Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

Promotional Material For 'Brokeback Mountain' Sparks Conversation About 'Straightbaiting'

Promotional Material For 'Brokeback Mountain' Sparks Conversation About 'Straightbaiting'
Twitter

Films about queer people are fine, as long as they're not too queer...


That most often seems to be the tack Hollywood takes. They'll make a glowing biopic about a queer icon, or a moving queer love story, but when it comes to actual queerness or *gasp* queer sex... well, Hollywood tends to tiptoe around things, because we mustn't turn off the straights!

Most recently, this issue has been brought to the forefront with the release of the Freddy Mercury biopic Bohemian Rhapsody. The film had a backlash before it was ever released for its plans to tread lightly when it came to Mercury's sexual identity, and especially his battle with AIDS during its early years as an epidemic among queer people (along with other marginalized groups). The marketing of the film seems to strain to obscure Mercury's identity and the film's queer content, and now that the film has finally dropped, many reviewers are finding that those early suspicions of "straightwashing" were dead on.

Perhaps with Bohemian Rhapsody on the brain, a Twitter user recently unearthed promotional materials for another queer film that was "straightbaited" within an inch of its life: Ang Lee's 2006's Oscar-nominated film Brokeback Mountain, a story of a love affair between two cowboys that was widely marketed as a story about just plain ol' love at best, and explicitly straight love at worst.

And this trip down memory had people kind of shocked!


But they perhaps shouldn't have been. As others pointed out, it wasn't just Brokeback Mountain that got this "straightbaiting" treatment:

Nor was this just a mid-2000s phenomenon. Call Me By Your Name suffered a similarly derivative marketing push just last year:

But the tweet that really struck a nerve was this story, from professor and "queer Twitter" icon Anthony Oliveira:

Which triggered all kinds of memories of the film for queer and non-queer folks alike:




But these weak-spined marketing efforts were no match for the power of the film itself, which endures as a watershed for many queer men to this day, as one of Oliveira's followers made clear.


No verdict just yet on whether Bohemian Rhapsody will have the same iconic place in the queer art pantheon, but given that the film itself barely goes there when it comes to Mercury's queerness--in contrast to films like Brokeback Mountain, which definitely does (hashtag tent scene)--it seems that'll be a tough sell.

H/T Gay Star News, Twitter

More from Entertainment/tv-and-movies

Screenshots from Dove's ad featuring transgender women
Dove

'One Million Moms' Calls For Dove Boycott Over Hair Care Ad Featuring Trans Woman

The vehemently transphobic conservative group One Million Moms (OMM)—an arm of the Christian fundamentalist nonprofit American Family Association (AFA)—called for a boycott of Dove products after the company featured a transgender woman in an advertisement for their Damage Therapy Intensive Repair Conditioner.

The ad garnered attention after it was shared by the social media account Libs of TikTok—run by the anti-LGBTQ+ conservative Chaya Raichik—which described the ad as an example of "another woke company trying to erase women."

Keep ReadingShow less
Alyssa Milano; Julian McMahon
Michael Kovac/Elton John AIDS Foundation/Getty Images; Marcus Ingram/The Surfer/Getty Images

Alyssa Milano Shares Poignant Tribute To 'TV Husband' Julian McMahon After His Death At 56

Actor Julian McMahon lost his battle with cancer at the age of 56 earlier this week, and to say that the Charmed, Nip/Tuck, and Fantastic Four actor touched many lives would be an understatement.

When the news of McMahon's passing went public, his Charmed costar and "TV wife" Alyssa Milano came forward and expressed her sadness and condolences on Instagram. The pair were a favorite couple on Charmed, and it was clear from her post that their care for each other extended beyond the screen.

Keep ReadingShow less

People Who Slept With Their Best Friend Describe The Aftermath

When two people have a deep and meaningful friendship, the question might eventually come up of whether or not they could be more. Agreeing that their friendship might deserve more, they might try to date or at least explore physical intimacy.

But crossing that line carries with it consequences, and it's only once the pair crosses that line that they'll find out if crossing it was good or bad.

Keep ReadingShow less
child writing on chalkboard
Leonardo Toshiro Okubo on Unsplash

Bilingual People Explain Which Words They're Surprised Don't Exist In English

According to one report, approximately 3.3 billion people worldwide—43 % of the population—are multilingual, meaning they speak at least two languages. According to the last Census, 21.6% of people in the United States speak more than one language, while in the United Kingdom, the number is 36%.

More multilingual people speak English as a second language than English speakers who have learned another language besides English. Worldwide, people who learned English as a first language rate among the lowest in multilingual rates.

Keep ReadingShow less
Andrew Garfield at the 2025 Glastonbury Festival
Harry Durrant/Getty Images

Andrew Garfield meets fan with wild tweet!

American actor Andrew Garfield had a funny yet awkward reunion with a fan from a viral “Thirst Tweet” featured on Buzzfeed Celeb.

The Thirst Tweet compilation shows celebrities reading a collection of scandalous tweets from fans commenting on their looks, attractiveness, and sex appeal. Blushing stars include James McAvoy, Renee Rapp, Keanu Reeves, Anthony Mackie, and more recently, Brad Pitt and Javier Bardem, as they promote F1 the Movie that was released in theaters last week.

Keep ReadingShow less