Do you like when Straights play gay characters in movies?

hmm I don't really mind it, at least they're showing gay characters in movies and tv shows , and about the kissing parts I guess it would be pretty wierd if you were gay and had to kiss a girl so it must be at least a bit awkward for a straight guy to kiss another guy but they get paid for it

 

Doesn't bother me. They're actors, it's what they do.

Plus, I'm sure there are plenty of gay actors out there who have to play straight parts. More than a few that are in the closet, I suspect.

 

James Franco is more than welcome to come to my bedroom, and help me put on a two man show for my cat...

 

I don't see why it would be an issue...like at all. xD

 

Gay or straight, why would it matter? It's not like it's very likely that I'd end up in a relationship or something with these people, so I couldn't care less what orientation they had. And besides, everyone can be gay, straight, or whatever in your imagination. xD

But anyway, I couldn't care less what orientation they were. Portraying a straight, gay, bi, or trans character when you're not shows open-mindedness. Having anyone capable of portraying such roles shows how we're just like everyone else.

 

seconded. Who cares what orientation they are? If anything they should be lauded in that they (unlike the masses of macho men out there who get grossed out at even the sight of two men holding hands) don't have any irrational misgivings and will happily (and skillfully!) play roles of all orientations. Some spectacular examples have been Sean Penn, Heath Ledger + Jake Gyllenhaal, Matt Damon (talented ripley) etc...

By ignoring the 'taboo' of homosexuality they are helping to remove it (the taboo) all together, and by the mere act of depicting same-sex romantic and erotic scenes, they are helping spread the embrace of universal acceptance, much as shatner's kiss with michelle nicholls helped break racial barriers (did you know that episode of star trek wasn't shown in a lot of southern states?)

Think about how many gay actors have kissed members of the opposite sex, too.

And remember that the very word 'actor' implies just that... they're acting, playing a role, becoming another person for the entertainment of other people. I can't see there's any rationale behind spiting an actor for doing his job, especially when it does nothing but help the LGBT community

 

Um... Neil Patrick Harris? He's pretty much universally regarded as completely awesome. He is one of my biggest comforts when I get insecure about being gay or feel like I'm alone or what have you.

As far as straight people playing gay, it doesn't bother me unless it's overt. It's similar in my book for a straight guy to run around like a little fairy claiming that makes him gay as it is for him to perform in black face...

 

Who's to say they're straight? They all saw what happened to the actors who tried being open about it. Even those few who had a couple of good roles..... we barely remember them now. Even in my small country I could give a heap of names of people who are rumoured to be gay.... one of the biggest names in NZ music is a lesbian and I have yet to even hear any rumours about it from people who aren't connected to it (three degrees of separation between me and her). It's insane..... we're waaaay over-represented and yet we have no role models.

On topic, I'd rather have straight or closeted actors play gay roles than have no gay roles because there are no openly gay actors to play them.

 

I'd rather have a good actor to play a role (gay, straight or otherwise) than worry about who they are as a person. The point of it, as some people said already, is to NOT be who you are when you're doing the movie or show. It's to be someone else, whether or not you have things in common with your character is completely irrelevant.

I just want good actors. And if it's straight people who play LGBT people on tv, then good, maybe someone will learn something from seeing normal people portraying other normal people who happen to be LGBT.

 

No one is calling them heroes or such, just regular people doing their job that can potentially benefit everyone because they're just doing normal things. And by your logic, you should realize that gay actors who play gay characters get paid too. They could have absolutely no personal connection to the role other than being gay.

Motives aside, I do think it would be great for more gay actors to be able to get jobs without any stigmas attached to their name or anything. I just don't think it matters in the end who is playing who because, like many people have said, these people are portraying a role, meaning they are not depicting themselves.

 

They're actors that act parts for movies, whether they act gay, straight, bi, aliens, zombies, vampires, piles of gloop... doesn't matter, they're still acting. Whether or not the portrayal is accurate is up to other people higher up in the food chain that is moviemaking.

 

Yeah, this. Unless the actor in question is doing something like Hard Gay, then I don't care either way.

 

I play straight characters all the time. Actors of all sexualities kiss other actors that they don't want to kiss. It's acting. It's not about what they do in their personal life, and it should never be.