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We gay people are just as likely to fall for it as any other targeted demographic--or maybe even more likely because, like the ugly duckling who gets contacts and loses fifty pounds, we're still not used to all the attention.

True, it's possible that the “Is Superman gay?” meme spread further into mainstream American than Warner Brothers intended, thereby risking a “straight” backlash. After all, Warner Brothers did have the movie's openly gay director, Bryan Singer, issue what may be the most inane statement of all time: that Superman “is probably the most heterosexual character in any movie I've ever made," and that "I don't think he's ever been gay."

Then again, by issuing that statement, they ensured that the story would live a few more days at least.

Basically, when it comes to the media, and corporate America, you simply cannot be too cynical these days.

I have no problem with actual media memes. The discussion about Brokeback Mountain was real and important.

My problem is with completely manufactured, absolutely inorganic corporate memes that press outlets then spin to suit their own commercial ends.

The reason The Advocate wrote that cover story was so they could feature a big juicy summer movie, not to mention a hot guy in tights, on their cover. They wanted to move copies of their magazine; I get that. And you can't buy the kind of press they've received. They're just participating in a form of viral marketing themselves.

But it wasn't journalism, not even “entertainment” journalism. As an actual issue, “How gay is Superman?” is complete, and completely manufactured, nonsense.

The real story about superhero movies, of course, is that they stopped being relevant or interesting years ago (as X-Men 3: The Last Stand recently proved by taking the extremely provocative and timely issue of whether or not society should “cure” a social difference, and then absolutely squandering it).

With the recent exception of V For Vendetta, which I found truly subversive, superhero movies have long since become just another trite, inter-changeable product.

But what does it say about our collective media savvy that more people don't realize that many of these media memes are deliberately concocted falsehoods?

It's like the more the media intrude into our lives, the less media literate we Americans seem to become. Oh, it may not matter that much when we talk about how big Superman's bulge is. But it does mean that there is one less genuinely relevant issue or organically successful movie that we're not discussing.

And artificially constructed memes matter even more when political cynics like Bush adviser Karl Rove boil often complicated, important issues into pandering, simple-minded bromides like “9/11 changed everything” and “Democrats want to cut and run.”

Indeed, before you know it, you end up in an election where the issue isn't the fact that Bush is possibly the most corrupt and inept president in our country's history, but rather whether or not his war hero Democrat opponent shot himself in order to earn his purple hearts.

Is Superman gay? I honestly can't imagine anything mattering less.

And that is the last gay word.

Last Gay Word columnist Brent Hartinger is the author of the gay teen novel, Geography Club, which is currently being adapted for the movies. The sequel, The Order of the Poison Oak, is just out in paperback, and his latest novel, Grand & Humble, is in stores now. Explore "Brent's Brain," his website, at www.brenthartinger.com.

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