Ask the Flying Monkey (December 9, 2008)

Have a question about gay male entertainment? Ask the Monkey!

Q: Why do the same actors play gay guys again and again? I don’t mean more “obvious” folks like Nathan Lane, who, frankly, would have a hard time playing straight in anything more subtle than The Producers (which is to say, nothing). I’m thinking of lesser-known actors like Bobby Cannavale and Wilson Cruz, but I know there are others. – Vernon, Providence, RI

A: Indeed there are! How about Lucas Grabeel, John Benjamin Hickey, Zeljko Ivanek, Justin Kirk, Ben Shenkman, Jack Plotnick, Brad Rowe, Patrick Bristow, and Jonathan B. Wright for starters? Why are these actors, some of whom are gay and some of whom aren’t, cast repeatedly as gay? Sometimes it’s a question of typecasting — Hollywood has a notorious lack of imagination. But sometimes it’s a question of a certain “sensitivity” that these actors project: they seem, well, gay-ish.

Frequent "go-to guys" for gay roles (clockwise from top left):
Brad Rowe, Lucas Grabeel, Ben Shenkman, Justin Kirk

Is this really what it means to be gay? Um, no. In truth, not all gay guys are well-groomed, fit, usually white, sensitive, and boyishly good-looking. Not even most!

But the Monkey admits that most of these guys do share an important characteristic: they’re non-threatening. They’re not really traditionally masculine, so they can be reminiscent of what most people think of as “gay” in 2008. But they’re not traditionally feminine either, so they might challenge the stereotypes of homophobic viewers, while at the same time not upsetting gay people, still smarting from the wildly offensive caricatures of the 1970s and 80s.

Think Sidney Poitier in the 1960s. He challenged racist white views of what it “meant” to be black while giving blacks an indisputably positive media role model.

Q: I was tickled by the big gay reveal at the end of that recent episode of Desperate Housewives. Do you have any information about where this is going? And who is this guy who plays the hot doctor? – Warren, Bend, OR

A: Speaking of actors who are cast as gay again and again, Andrew’s fiancé Alex is played by Todd Grinnell who previously played gay in a short-lived sitcom Four Kings (from the creators of Will & Grace). The Monkey agrees he is absolutely, utterly adorable.

As to spoilers for this storyline (warning!), in the first new episode in January, Bree will meet Alex’s mom, played by Joanna Cassidy (Rachel Griffith's mother on Six Feet Under). But Bree being Bree, expect some, uh, competition between the two mothers.

Will they do anything more with the now-seemingly-resolved storyline about Alex’s porn past? If the Flying Monkey knows, he ain’t telling (which is the Monkey’s way of admitting he doesn’t know).

Andrew (Shawn Pyfrom) and Alex (Tod Grinnell)
on last week's Desperate Housewives

Next page! What's the Vin's number? Also, more voyages for Noah's Arc?