Best. Gay. Week. Ever. (March 14, 2008)

I'M AN EXCELLENT WRITER — EXCEPT FOR THE SELF-OBSESSED, ILL-INFORMED AND HYPERSENSITIVE THING
I happened to be over at PopMatters reading an article called "Queer, Isn't It?: If It's Gay, It's Gotta Be Good, Right?" by Michael Abernethy. Abernethy starts off writing about what a piece of crap he finds Dante's Cove to be (hard to argue against that point) and expresses dismay that there are those gays out there who not only like it, but get upset when it is criticized. (There are? Seriously?)

From there he goes on to say "Dante’s Cove isn’t the only piece of gay schlock to be embraced by the gay and lesbian community. We're quick to latch on to almost anything gay-related and rally around it, ready to face down any outside criticism. ... But being supportive and loyal becomes a disservice when it makes the community at large look ill-informed, self-obsessed, or hypersensitive."

Can anyone guess where the article goes next? That's right — to me!

Specifically, Abernethy cites my recent articles on what I found to be homophobic ads in this year's Super Bowl as well as my take on why Brokeback Mountain lost the Best Picture Oscar. I don't intend to debate Abernethy on a point-by-point basis over the Oscars or the Super Bowl (though I find it interesting that he thinks the think Snickers Super Bowl ad from two years ago to be seriously homophobic while I didn't so who is hypersensitive now?) as I made my points in those articles and stand by them.

But I do object to Abernethy using me as an example of the gay community's embracing schlock and being hypersensitive about the way gays are portrayed in the media without pointing out all the ways I have done exactly the opposite (though he does say at one point "I don’t mean to pick on Jensen, who is an excellent writer.")

Hell, I've taken heat for saying Desperate Housewives' Andrew is a perfectly fine character, defending Nip/Tuck, and criticizing Will & Grace. Cite me once, fine. Citing me twice without providing perspective? That's something I expect from Fox News.

And just to prove I'm not self-obsessed, here is a poll about what you think of me.

FOR YOUR VIEWING PLEASURE!
I'm afraid we've got nothing at the box office, but even though Hollywood isn't doing anything interesting with gay cinema this week (or any other), they are trying something completely different with Never Back Down, the story of a rebellious teen who gets involved with a fight club. Gosh, shirtless (presumably) straight guys beating the crap out of each other — do you think anyone will go?

BTW, if you're thinking this just looks the The Karate Kid you're wrong as A) the guys are much hotter and shirtless B) Djimon Hounsou could snap Mr. Miyagi like a twig and C) it's a lot more violent. See? Completely different.

If you were lucky enough to be in Austin this week for the SXSW festival you could've caught at least one queer movie — Bi the Way — and one movie that's at least of queer-interest thanks to the presence of Neil Patrick Harris. That movie was the world premiere of Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay which was attended by the film's stars including Neil and had some lively moments including when a female audience member yelled out to Harris “When will you sleep with me?” to which Harris' co-star John Cho said, "That’s complicated.”

John Cho, Kal Penn, Neil Patrick Harris

Neil and his co-stars also participated in a panel discussing the film and Neil discussed what the first Harold & Kumar film did for his career, cashing in for the second film, and how the film is all about vaginas. Wait, is this actually the film version of The Vagina Monologues?

Speaking of Neil, I just found out he's going to be hosting a White Party Benefit — Life is a Cabaret — in Palm Springs on April 18th to raise money for The Trevor Project, the nation's only 24/7 crisis and suicide prevention helpline for gay youth. Neil rocks, doesn't he?