{"id":2595,"date":"2013-12-10T08:42:29","date_gmt":"2013-12-10T16:42:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/qgp.ykq.mybluehost.me\/cinephiled\/?p=2595"},"modified":"2013-12-13T12:01:37","modified_gmt":"2013-12-13T20:01:37","slug":"played-laughs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cinephiled.com\/played-laughs\/","title":{"rendered":"Played for Laughs"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"So<\/a>

So many possibilities.<\/p><\/div>\n

This is Parting Glance, Cinephiled\u2019s column about lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender film. Sometimes we will discuss serious gay issues. Sometimes we will profile queer movies both past and present. Sometimes we will look at shirtless pictures of Gael Garcia Bernal and daydream about the possibilities.<\/p>\n

Today, we\u2019re talking about straight dudes making out with each other.<\/p>\n

I had a really good time at Kill Your Darlings<\/i>. Not because it\u2019s one of the best movies of the year. It\u2019s not. It wasn\u2019t because I saw it at Nitehawk Cinema in Brooklyn, a theater where you can order food and booze during the film. The basket of calamari I ordered certainly contributed to my enjoyment, but it wasn\u2019t the instigating factor.<\/p>\n

I had a really good time at Kill Your Darlings <\/i>because of the major chemistry between stars Dane DeHaan and Daniel Radcliffe. The sexual tension between them for most of the movie was, quite frankly, delicious. Allow me to explain why.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s no secret that the past decade has seen an enormous leap forward in the positive representation of gay men in the media. More public figures are coming out then ever before. Gay characters populate a number of hit TV shows. Same-sex marriage is legal in a growing number of states.<\/p>\n

Yet time and again we continue to be the brunt of the joke. Take Seth Rogen and James Franco\u2019s \u201cBound 3\u201d parody music video. The clip is a satirical take on Kanye West\u2019s \u201cBound 2,\u201d a rap song with an odd music video featuring wild horses, majestic canyons, and lots of dry humping between West and partner Kim Kardashian. All on top of a motorcycle.<\/p>\n

(Except that she\u2019s naked so I\u2019m not sure it can 100% be called dry humping. Perhaps moderately damp humping. Although admittedly that sounds super gross.)<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>

A kiss from “Bound 3.”<\/p><\/div>\n

Rogen and Franco recreated the video shot-for-shot. Rogen strips down for the Kardashian role and there\u2019s a great deal of man on man action. The clip has over 10 million YouTube views and counting.<\/p>\n

But what exactly is the joke here? Are Rogen and Franco lampooning the overwrought sexual excess of the original? Pointing out its bombast through homosexual mimicry?<\/p>\n

That\u2019s a valid interpretation, but it\u2019s certainly not why the video has been labeled funny by the media and even West himself. The humor comes from watching two very famous heterosexual Hollywood movie stars making out with each other. Boiled down to its root, the joke is that two men are kissing.<\/p>\n

Our culture has changed enough to the point where our greatest straight comic actors can kiss each other without dangerous career repercussions.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not sure if that\u2019s really an achievement.<\/p>\n

\"This<\/a>

This is the worst thing I’ve ever had to do ever. For real, bro.<\/p><\/div>\n

The \u201cBound 3\u201d example is just one of many from 2013. In March, the college comedy 21 & Over <\/i>featured a scene were Skylar Astin and Miles Teller were forced to kiss by vengeful sorority sisters. They must kiss or literally be branded like cattle. They have a long discussion about it before finally sharing the lamest lip lock ever while the girls giggle to themselves.<\/p>\n

In August the British band Mumford & Sons released a music video for their single \u201cHopeless Wanderer\u201d featuring Jason Sudeikis, Jason Bateman, Ed Helms, and Will Forte. Sudeikis and Forte share a very sloppy kiss during an emotional moment in the song. It\u2019s clearly played for laughs and there\u2019s no reason for including it beyond a cheap joke.<\/p>\n

For five years \u201cThe Kissing Family\u201d has been a consistently popular sketch on Saturday Night Live<\/i>. The basic premise is that an outsider visits a family who is overly affectionate to the point of softcore incest. The biggest laughs always come from the man on man kisses: James Franco kissing Bill Hader, Paul Rudd kissing Jason Segel, Andy Sandberg kissing Fred Armisen, etc. Eventually the simple gay joke became too commonplace and Fred Armisen kissed Will Forte\u2019s corpse while still in the casket.<\/p>\n

There are countless further examples from the past few years, but I think you\u2019re getting the point. Now consider this for a moment:<\/p>\n

Why isn\u2019t it funny to watch Zachary Quinto kiss Zoe Saldana in Star Trek<\/i>? Or Neil Patrick Harris kiss Jayma Mays in The Smurfs<\/i>? Both are gay men kissing women. Why isn\u2019t it funny to watch Eric Stonestreet kiss Jesse Tyler Ferguson on Modern Family<\/i>? Or Darren Criss kiss Chris Colfer on Glee? <\/i>Both are straight men kissing publicly gay men.<\/p>\n

Why does it become less of a joke when the audience knows that one participant kisses boys in real life? Why is it funnier when we know that both parties involved are outside of their comfort zone?<\/p>\n

Perhaps it\u2019s because the mixed kisses in Star Trek <\/i>or Modern Family <\/i>are part of the actual narrative. They aren\u2019t intended to be funny, whereas the \u201cBound 3\u201d and Saturday Night Live <\/i>ones are. If that\u2019s true, then where are the dozens of examples of famous men and women doing sloppy kisses against their will to raucous reception?<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a crazy double standard.<\/p>\n

\"Being<\/a>

Being uncomfortable with gay intimacy isn’t just for sweater vest enthusiasts.<\/p><\/div>\n

I would argue that these comedic gay kisses allow straight audiences the chance to chuckle at something that makes them uncomfortable. I think a wide swath of the heterosexual population is still uncomfortable with gay intimacy.<\/p>\n

When I say wide swath, I\u2019m not just talking about people who wanted Rick Santorum for president. I\u2019m talking about the entire spectrum: God Hates Fags Bible thumpers to ardent marriage equality supporters.<\/p>\n

Straight people can support gay rights on principle or because they have a gay uncle or because they enjoy shooting pool after work with a gay colleague. Straight people can support gay people without fully understanding them. It\u2019s a wonderful thing and it\u2019s the reason the gay community has been able to come so far in such a concentrated period of time.<\/p>\n

But much in the same way that having a black friend doesn\u2019t give a white person the full picture of the black experience, so it goes with friendships between gay and straight people. Two men kissing will always disgust a prejudiced and (thankfully) dwindling segment of the straight population. But for the majority of the straight population, two men kissing for real remains a foreign act. Even if they have a gay bestie.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s foreign because so often it still gets played for laughs.<\/p>\n

\"I<\/a>

I want to do a lot more than high five.<\/p><\/div>\n

Which brings us back to Kill Your Darlings<\/i>. Daniel Radcliffe is sensational as a young Allen Ginsberg. You can see the ache in his eyes the second he meets Dane DeHaan\u2019s Lucien Carr. It\u2019s so satisfying to watch the straight lead actor from the most profitable franchise in film history lust after boys. And not for a few brief moments like the intense scene between Leonardo DiCaprio and Armie Hammer in J. Edgar<\/i>. For a full two hours! That\u2019s enough time for two baskets of calamari!<\/p>\n

Luckily, I resisted.<\/p>\n

Straight people are used to seeing their favorite stars in romantic situations that mirror their own lives. For gay people, it\u2019s a rare privilege. It\u2019s a mainstream lifestyle affirmation that should come far more often.<\/p>\n

Gay love shouldn\u2019t be closely followed by straight laughter. If the practice continues, I\u2019m going to start going into sports bars and laughing at straight people.<\/p>\n

Kill Your Darlings <\/i>is in theaters now. It\u2019s pretty terrific, especially if you have any interest in literature or movies about the seedier side of history. Or if you just want to watch the former Harry Potter rock a series of chunky 1940s sweaters.<\/p>\n

You can read \u201cThe Magical Faggot,\u201d the inaugural Parting Glance column, by clicking here.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This is Parting Glance, Cinephiled\u2019s column about lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender film. Sometimes we will discuss serious gay issues. Sometimes we will profile queer movies both past and present. Sometimes we will look at shirtless pictures of Gael Garcia Bernal and daydream about the possibilities. Today, we\u2019re talking about straight dudes making out with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":2600,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[18,14,99],"tags":[2,145,144,715,714,584,141,713,712,716],"yoast_head":"\nPlayed for Laughs - Cinephiled<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"I had a really good time at Kill Your Darlings. Allow me to explain why.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cinephiled.com\/played-laughs\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Played for Laughs - Cinephiled\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I had a really good time at Kill Your Darlings. Allow me to explain why.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.cinephiled.com\/played-laughs\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Cinephiled\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/cinephiled\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-12-10T16:42:29+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2013-12-13T20:01:37+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.cinephiled.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/Jason-Segel-Kisses-Paul-Rudd-On-Saturday-Night-Live-episode-11-20-2011-11.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"712\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Frank Paiva\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@FrankPaiva206\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Cinephiled\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Frank Paiva\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"7 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.cinephiled.com\/played-laughs\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.cinephiled.com\/played-laughs\/\",\"name\":\"Played for Laughs - Cinephiled\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.cinephiled.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.cinephiled.com\/played-laughs\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.cinephiled.com\/played-laughs\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.cinephiled.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/Jason-Segel-Kisses-Paul-Rudd-On-Saturday-Night-Live-episode-11-20-2011-11.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2013-12-10T16:42:29+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2013-12-13T20:01:37+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.cinephiled.com\/#\/schema\/person\/8e46efb31ba51d98a57fede5b58941b5\"},\"description\":\"I had a really good time at Kill Your Darlings. Allow me to explain why.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.cinephiled.com\/played-laughs\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.cinephiled.com\/played-laughs\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.cinephiled.com\/played-laughs\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.cinephiled.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/Jason-Segel-Kisses-Paul-Rudd-On-Saturday-Night-Live-episode-11-20-2011-11.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.cinephiled.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/Jason-Segel-Kisses-Paul-Rudd-On-Saturday-Night-Live-episode-11-20-2011-11.jpg\",\"width\":1280,\"height\":712},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.cinephiled.com\/played-laughs\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.cinephiled.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Played for Laughs\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.cinephiled.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.cinephiled.com\/\",\"name\":\"Cinephiled\",\"description\":\"Movie Reviews, Interviews and Analysis for Film Lovers\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.cinephiled.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.cinephiled.com\/#\/schema\/person\/8e46efb31ba51d98a57fede5b58941b5\",\"name\":\"Frank Paiva\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.cinephiled.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/35b1e76cd2d398c0e9dda599962375e2?s=96&d=mm&r=r\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/35b1e76cd2d398c0e9dda599962375e2?s=96&d=mm&r=r\",\"caption\":\"Frank Paiva\"},\"description\":\"Frank Paiva started writing about movies online at the age of 12. His first review was for \\\"Run Lola Run.\\\" Since then he has worked for MSN Movies, kissed (several) boys, and visited Hello Kitty's mansion in Tokyo. His work has appeared in the New York Times, the Seattle Weekly, and the Not for Tourists guide. Frank is a playwright and actor in New York City. Follow him on Twitter.\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/www.FrankPaiva.net\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/FrankPaiva206\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.cinephiled.com\/author\/fpaiva\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Played for Laughs - Cinephiled","description":"I had a really good time at Kill Your Darlings. Allow me to explain why.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.cinephiled.com\/played-laughs\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Played for Laughs - Cinephiled","og_description":"I had a really good time at Kill Your Darlings. Allow me to explain why.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.cinephiled.com\/played-laughs\/","og_site_name":"Cinephiled","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/cinephiled","article_published_time":"2013-12-10T16:42:29+00:00","article_modified_time":"2013-12-13T20:01:37+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1280,"height":712,"url":"https:\/\/www.cinephiled.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/Jason-Segel-Kisses-Paul-Rudd-On-Saturday-Night-Live-episode-11-20-2011-11.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Frank Paiva","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@FrankPaiva206","twitter_site":"@Cinephiled","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Frank Paiva","Est. reading time":"7 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.cinephiled.com\/played-laughs\/","url":"https:\/\/www.cinephiled.com\/played-laughs\/","name":"Played for Laughs - Cinephiled","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.cinephiled.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.cinephiled.com\/played-laughs\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.cinephiled.com\/played-laughs\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.cinephiled.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/Jason-Segel-Kisses-Paul-Rudd-On-Saturday-Night-Live-episode-11-20-2011-11.jpg","datePublished":"2013-12-10T16:42:29+00:00","dateModified":"2013-12-13T20:01:37+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.cinephiled.com\/#\/schema\/person\/8e46efb31ba51d98a57fede5b58941b5"},"description":"I had a really good time at Kill Your Darlings. Allow me to explain why.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.cinephiled.com\/played-laughs\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.cinephiled.com\/played-laughs\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.cinephiled.com\/played-laughs\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.cinephiled.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/Jason-Segel-Kisses-Paul-Rudd-On-Saturday-Night-Live-episode-11-20-2011-11.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.cinephiled.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/Jason-Segel-Kisses-Paul-Rudd-On-Saturday-Night-Live-episode-11-20-2011-11.jpg","width":1280,"height":712},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.cinephiled.com\/played-laughs\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.cinephiled.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Played for Laughs"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.cinephiled.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.cinephiled.com\/","name":"Cinephiled","description":"Movie Reviews, Interviews and Analysis for Film Lovers","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.cinephiled.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.cinephiled.com\/#\/schema\/person\/8e46efb31ba51d98a57fede5b58941b5","name":"Frank Paiva","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.cinephiled.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/35b1e76cd2d398c0e9dda599962375e2?s=96&d=mm&r=r","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/35b1e76cd2d398c0e9dda599962375e2?s=96&d=mm&r=r","caption":"Frank Paiva"},"description":"Frank Paiva started writing about movies online at the age of 12. His first review was for \"Run Lola Run.\" Since then he has worked for MSN Movies, kissed (several) boys, and visited Hello Kitty's mansion in Tokyo. His work has appeared in the New York Times, the Seattle Weekly, and the Not for Tourists guide. Frank is a playwright and actor in New York City. Follow him on Twitter.","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.FrankPaiva.net","https:\/\/x.com\/FrankPaiva206"],"url":"https:\/\/www.cinephiled.com\/author\/fpaiva\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cinephiled.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2595"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cinephiled.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cinephiled.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinephiled.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinephiled.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2595"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinephiled.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2595\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2669,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinephiled.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2595\/revisions\/2669"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinephiled.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2600"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cinephiled.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2595"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinephiled.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2595"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinephiled.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2595"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}