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Taste the Rainbow: Adding some color to the Hot 100
Marcus Patrick As you may have heard, we recently unleashed the results of the second annual AfterElton.com Hot 100 poll, in which we asked gay and bi men everywhere to tell us who they find to be the most gorgeous men currently gracing our planet. The results offered a few surprises, some of them good and some of them not-so-good. One of the not-so-good? The list is overwhelmingly white. Actually, a cynic might counter that the fact that the Hot 100 is whiter than the Mormon Tabernacle Choir isn't so much a "not-so-good surprise" as it is "not-so-much-of-a-surprise at all". I mean, just look at the pop culture landscape in general. How many non-white men do we see on TV period, much less in dynamic, well-written characters or in images of strength and sexiness? Regardless, it's disappointing that no Asian men made the list (last year Lost's Daniel Dae Kim, Heroes' Sendhil Ramamurthy and out actor B.D. Wong ranked) and that the first African-American man doesn't appear until #51 (Taye Diggs). The discussion can get complicated, sure. For example, Cheyenne Jackson (#4) can likely credit some of his smoldering good looks to his Native American heritage, so the whole question of what makes a man a "man of color" might not be ... well, black-or-white. Hopefully it might someday be a moot point, as the American racial landscape becomes more and more integrated and harmonious. But for now, it's troubling. And while I personally don't advocate politicizing what one finds attractive (honestly, most of us stopped apologizing for what turns us on years ago, or we wouldn't be here), the issue here is likely one of exposure. And in that light we thought we'd offer up some hunky men of all different shades who we think should have a reserved spot on the list next year. Kal Penn (Harold and Kumar, The Namesake)
Romany Malco (Weeds, Baby Mama, Blades of Glory)
Wilson Cruz (Coffee Date, My So-Called Life) Photo: Bradford Rogne
Lots more after the break!
Tony Leung (In the Mood for Love, Happy Together)
Jason Winston George (Eli Stone, What About Brian?)
John Cho (Harold and Kumar)
Sendhil Ramamurthy (Heroes)
Common (Rapper and actor, Smokin' Aces)
Djimon Hounsou (The Blood Diamond, Never Back Down)
Have more suggestions? Share them in the comments! Submitted by on Wed, 2008-06-04 12:14. |
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Thank you so much for this feature!
Wentworth Miller has a black father.
As for suggestions...
Omar Epps aka Foreman from House. Don't believe me? See for yourself: http://www.imagebam.com/image/6a3c895676317
Shemar Moore aka Morgan from Criminal Minds
Amaury Nolasco aka Fernando Sucre from Prison Break
Naveen Andrews aka Sayid from Lost
Rain Nemesis of Stephen Colbert (;))
Shah Rukh Khan Indian actor and Superstar
Hrithik Roshan Indian actor and Superstar
John Abrahams Indian actor and hottie
Abhishek Bachchan Indian actor
Seal singer and Mr. Heidi Klum
Lenny Krevitz singer
Usher singer and dancer
Tyson Beckford model and reality show host (okay, so maybe he's a bit more beautiful than hot)
Wilson Cruz
Matthew Montgomery
Something new every day
Let's not forget...
LL Cool J, Jesse L. Martin, Usher, Neyo, Chris Brown, Morris Chesnut, Denzel Washington, Larez Tate, Terrance Howard, Will Smith, Jamie Foxx, etc....
Unfortunately it's still a white world :( but i'm glad Taye Diggs, Darryl Stephens and Jensen Atwood made ths list!
James Kyson Lee
James plays Ando Masahashi on Heroes
Brandon
www.brandonshea.com
I think Keith Boykin, Diego
I think Keith Boykin, Diego Luna, and Cristiano Ronaldo should have made the list.
Jere
...when two opposite points of view are expressed with equal intensity, the truth does not necessarily lie exactly halfway between them. It is possible for one side to be simply wrong.
--Richard Dawkins
Cristiano Ronaldo
Chiwetel Ejiofor
I
The Operative in "Serenity"; Lola in "Kinky Boots"; Huey in "American Gangster" and currently in "Redbelt". These are just a few of the roles he's done.
Check out his movies and tell me he isn't one of the sexiest men around.
*B*
You can't mention...
....Shemar Moore without showing a picture of this stunning man:
Jesse L. Martin:
I say we take the warning labels off everything and let nature take it's course.
Tasting the Rainbow
I guess I have unusual enough taste that few of my choices made the list. (I'm definitely going to lobby harder next year.) I did go for more classic choices, though some of them were of the moment: hence, I did boost Cheyenne and Luke into the top 5, and Gareth made the list as well. But I did have to choose between Gareth and John, and I bumped my dear T.R. at the last minute so that Paolo (who didn't make the list) could be included. (Damn that 10-man limit!) But I wasn't going to sacrifice John Amaechi (oh, I know -- he's so last year -- but I'm a sucker for someone so tallllllllllllllll, dark, and handsome who can also sway me with his eloquent way with words) or Barack Obama (see: TDH and "way with words"). And, being a man of a certain age myself, I find men like Chip Arndt, Tim Gunn, Stephen Caffrey (fuzzy or not, he makes my heart skip a beat), and Cameron Graham hotter than youngsters like -- I don't even know their names: Jensen? Chace? Jared?
But here are some choices for you, my friends at AfterElton, to think about:
Adam Beach
Eric Schweid (Pike from Big Eden)
Terrell Tilford & Kareem Ferguson (Robert & Austin from the "Robert" episode of The DL Chronicles -- Terrell also played in Take Me Out, so there's another gay star in his tiara)
Barack Obama
John Amaechi
Eric Alva (Iraq War hero)
Paolo Andino & Colman Domingo (The Big Gay Sketch Show)
Esera Tuaolo (former NFL player)
Greg Louganis (yes, he has a Greek last name, but his heritage is Samoan)
All of them Hot, many of them Heroic as well -- which only adds to their Hotness Quotient in my book. Any questions? Class dismissed!
The "other" Tony Leung...
I say we take the warning labels off everything and let nature take it's course.
How about...
...Sami Bouajila, the magnificent actor who played gay in The Adventures of Felix, gave an unforgettable performance as a WWII soldier who endures racism in Days of Glory, and recently won a César Award for his portrayal of a bisexual cop in Les Témoins. He's incredibly charismatic and I find his fearlessness as an actor to be incredibly sexy.
Check out my blog: http://radicalsexy.blogspot.com/
Sami Bouajila
The white stuff
Thanks for even having this discussion. This Hot 100 list is about as white as an albino polar bear. As a person of color myself, it's pretty depressing. Yes, this society is geared toward white people, and surely there are tons of hot black, Asian, Latino and Native American guys, but they don't get the same kind of exposure. Cheyenne Jackson is one-16th Cheyenne Indian, so I think it's a stretch to count him as Native American. ... Unless I missed 'em, where's Keanu Reeves? His dad is Chinese, Hawaiian and Portuguese. Anyone remember Dean Cain? He's one-quarter Japanese-American. He was actually born Dean George Tanaka. Benjamin Bratt's mom is Quechua Native American. You raised Kal Penn's name. How about John Cho?
As an Asian-American, I can't say I'm totally surprised that NO Asian-American guys made the list because how often do you see Asian men in ANY sexual setting? They never get the girl (or the guy). And I can't even think of any out Asian males who are hunks. Gay Asian men usually seem to be cast as comic relief or nerds. And just look at local newscasts: Older white men are often paired with Asian women. How often are Asian men paired with white women? ...
Asians have so far still to go in how we're portrayed. In the old days, white actors played the lead roles in the Charlie Chan or Mr. Moto films, and then actual Asians would play the No. 1 son or supporting parts. Surely, we've made progress. Or have we? Just look at the new animated movie ''Kung Fu Panda.'' Jack Black, Dustin Hoffman and Angelina Jolie play the leads; in the supporting roles, you'll find Jackie Chan, Lucy Liu and James Hong. Geez! If anyone wants a primer in this, please watch the ''Asian Images in Film'' series this month on Turner Classic Movies. It's brilliant!
John Cho
Hey, I had John Cho in the post! I love me some Harold!!
:)
And thanks for the tip on the Asian Images in Film programs - I'll totally check them out. Do you by chance ever check out the Subway Cinema Series here in NYC? I'm always blown away by their film selections, which cover basically everything from teen romance to horror to martial arts. I'll never forget seeing HAPPINESS OF THE KATAKURIS on the big screen a few years back.
Another group
of men of color who bring the heat:
Keith Hamilton Cobb (Noah's Arc)
Adam Rodriguez (CSI Miami)
Winston Chao (Ang Lee's "The Wedding Banquet")
Nicholas Gonzalez (The O.C.)
Will Yun Lee (Bionic Woman)
John L. Adams (The Dead Zone)
Michael Copon (One Tree Hill)
Dule Hill (Psych)
Esai Morales (Jericho)
Raul Esparza (Pushing Daisies, Broadway musicals)
Erik King (Dexter)
Archie Kao (CSI)
Jimmy Jean-Louis (Heroes)
Javier Bardem ("No Country For Old Men," "Before Night Falls")
Matthew St. Patrick (Six Feet Under)
Lou Diamond Phillips (Psych)
Some great ones! Thanks, Giovanni
Gosh, how could I forget
Gosh, how could I forget Dule Hill?
And in my own list, how could I forget Jason Momoa of Stargate Atlantis.
(and I always thought his predecessor Rainbow Franck was a real cutie too)
Archie: Wao!
For some reason, Giovanni's photos didn't show up on my other computer, so I didn't see the photo of Archie Kao until I got home last night. I'm not a CSI watcher, so I'd never heard of him, but Holy Kao! I may have to start watching nao! What a beautiful man is Archie Kao.
Thanks for sharing your picks -- and your pics -- Giovanni.
Oh gosh, I forgot about....
...Keith Hamilton Cobb. I much prefer him with his fabulous dreads which is exactly how he looked when I passed him on the street in Vancouver one day. He was a favourite of mine from All My Children back in the day.
I say we take the warning labels off everything and let nature take it's course.
More!
Jason Momoa-Stargate Atlantis
Michael Ealy-Sleeper Cell, Barber Shop
Rick Yune-Die Another Day, Fast& Furious
Vin Diesel
Tyrese Gibson-Four Brothers, Waist Deep
Gary Dourdan-CSI
Dennis Haysbert-24, the Unit
Russell Wong-Native Son, Black Sash
Alimi Ballard-Numb3rs
Chow Yun Fat-Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, POC, at the end of the world
Oded Fehr-The Mummy, Resident Evil
Jet Li-Romeo Must Die, The One, Forbidden Kingdom.
Sorry no pics, I'm not at my own computer-this is just a list of ones that I didn't see mentioned above.
double standards?
Personally, I see a set of double standards. If a group of white men vote for predominantly white men, they're racist, but if a group of black men vote for mostly black men, it's pride?
A year or two ago, I was posting on a Janet Jackson forum, which was probably 90% African-American gay men. There was one poster there who was black but had a preference for white men, and the entire board would give him flack for preferring white guys. I don't understand the difference about why it's a sign of selling out if you're black and prefer white men, but if you're white and prefer white men, you're narrow-minded. There is no difference between gay white men who are more attracted to their own kind than black gay men who prefer their own race!
I am sorry, I happen to prefer certain European features in men more than African-American or Asian features. It shouldn't be worse that I don't think Usher is sexy than it would be for a black gay man who thinks Justin Timberlake is ugly.
No one is calling anyone
No one is calling anyone narrow minded for who they are irrefutably attracted to (certainly not on this site). The issue is about representation. The list had a ridiculously low number of minorities. The Hot 100 List is suppose to represent who gay and bi men as whole find attractive; and gay and bi men are not exclusively made up of white men or men who are only attracted to white men. It's very diverse and the list unfortunately did not reflect that.
Part of the reason, I think, is that the media tends to focus more on white men than minorities (especially blacks or asians). I hardly ever see most of the men on this post written about here on Afterelton to the same degree that Cheyenne Jackson or John Barrowman get blogged about on any given day.
If By Gay You Mean Totally Freaking Awesome, Then Yeah, I Guess It's Pretty Gay
--Des Ark
Of course...
Cheyenne Jackson is Native American, or at least partially so. So he's not precisely "white".
But by the same token I have to wonder about some things. For example, is it a reflection whenever a straight black man expresses a preference for white women? Because many do. Not all certainly but quite a few. And when a black athlete or celebrity shows up somewhere with a non-black woman on his arm does it raise comment?
People magazine's "Beautiful People" liststend to skew white as well. OK magazine just jumped on the bandwagon a couple weeks ago with "50 Sexiest Guys Alive" list an, big surprise, it was absolute majority white guys with a handful of Latinos and lighter-skinned blacks.
So I don't think that what we see with the AE list is really all that surprising, but rather is part of a larger cultural phenomenon. American celebrity culture still focuses very heavily on white people, sometimes to the point of being comical. Consider how many female contestants on reality TV shows are attractive blonde women, and then compare that to what percentage of the population such women actually are.
My 2 cents...
I have to wonder about some things. For example, is it a reflection whenever a straight black man expresses a preference for white women? Because many do. Not all certainly but quite a few. And when a black athlete or celebrity shows up somewhere with a non-black woman on his arm does it raise comment?
I'm not sure if you were asking this rhetorically, so forgive me if I'm misunderstanding. But the answer is definitely YES. Black male/white female relationships do catch heat. The man is seen as selling out, brainwashed by the white beauty standards of the mainstream media into accepting the defeminization of black women, or dating/marrying white women as a status symbol or a sign that he has been accepted by mainstream white society. The white woman is seen, alternately, as an unwitting victim of the animalistic black man, or as a woman who has sold out her race to satisfy her libido. Because of course, the only value in dating a black man is his sexual prowess /sarcasm
I am sure that anybody who grows up exposed to mainstream American media is at least somewhat influenced by the sexual stereotypes that underpin these reactions...
What I think is pretty interesting about this year's AE Top 100 is that there WERE so many men of color on it last year. So it's not like AE voters are just all white bread, all the time. Kind of makes me wonder if there's something going on in the general media? In the interest of
obsessed fangirlingresearch I once watched an interview with hottie of color Sendhil Ramamurthy, and he mentioned that the year he went up for Heroes there were like six South Asian roles being circulated on TV pilots, and he was thinking "All right! We've made it!" The next pilot season, there were ZERO. Is it fair (if a little depressing) to speculate that race consciousness ebbs and flows, but the white beauty standard never really goes away?Have you ever encountered
Have you ever encountered Christians who want to hire Christian babysitters, Christian plumbers, etc., or otherwise deal w/ just Christian this & Christian that?
Then you ask them why they limit themselves in that way & they'll say that's just what they believe.
There's absolutely zero introspection, no examination of why they've reached that point.
Your post made me think of those Christians.
But since I remember your rants in an Isaiah Washington thread where you stereotyped other races & dismissed people's concerns for the lack of representation of other races, I'm not at all surprised at your latest post.
funny that you get so
funny that you get so defensive on this issue when you and your partner both look like white men to me. Don't criticize me for generally preferring to date white guys when it looks like you do the same.
Anyways, I love your stereotype of me being a card-carrying Klansman. The Color Purple and Dreamgirls are two of my favorite movies ever and I've seen both more times than you can count. So spare me this "you are a racist if you're more attracted to white guys" bull. I love my r&b divas and everything, I just am not attracted to black men although I do have my exceptions like Taye Diggs and Prince.
Wow, not only do you fail
Wow, not only do you fail to understand the issues (again), but you fail at reading comprehension as well.
I was diagnosed with
I was diagnosed with dyslexia at age 12, bet that makes you feel good about yourself making fun of something that you can't help like that.
Please spare me your morality because you frankly don't know a single thing about me, same as I don't know a thing about you. You don't know my age, where I live, who I listen to, who I've dated (and yes, there have been black men on that list), etc... You want to debate the issue, fine, but when you get personal I take offense. But of course, I was on T.R. Knight's side during the whole Grey's fiasco, so that makes me a bad person for being a gay man siding with the gay :::rolls eyes:::
You know nothing about me, and that whole Isaiah/T.R. thing was over a year ago, so please spare me this psychiatric insight to who I am because you don't know crap about me.
And I noticed you didn't agree or make any comments about my dismay that you can count the men over 35 with one hand, same with guys who don't have sixpack chests. So technically, even with white men, gays generally have a one-track-mind about what's hot and what isn't, because there are no guys on the list who are over a size 32 either or happen to be old enough to remember when Carter was president.I'd add Henry Simmons from
Multiracial Hotties
If you are including multiracial hotties, then definitely Adam Garcia. Among his creds, he was in Wilde, the gay-inclusive Bootmen, and in an episode of gay-friendly Doctor Who.
Good one!
It's hard out here for a pimp
afhickman
"It takes a village (to make Village People)"
All right, if we're reconfiguring the list, I included a couple of multiracial hotties on my Top Ten, neither of whom received another vote, as far as I can tell. Xavier Naidoo is a German singer/songwriter of Indian South African descent. Kostja Ullmann, of "Summer Storm" and "Verfolgt," is a German actor whose mother is of Portugese, English, and Indian descent. I need not add, surely, that Keanu Reeves is also a Eurasian. He was on last year's Hot 100 list, but, following a year long campaign to denigrate him on this site (as you can see, his fans are relentless), he was effectively banished this year.
Sharing another taste of the rainbow
Yesterday I had (and took) the chance to see a movie that is showing on Logo (AE's parent company) now and then: Los Jornaleros (The Day Laborers). When I saw it earlier this year, I went from mildly interested to engrossed to physically moved by the end.
On a second viewing, I was struck by the variations on the theme of "otherness": ethnic minorities (in this case, Mexican immigrants) trying to survive in the white majority culture of the US (LA); ignorant prejudice against gays, even to the point of breaking family ties; the objectification of women (several examples of this); the invisibility of older persons.
The script was written by the actor who plays the older uncle ("Tio") of the three main characters. The actors are not stars, but several of them are steadily working actors (including one of my new favorite actors: Cameron Graham of Paradise Falls, which can be seen on here!TV on demand).
I would definitely recommend your watching for it -- it is apparently in Logo's rotation, though I don't know when it will be shown next. It's available for rent on Netflix; that I know. And TLA has it for sale for 10 bucks.
And, if you like it, place a write-in vote for it on logoonline.com. For some reason, even though it's one of Logo's movies, it's not on their nominated list of films (and A Chorus Line is?!). I hope that, with your help, we can change that. It hasn't received the publicity that Shelter (which I also love) has received, and I think it deserves it.
well, I do understand what
well, I do understand what you're saying, but I do think that since this blog seems to be mostly posted on by white men, that it would be understood that it would be a preference.
Everyone is so quick to point out the race thing, but nobody has pointed out that you can count the number of guys over 35 on the 100 list with one hand. IMO, that is a sadder comment than a bunch of gay white men voting for other white men (and on a predominantly African-American gay forum, you'll see the total reverse). There are so many guys in their late 30's, 40's and even some in their 50's who are hot, but this board fixates on the sad stereotype that 24-29 is your prime.
"Color/Race" ?
Just a question to the Americans here.
Why is someone in the united states "black" when a parent is "white" and another "black".
I mean, if we take the example of Obama. He is as much white as black... Isn't it still racism to consider that if we have "one drop" of African descent, we'll be consider automatically as "black" ? And actually, can we really tell that someone is "black" or "white" or "Asian" in these days ? With the genetic mix that has happened in the united states, we just can't separate people in categories (the so-called "races") anymore.
I know it's not the subject, sorry, but that's something I've been always wondering and wanted to ask.
Well...
basically, due to the "one drop" rule holdover from slavery, which proclaims than anyone with one "drop" of african "blood" is black (regardless of what someone looks like phenotypically), most people continue to "round up" mixed people to being black.
Of course, "mixed" people is not a new phenomenon to any country or part of the world, so it's all ridiculous really... but it's clear that light skin as a phenomenon of privilege continues in most parts of the world.