The Last Gay Word: A Gay Indiana Jones?

Which isn't to say there isn't a place for an exclusively “gay” project. Brokeback Mountain was one, after all. Despite the proclamations of idiots like Roger Ebert who said it was a “universal love story,” it is impossible to imagine this movie as anything other than a love story about two gay cowboys in rural, 1960s Wyoming.

But let's face it: When it comes to the traditional gay story line, it takes something truly fresh and new to make us perk up — gay cowboys in rural, 1960s Wyoming, for example. After all, by this point, we gay viewers and readers have mostly seen and read it all. So far, the gay story lines on ABC's Brothers & Sisters have been so well-trod as to seem almost like satire. A conflict about effeminacy? Another about PDA between an “out” character and a more buttoned-down one?

Been there, done that.

When it comes to gay genre, it's always interesting to ask: Could the project have been made without the gay element? Imagine Me & You, a terrific lesbian romantic comedy from 2005, barely acknowledges the lesbianism of its main characters. And there's a reason for that: It was originally conceived as a heterosexual romantic comedy. It was only after the screenplay was rejected by the Powers That Be that it was reconceived to star two women.

And, weirdly, in addition to finally getting the project greenlit, this “small” change actually succeeded in making a conventional romantic comedy seem much fresher than it otherwise might have been.

Like all things, the quality of gay genre has varied. Good intentions aside, Deadly Skies is insufferable. But the gay slasher flick Hellbent, on the other hand, was terrific — my hands-down favorite gay genre film of the year. An extremely clever, witty and professionally made horror film starring all gay characters? Talk about revolutionary cinema!

So what does the future of gay entertainment really hold?

“We can look at African Americans in cinema and learn a lot,” Adam & Steve's Chester says. “Queer cinema was our blaxpoitation era, when they co-opted negative images like the pimp or the ho and made those images their own. We did the same. But now we're moving beyond that, into the mainstream, just as African Americans did. Now there is a Denzel Washington, a Halle Berry. Someday we will have an openly gay movie star. Maybe even an Oscar-winning one. That also means we will have our bad movies, like Barbershop. People will complain about it, the same way intellectual, black friends of mine hate Big Momma's House. History repeats itself.”

I couldn't agree more. So this month, I'll give someone else the Last Gay Word.

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.