Tom O'Neil who writes the Los Angeles Times blog The Envelope just emailed me asking me to join with him in calling on GLAAD to rescind the award the gay rights organization gave to the CBS soap opera last Monday. In his column on the subject, O'Neil says several interesting things including making the assertion that Van Hansis (who plays Luke) and Jake Silbermann (who plays Noah) were told by the powers that be they were not allowed to kiss at the GLAAD awards (something straight actors have previously done). Says O'Neil:

Not only are the program's gay lovers Luke (Van Hansis) and Noah (Jake Silbermann) forbidden to kiss on the CBS soap series, but they were, apparently, even forbidden to kiss at the GLAAD Awards where they were being honored for nondiscrimination!

I contacted the actors' representatives who gave AfterElton.com the following statement:

We were honored to have been asked to appear at the GLAAD Media Awards on Monday night. As actors, it is such a privilege to be part of this important evening. It was our choice not to kiss each other on the red carpet. While we love and support the characters we play, we attended the Award show as actors, not characters.

Van Hansis and Jake Silbermann

Los Angeles Times blogger Tom O'Neil recently posted on his blog The Gold Derby about GLAAD's nominations being "bizarre" for not being gay enough. As proof he cited the fact that GLAAD hadn't nominated The Kite Runner. Said O'Neil:

One great film with a gay subtext got overlooked by other awards this derby season and deserved to be noted here, but wasn't: "The Kite Runner," which contains a controversial boy-rape scene. Why did GLAAD wimp out?

For those not familiar with either the book or the movie, The Kite Runner tells the story of two boys (pictured above) growing up in Kabul, Afghanistan, the wealthy Amir and his friend Hassan, the son of his father's servant. When Hassan is raped by Assef, (a teenage boy who grows up to be a pedophile), Amir does nothing to help him and, in fact, later commits a horrible act of betrayal against his friend.

First let me say I haven't seen the film adaptation of the The Kite Runner, but I did read the book from which it was adapted and I have talked to some folks who have seen the movie. Now let me say I was completely baffled by O'Neil's comments as were most of the folks who posted responses on his blog. When I read The Kite Runner it never occurred to me that there was anything the least gay about it. Curious to see if O'Neil, after having read those comments, had changed his mind, I dropped him an email asking just that. Here is our exchange:

Hi Tom,

My name is Michael Jensen and I'm the editor of AfterElton.com, part of MTV's Logo network. We cover popular culture for gay and bisexual men. I've followed your blog for quite some, especially ever since Brokeback Mountain. I'm writing now to ask about your recent comments regarding GLAAD's having overlooked The Kite Runner for a nomination which I'm writing about for my weekly column. I'm wondering if upon consideration, you understand why GLAAD wouldn't have nominated this movie? If not, I was wondering if you could elaborate on why you believe a scene involving the rape of a young boy falls under the heading of homosexuality rather than pedophilia which are two different things.

Thanks, Michael
Editor, AfterElton.com

Tom responded with:

Hi Michael,

I'm not saying that the gay rape scene in "Kite Runner" is a positive reflection of gay culture. I'm saying that 'Kite Runner' is the best-made, quality movie of 2007 that has gay content and it deserves recognition by GLAAD because of its core message. This is the story of a man, Amir, who seeks redemption because he spurned his childhood friend, Hassan, because Hassan was the victim of a gay rape. That's what the plot of "Kite Runner" turns on -- one boy being so disgusted by his friend being raped that he turns Hassan into a victim again, setting him up for a bogus crime, then spurns him, leading to even further tragedy while the political world around them collapses. Late in life, Amir not only realizes how terrible his acts were, he struggles desperately to atone, even risking his life. The whole message of this movie is a man atoning for the terrible things he did in response to a gay rape.

Yeah, I think a message like that is pretty powerful, very positive and, since it appears in one of the best films of the year -- far better than any movie GLAAD has on its nomination list -- should've been acknowledged by an organization whose reason for existence is to promote messages like we see in "Kite Runner." Instead, GLAAD preferred something like a safe, puffy turn in "Across the Universe." Yeah, I have a problem with that.

Best regards,

Tom O'Neil
TheEnvelope.com

Still puzzled, I wrote back again.

File this one under very frustrating but interesting nonetheless. The Los Angeles Times' Tom O'Neil, who writes the entertainment blog The Envelope, recently sat down with Brokeback Mountain director Ang Lee. Amongst other things, the two men (in a recorded interview) chatted about Lee's new film Lust, Caution which was just deemed ineligible for the Oscars. But later the chat turned to Brokeback Mountain's Best Picture loss to Crash and here is the frustrating part -- the battery on the camera died and the cameraman didn't notice. Oy. (Hattip to AfterElton.com reader Wayman!)

O'Neil reports that at first Lee downplayed on homophobia on the Academy's part, but when pressed finally admitted it might have been a factor. O'Neill writes in The Envelope:

At first, he politely dismissed the idea, being gallantly deferential to the academy and respectful to "Crash." But then, as I pressed him harder, he slowly began to concede that homophobia possibly played some role. But how big? Dang! I wish I could remember the exact words Lee used! We lingered on the subject for a long time and had a fascinating chat, but I don't want to try and paraphrase him now and risk misquoting him. We'll just have to pick up the conversation at some future point when I run into Lee again.

Perhaps O'Neil could next chat with film critic Roger Ebert about it.

Interestingly enough, a short time after talking with Lee, O'Neill chatted with Heath Ledger and the subject again came up. If you're wondering how controversial the issue still is in certain circles, check out Ledger's reaction according to O'Neill:

Ledger's face went flush with terror.

"Don't make me answer that question!" he begged, waving his arms to make the question go away, then covering his head with his hands.