David, what is really your point in wanting to know who is gay or not....looking for a little excitement? If you ever make it to Fort Lauderdale, I will be happy to show you my collection!
Evan: ** That's the spirit! Hell, I'm just being provocative for the sake of it. I have this serious self-aggrandizing reputation here and I guess it's the reason people can't tell when I'm fooling around. But it's true I'm curious about credibility of certain art to the gay community -- in the same way people are curious about my reactions to anything remotely Asian. I still have people speaking to me in slow hesitant tones at stores, you know, thinking I just got off the boat. Don't look "Americanized" enough I guess. Then when they find out, "hey, this guy knows how many home runs Babe Ruth hit!," and they get funny, but not mean. ** For ex., I once had a woman friend ask me about a broken shop window. She said, "hey, the owner in that shop is Asian, why don't you go up to him and ask him what happened?" Completely innocent. I just laughed and said, "what if he speaks perfect, unaccented English like me? What if he was born in Brooklyn? What in the sam-hell are you assuming? Are you saying me being Asian means he can better relate to my questions about his travails than if I was white? I said this in a mocking, Woody Allen tone and she understood my point. I was joking but hers was a naturally curious question. We're a product of upbringing, and in my case, I grew up with no religion at all. It doesn't mean I'm an atheist w/no morals. It does mean that I'm not always politically correct. ** Hence I think it's a perfectly GERMANE question to ask people of color or sexual preference -- whether a film or work of art covering familiar territory -- works for them on ANY level. It's a free country, and it depends upon how one words the question with disarming curiousity as opposed to flat out misanthropic hate. ** There's no doubt we'll see Brokeback Mountain. I just don't want to see overt nastiness on these boards. It's bad enough talking about politics and movies. I know I am one of the worst offenders but I try to be fair. So I accept your invitation, Evan -- trust me, there ain't nothing you can show us that we haven't seen. Did I tell you my wife and I once owned a designer label clothing shop? Yup, right in the middle of Hillcrest, the heart of the gay community in San Diego. If you shield yourself from the unknown, you remain ignorant. We got to know a lot of great people and the following is SO stereotyping but you know, at my age, I don't give a s***. It just seems to ME (and this is ME only), that MY gay friends are smart, sensitive and hilarious, above all, caring. Yeah, that's a generalization, sort of like how all Asians just HAVE to be good at math. It ALSO seems to me -- that most transient beggars carrying signs on street corners, "Military Vet - Will Work for Food" -- are white. I can honestly say I've never seen a person of COLOR holding such signs. Let's make a movie about that. Now before you military vets out there come out w/your knives, know that I come from a military family and fly the flag outside our home. But let's not get political. -koose! ----Original Message Follows---- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [email protected] Subject: Re: Are you gay? Date: Mon, 2 Jan 2006 23:31:11 EST Oh come on David, go see the damn movie and decide for yourself. I am gay here in Fort Lauderdale, one of the largest gay destinations in the world, and I take acceptance of a gay lifestyle by the general public for granted here, yet there are always stories in the news popping up from time to time of gay bashings here and worldwide. Brokeback Mountain is a film set in rural bible belt areas and in a time when tolerance for homosexuality was not what it is today. Yet today, from areas similar to those in the film, we get modern true life stories like the tragedy of Matthew Shepard. Intolerance for diversity, taught to us by others which can lead to various forms of discrimination including self hatred and denial, violence, murder and suicide, is an all too real subject which society never seems able to conquer. Without going into detail, this film, as I said in my last post, clearly reflects a lot of real world issues. This is not a fantasy or a sexually exploitive film. The implied sex in this film is much tamer then the majority of heterosexual oriented films I have seen in my life, and I never stuck a needle in my eye in lieu of watching those (although I am a Gemini and have heterosexual tendencies). Also, it is mind boggling how many gay men are or have been married and have fathered children only because they have succumbed to societal pressures. So David, what is really your point in wanting to know who is gay or not....looking for a little excitement? If you ever make it to Fort Lauderdale, I will be happy to show you my collection! Later, Evan Visit the MoPo Mailing List Web Site at www.filmfan.com ___________________________________________________________________ How to UNSUBSCRIBE from the MoPo Mailing List Send a message addressed to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] In the BODY of your message type: SIGNOFF MOPO-L The author of this message is solely responsible for its content.
