s just my opinion and it belongs in another article.) It’s going to be hard to draw straight men in – they have “issues.” They will, however, tune in if they think it leads to getting lucky. So our G.H. needs to appeal to women. Most social change begins with women anyway, since they raise and educate and socialize most of us, in our early years at least. How do you make a G.H. appeal to women? You make him straight. It may seem a little odd for the feature character in a Gay-themed show to be played by a straight actor, but after all, it is acting… and if you want this G.H. to draw the ladies in, he’d better be unequivocally straight – maybe an ex-construction worker who drives a truck. These aren’t hard and fast rules – Randy Harrison and Peter Paige have lots of female fans – but for sheer volume, the women who watch the show need to lust without reservation. What single woman in this day and age hasn’t had a crush on a guy who turned out to be Gay? Once you’ve been through that, your “GAYdar” gets sharp as a tack to prevent further embarrassment. No, our G.H. definitely needs to be straight. And gorgeous.

Our G.H. has to be comfortable with his role. This is Showtime we’re talking about and Queer As Folk was going to take that “No Limits” tag line all the way if …

“Golden Gwyneth” says the magazine cover. Darkened eyes peer at me from under straight bleached hair. I am fascinated. I am repulsed. I wouldn’t say I’m obsessed with this chick, but she definitely bugs me. The first time I saw her, my reaction was typical. Another skinny blonde actress – how original. she seemed such an instant success that I quickly came to loathe her. I had a rule – I would only see her movies if someone was trying to kill her. Interestingly enough, there were several of those. Did Hollywood know? Anyway, a friend dragged me to just such a movie, and I found myself rooting for her at the end. Holy shit! Did I actually like the girl? Ok, radical change in thinking here. It’s happened before . I’m not afraid to admit when I’m wrong. So I saw a couple more of her movies and I found that I liked them. Then I found out she was Blythe Danners daughter. Looks just like her. Blythe Danner had been in a great TV show in the 70’s called “Adams Rib”, where she played a married feminist attorney and had thus had a hand in the formation of my developing feminist sensibilities. (I was about 10 or so.)

Then it began. The Academy Awards where G. wore the dress of my dreams and the hairstyle of my nightmares. She was a hit. She was everywhere. She was goddamed inescapable. The new “It” girl, the magazines proclaimed and galvanized my ambivalence about her very existence. To be perfectly fair, she seems like a nice person and she can definitely be entertaining. If I met her, I’d probably think her a perfectly lovely human being. Personality aside, I think I’m upset more about what she represents than about her actual being. Every minute of my life I think ” I should have been born Gwyneth Paltrow.”

I exaggerate. I told you, I’m not obsessed. Let’s face it though – G. is the ultimate clean white girl. You know the type. A tall W.A.S.P.-y vision fit for boarding schools and board rooms and you just know she took riding lessons. A younger, hipper “lady who lunches”. She dated Ben Affleck and makes movies with Matt Damon. Maybe I do hate her. What I really hate — or rather, resent–is the access that she has and I never did or will have. I used to be young but I was never “fabulous” except in an over-done, drag queen sort of way. Even if I had come from money, I wasn’t tall, wasn’t thin and I never felt “clean”. I didn’t have that smooth white skin that glows rather than perspires. I didn’t learn the unwritten rules of the gentile country club set. It’s the unknown that tortures me. I know that she sees things and goes places and knows things that I really don’t understand because I’m not a part of that culture. The hell of it is that I’m just outside of it. The evidence is everywhere. Gwyneth at the runway shows on the evening news. Gwyneth at a premier in a Magazine. Gwyneth frequents this spa and that designer and was in Madonna’s wedding. And that is the real source of my discomfiture. How can you get on with your life if you know that there is a party going on and you aren’t invited?…

My political past is somewhat checkered. When I was 7 years old my parents had me out with them collecting signatures for Wallace. That’s right, George Wallace. I wasn’t old enough to understand what I was doing, but I did develop a love of political involvement. I take my politics seriously.

Being from the South, my heritage was that of working class Democrats. My parents were staunch independents and were somewhat taken aback when I went “backwards” and registered as a Democrat, though they eventually followed my lead and my Mother in particular was a darling of the Democratic fundraisers during the Clinton years. In the last election, all three of us were delegates to our state Democratic convention. It was the most disappointing experience of my life. It was obvious that many of the items we were there to vote on had already been decided in back rooms. There was an air of collusion in the way votes were counted, and it was obvious that some of the decisions announced were not according to the actual vote. The higher in the organization, the less it mattered. It wasn’t a great leap to make the connection that the Powers That Be have things pretty well sewn up long before the national conventions. It’s all theatre.

Long before the vote in the 2000 election, the Big Boys were losing me. I was appalled that Nader and the other Presidential candidates were not allowed to participate in the debates. If your name is on the ballot, you should be allowed to challenge the other candidates. That’s the most basic behavior in a Democracy, and I was stunned when it was limited to the usual players. Imagine what Nader’s percentage of the vote might have been if he had been allowed to challenge George and Al up front!

The election that followed was a nightmare. The Democratic candidate I had worked so hard to promote suddenly started sounding suspiciously like a – dare I say it – Republican! Gore started attacking Hollywood for violence and sex in movies. When did Democrats start championing censorship? Weren’t we supposed to be the party that defends all civil rights, including free speech? He never brought Clinton into the campaign at all, even though we were experiencing the greatest economic boom in history. He seemed embarrassed of Clinton’s sex scandal, which never concerned me in the least. Weren’t we supposed to be enlightened liberals? Weren’t we more concerned with jobs and equality and helping the poor than what consenting adults do behind closed doors?

Then the election itself was a debacle, and Gore didn’t have the killer instinct to stand up to a dynasty of crooks. He never challenged the voting irregularities in Florida. Don’t we get upset anymore when blacks and immigrants are systematically disenfranchised? Not only did Al miss it, but the media didn’t seem to care either. finally the Supreme Court, in the greatest act of cynicism – and possibly treason – since the Warren Commission, stops the re-count! Isn’t the whole idea of democracy to vote and be counted?

So I started looking for answers. I contacted the Libertarians, the Democrats and the Green Parties to see what they had to offer. I still have that feeling that if you don’t vote for one of the big 2, you’re wasting your vote, but I also know that that kind of thinking won’t support change in our society. I still believe in government of the people, by the people and for the people. anyway, my first act was a heartfelt letter to Tom Daschle, pleading for some reassurance that the Democrats still represent progressive idals. No response. Fine.

The Libertarians have some interesting ideas. They believe in personal responsibility. I agree with that. I don’t need government to parent me. They believe in legalizing drugs and using the money wasted in that “war” to …

There’s a new Sheriff in town. Well, not really but there’s definitely a new obsession. Queer As Folk, Showtime’s ground-breaking series depicting a slice of modern gay life, has unwittingly created a new icon of American culture. As Brian Kinney–the baddest boy on cable tv– actor Gale Harold has become a phenomenon on the internet. No one expected the cross-over appeal of the show. The creators of the show knew that it would be popular with gay men, but they never expected the tremendous appeal the show has for straight women. They didn’t count on Dionysus.

We may be living in modern times, but some of the ancient practices are with us whether we know it or not. One practice that reaches us on the most archetypal level is the worship of Dionysus. Once practiced by women in ancient Greece and Rome, revelers would run through the hills drinking, partying and eventually tearing an animal to bits all in the name of the god of wine and orgiastic revelry. Sounds a bit extreme to us in the 21st century, but this ritual is unconsciously mimicked in every rock concert and many dramatic venues. The Dionysian element of fame was not lost on Jim Morrison, who consciously acted it out in most aspects of his life, including an early death. (I’m of the opinion that his death was staged, though I doubt he’s still alive at this late date.)

The essence of Dionysus is irrisistibility. His appeal manifests in the obsessive, uncontrolled behavior exhibited such as the reaction of girls at a Beatles concert. He is the eternal youth, always young, always beautiful, notoriously unfaithful even to Aphrodite, the goddess of love. One current example is Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler, possibly the most sex-obsessed man since Lord Byron. He lives and breathes it, even sings about it in some of the most popular songs ever written. He’s not alone. Every boy band, every bad boy actor from James Dean to Ben Affleck, every guy who ever learned to play guitar to get chicks owes his appeal to the Dionysian element of his personae. From Elvis to ‘Nsync, Dionysus will not be denied.Enter Gale.

When Cowen and Lipman put the show together, they were focused on the novelty of it’s subject matter. Apparently, Harold was cast at almost the last minute and based on interviews I’ve read, was the only actor they really considered a contender for the role of Brian Kinney. Brian had to be beautiful, cold, and self-possessed. He represents the best and worst of gay male stereotypes – a sexual carnivore in an Armani suit, with no shame and no remorse. His physical and intellectual attributes had to be equally brilliant – he’s in control everywhere, bedroom, board room, dance floor, Ad. agency, hanging with the boys or holding his baby son. Harold portrays all of these qualities admirably.

Described by Camille Paglia as a “swashbuckling bitch-king stud” with “both … intoxicating arrogance and … flawless Greek profile”¹, Gale Harold is simply stunning. His acting is subtle and intense, portraying a raw sensuality mixed with absolute sophistication. His character’s key conflicts go to the heart of the Dionysian mythos. The beauty aspect is obvious, but the real key is his fear of losing that beauty. Brian is 29-30 years old and worried that he won’t always be the hottest thing on the Ave. Rather than playing this with any sort of insecurity, Gale gives the character an angry edge that makes him more attractive. One of the characters in the show even expresses the idea that he “will always be young and [he] will always be beautiful.” As Dionysus, we demand nothing less of him, and we expect nothing more than complete service to his own appetites. He lives our fantasies. At one point, he drives a jeep through the window of a car dealership because the salesman …