“You can be bi but not gay. Well, you can be gay and funny, like Ellen [DeGeneres] and Rosie [O'Donnell]. It’s really hard to be straight-up gay and serious. We’re still not over that.”

(via Jezebel)

It’s an interesting point, actually, and when I thought about it, it’s something that can be applied to all minorities who were often cast out from the mainstream media. Going as far back as blackface, when actual black performers would take part in the minstrel shows–of course not looking like themselves but dressed up as an exaggerated version of “blackness”. Then look at our most successful black actors. Will Smith, Eddie Murphy, Martin Lawrence, they’re actors that white people feel comfortable enough going to see because they make them laugh. But it’s usually a brand of humor that white audiences would expect of black performers based on common stereotypes.

I’m also reminded of Knocked Up, where, while the female characters are funny, they’re funny because we’re laughing at them, not with them. We’re laughing at them being overly emotional, irrational, killjoy harpies. Whereas when Seth Rogen or Paul Rudd make a joke, we’re laughing with them–we’re rooting for them, we identify with them (or so the filmmakers seem to think).

Gay people are no exception. Pop in Revenge of the Nerds, or My Best Friend’s Wedding, Too Wong Foo and more recently I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry, or turn on the TV and see Will & Grace, Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, Sex and the City, and Desperate Housewives. All shows where they gay men are meant to be light, funny, and of course, fabulous. Oh wait, but there is that guy Andrew on Desperate Housewives that had some dramatic storylines earlier on in the show. Of course, he was a raging sociopath.

In general, it seems if you’re funny, straight people can accept your gayness because it amuses them. But they become very uncomfortable when the gayness is serious. I remember going to see The Talented Mr. Ripley with my mother and people actually walking out during the homoerotic bathtub scene between Matt Damon and Jude Law (and nothing even actually happened!), and yet in films like Scary Movie, Shawn Wayans can get stabbed in the ear with a penis while trying to suck it through a glory hole in the men’s restroom, and everyone’s hooting and hollering. Hahaha, that silly fag!

Brokeback Mountain was a very serious film that garnered a lot of critical acclaim, but even the supposedly liberal Academy couldn’t given the film the Oscar and many members have since come forward and said they couldn’t vote for it because of the subject matter. To put it simply, straight people can’t deal with gay people that are complex, 3-dimensional, romantic, and human.  They’d much rather just crack the whip and yell “dance, queer! dance!”

But Michelle cites examples like Rosie O’Donnell and Ellen DeGeneres, though I would disagree with classifying the two of them together. People loved Rosie, but her popularity was at its highest before people knew she was a lesbian. After her coming out, and the infamous “dyke-cut” that she sported simultaneously, her public image was on a down spiral, especially given it was at the same time her adversary in her lawsuit was trying to kill her “queen of nice” shtick. It only got worse once she got to The View, as it seemed every other day FOX News especially, but other channels as well, portrayed her as the fat angry lesbian beating up on pretty thin Christian Elisabeth Hasselbeck. Nearly everything out of Rosie’s mouth made news. After leaving The View, she tried doing a primetime variety show, reminiscent of her former friendly image, and it failed miserably.

Ellen on the other hand, while her sitcom was cancelled shortly after coming out, Finding Nemo and  her daytime program The Ellen DeGeneres Show seems to have basically made her the gay, white Oprah in terms of popularity and clout.  But Ellen has a squeaky clean image, is always nice and friendly to celebrities, and rarely talks about being a lesbian on her program (not that she should have to).

I think with Michelle, it also has a lot do with her tough image.  I’ve been writing my senior thesis on male aversion to chick flicks, and in my research I’ve seen articles talking about how the public is very picky about actresses it will accept as action heroines.  Angelina Jolie is one of them, maybe Jodie Foster (though The Brave One didn’t do so well), but overall when a female action flick does well it’s usually considered a fluke.  So maybe that incidicates some sort of uncomfortableness with strong women in film.  And though straight men seem to love lesbians when they’re making out for male pleasure, they don’t seem to like it very much when you’re a lesbian that they think can kick their ass if they try asking for a threesome.

If you’ve seen Girlfight then you know Michelle is actually quite a good actress.   But for some reason Hollywood has embraced other latina actresses like Jessica Alba and Eva Mendes who can barely act their way out of a box.  Is it because of Michelle’s sexuality? Possibly.  I don’t know that her sexuality has even gotten enough coverage for people to really know about it.  Is it because she isn’t prissy enough to fit into tired old romantic cliches so prevalent in film that keep women as helpless damsels in distress desperate for a male hero?  I don’t know.  But I certainly will agree with Michelle that Hollywood like gay people a lot better when we make them laugh.