Straight actors playing gay
I read Victoria Brownworth's column on the terrible ways in which the movie industry keeps mistreating gay people and lesbians and disabled people ["'The Whale' and the cinematic curse of disabled queerness," Lavender Tube, March 21]. Right.
I guess I'm not that surprised that she, too, is one of these people that thinks only LGBTQ+ actors should play LGBTQ+ characters. If that's true — which it is not — then only straight people should play straight characters, etc. Does she believe that too?
Do people like her not know what acting is? Seriously. These actors keep winning awards because they are convincing as someone they are not — gay, lesbian, disabled, etc. Were the producers of "Monster" supposed to cast a cold-blooded murderer instead of Charlize Theron, who probably had no first-hand experience killing men?
What a mess this would become. I can only imagine the casting agencies and production offices when they are in the process of making sure the actor/actress they are about to cast is, indeed LGBTQ. "Handmaid's Tale" by way of Creative Artists Agency.
These people who are at the most extreme left have stopped thinking things through. It's disturbing. The extreme left continues to embarrass the old-school liberals like myself.
And no, Victoria, Brendan Fraser was not a villain in "The Whale." He was a victim.
Anthony Rhody
San Francisco
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