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.

In a continued effort to bring you all that is important in the world of gay entertainment and ensure that you are being spoon-fed images of gorgeous, commoditized manflesh, we present the newly-minted AfterElton Briefs. Following the usual assortment of carefully-selected news items, interested readers can find a refreshing pic of a hot man in underwear after the jump. Yes, we're serious.

• L.A. Times critic and "awards insider" Tom O'Neil made the bizarre suggestion that the film The Kite Runner should have been acknowledged by the GLAAD Media Awards nominating committee for featuring an adolescent male rape. (The character grows up to be a pedophile who molests both male and female children.) I saw the film and sorry - this "gay subtext" is neither gay nor subtext. Discuss.

• Michelangelo Signorile will be hosting a live Gay Presidential Caucus on his Sirius OutQ radio show this week. While the promise of "representatives and supporters" of Clinton, Obama and Edwards leaves me wondering just what the quality of the participants will be (I mean, the guy who sells hotdogs outside of the Time Warner Center could qualify as a "supporter", right?), it should definitely be worth checking out.

• Kathy Griffin (whom we just saw perform in New York, report forthcoming) did end up making the cover of The Advocate, despite telling Jimmy Kimmel that she wasn't sure she'd rate.

• Above: Out producer/director Paris Barclay (pictured with Steven Soderberg) was among the guests at the SAG Awards last night.

• Alright, this Zabruder-type deconstruction of a moment from last night's SAG Awards where John Travolta may or may not have checked out Viggo Mortensen is totally unfair. It's also going to quickly become the most popular animated avatar at Daddies4Travolta.com.

• Towleroad has a look at a rather haunting portrait of Heath Ledger that the late star had commissioned shortly before his death.