In the past few months there have been THREE books released on gay dating/relationships. (And that doesn't include the two new gay wedding/marriage/union titles!) Villard has released Boyfriend 101 by Jim Sullivan, Three Rivers has published The Mandates: 25 Real Rules for Successful Gay Dating by Dave Singleton (what's in a name huh?), and Harrington Park Press has Neil Kaminsky's Affirmative Gay Relationships. (Granted, Kaminsky is also the guy who wrote When It's Time To Leave Your Lover, but what the hell).
A very solid gay couple that's been together for eight years (which is basically Hume Cronyn/Jessica Tandy in gay years) is Clive Barker (Books of Blood, Weaveworld, etc. and whose multi-media work also includes the 'Hellraiser' film series) and his partner, photographer David E. Armstrong. Universe Books is releasing Rare Flesh, a wonderful collaborative effort of the two featuring the stunning (truly imaginative and gorgeous and VERY sexy) shots by Armstrong and thoughtful/provocative text by Barker. I've seen many of the dreamscape images and they are amazing—lots of body paint in this great series of lush, surreal, and unique shots. Even Barker himself (woof!) shucks his clothes.
Annie Proulx's short story of 'cowboys in love' Brokeback Mountain is being brought to the big screen by none other than director Ang Lee … and casting of the two cowboys is finis and will be the double yummy pairing of Jake GyIlenhaal and Heath Ledger. Can't wait to see those two as the cowpoke who 'can't hardly be decent together'. Well, with director Lee at the helm hopefully it won't be a tiger who's crouching this time! Noted author in his own right Larry McMurtry, along with Diana Ossana, has adapted Proulx's short story for the screen. Outside the XXX realm I can't think of any gay cowboys to ride the movie range … openly.
And in the is this redundant or is this redundant or is this redundant category … . The hot Broadway musical Hairspray is being turned into a film by New Line Cinema hopefully for release in 2006. Huh? Yep, that's right. So it went from movie to Broadway musical to movie. What's next, an opera? A ballet? A puppetry extravaganza? Hairspray guru John Waters is riding very high on the book front these days as well, what with the re-publication of his classic book of essays Crackpot (which includes several new pieces). Mr. Waters has also teamed with Bruce Hainley for the book Art: A Sex Book from Thames and Hudson. This funny, smart, and graphically rich book is a commentary on sex and sexuality by looking at contemporary art with the theory, 'Contemporary art is sex … it's all about sex.' As if that weren't enough iPublish.com has also published John Waters: Change of Life, another graphically rich book coming on the occasion of Waters' first major museum exhibition—which is photos and objects primarily reflective of his obsession with popular culture and media creation. Busy man? Plus he is currently working on a new film as well … about sex addiction.
Waters got his start with cheap underground film and that's a legacy forged by Warhol. In the 1960s a place instrumental in bringing attention, focus, and decadent glamour to gays and especially the trans world was Warhol's silver Mecca of pop art, pop culture, and birthplace of underground superstardom ... The Factory. Billy Name is the man who painted The Factory silver. As The Factory resident and on-site photographer he was part of the innermost Warhol core. And lived (literally!!) in the dark room there. Recently I got the chance to speak with Billy, who is still taking pictures … and well, still crazy after all these years.
OK: What do you think of the latest book to come out about Warhol and The Factory, Factory Made?
BN: I love it! It's fun, funky and foto rich.
OK: Your photos look great in it. Do you like reading about something you were a part of like that or is it infuriating?
BN: I like reading about it; it's a kick. Life is all fiction so there is no real truth anyway. But, I am also very happy to see my photos available for people to see.
OK: Why do you think the public has such an ongoing fascination with Warhol and the era?
BN: Because it's all magic and fantasy. It's an audacious dream come true and it really happened. No one would really believe it without books like Factory Made. I think Steven Watson did great primary resource research and went for the poignancy of the lives of the denizens of The Factory. It's as good as 'Star Trek' in its own way. I think it should be produced as a TV serial soap (or dope) opera. Haha.
OK: What was your original intent when you set out to do Idol Worship?
BN: I was peeved by the long tradition of ridiculing, demeaning and dismissing beautiful male film actors in one movie book after another. These guys were taken to task for being 'pretty boys,' i.e., faces without talent. And I always thought, what's wrong with being a face in an industry about faces? No one was acknowledging that whether we were witness to a great performance or not, there was pleasure in the delivery. Seems to me, the movies are one of the few proper places in which we can indulge our preoccupation with physical beauty. Idol Worship celebrates the enormous contribution beautiful male actors, gifted thespians and rank amateurs alike, have made to our enjoyment and love of the movies over the last century. ... I also wanted to let people know that male beauty in the movies doesn't begin and end with Jude Law or Colin Farrell. There's a wealth of gorgeous guys worth checking out in the video store and most of them don't reside on the New Releases shelf. After reading the book, a Ryan Phillippe fan might just want to check out an old Guy Madison flick, or vice versa. That's the fun part, to shine the spotlight on 92 actors from the silent era to today and hope people will actually go out and see the films.
OK: Do you think the gay male thing for handsome movie icons has more to do with lust, the desire to be that handsome, or the permanence of beauty as held on film?
BN: Lust, first and foremost, because that's how we fundamentally respond to beautiful movie stars. ... The hypothetical choice of whether you'd rather be endowed with 'beauty or brains' continues to give people pause.
OK: Do you see the awe of he-beauty expanding to include straight men as well?
BN: To some extent it already has. Whether or not 'the metrosexual' as a faddish term manages to last longer ... the sensibility is out there. ... Straight guys are actually beginning to openly acknowledge male beauty, especially to their female partners and friends, without worrying about being called a fag. Boyfriends and husbands can no longer deny that Brad Pitt is a damned fine specimen and Orlando Bloom is so pretty, 'Hell, I'd even fuck him.' In fact, I believe there's an emerging cultural advantage in saying so. ... And lots of men in Hollywood are coveting the complex gay role in film adaptation of the Pulitzer Prize winning novel The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay.
