The Beneficence of Gayface Tim Macausland Western Washington University, [email protected]

Occam's Razor Volume 6 (2016) Article 2 2016 The Beneficence of Gayface Tim MacAusland Western Washington University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://cedar.wwu.edu/orwwu Part of the Arts and Humanities Commons, and the Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons Recommended Citation MacAusland, Tim (2016) "The Beneficence of Gayface," Occam's Razor: Vol. 6 , Article 2. Available at: https://cedar.wwu.edu/orwwu/vol6/iss1/2 This Research Paper is brought to you for free and open access by the Western Student Publications at Western CEDAR. It has been accepted for inclusion in Occam's Razor by an authorized editor of Western CEDAR. For more information, please contact [email protected]. MacAusland: The Beneficence of Gayface THE BENEFICENCE OF GAYFACE BY TIM MACAUSLAND In 2009, veteran funny man Jim Carrey, best known to the mainstream within the previous decade with for his zany and nearly cartoonish live-action lms like American Beauty and Rent. It was, rather, performances—perhaps none more literally than in that the actors themselves were not gay. However, the 1994 lm e Mask (Russell, 1994)—stretched they never let it show or undermine the believability his comedic boundaries with his portrayal of real- of the roles they played. As expected, the stars life con artist Steven Jay Russell in the lm I Love received much of the acclaim, but the lm does You Phillip Morris (Requa, Ficarra, 2009). Despite represent a peculiar quandary in the ethical value of earning critical success and some of Carrey’s highest straight actors in gay roles. is practice is known as praises of his career, it made many lmgoers who gayface, which, though commonly used to encompass saw it turn their heads in wonder, though not for all queer identities, also has counterparts that are Carrey’s distinct yet animated leading performance. more specic in transsexuality. Nonetheless, despite What gained the attention of many critics were his the apprehension they elicit, performances like these scenes with co-star Ewan McGregor, who played exemplify the need to tolerate and encourage gayface the eponymous character and the target of Russell’s for the prospect of sexual equality. a ections (Requa, Ficarra, 2009). Audiences were ough perhaps not as well known or cultural- not caught o guard by the fact that the characters ly notorious as its racial counterpart, a rudimentary were gay; homosexuality had already broken through understanding of gayface can be comprehended Published 6by | WesternOCCAM’S CEDAR, RAZOR 2017 1 Occam's Razor, Vol. 6 [2017], Art. 2 through the sordid history and evolution of blackface. Once a ubiquitous and racially charged practice in lm and theater leading up to the U.S. Civil Rights Movement, blackface OUT OF THESE consisted of typically Caucasian actors applying heavy makeup, STIPULATIONS, THE "SISSY” such as shoe polish, to present themselves as someone of ARCHETYPE EMERGED, African American descent, ordinarily to proliferate harmful MOST PROMINENTLY IN stereotypes to humorous or hostile e ect. It was perhaps most THE 1930s notoriously observed in the lm e Birth of a Nation, which depicted African Americans as sexual deviants and Ku Klux Klan members as virtuous people (Gri¥th, 1915). Blackface has been ostracized in contemporary media and only ever typically highlighted the heterosexual appears in more self-aware, satirical commentary of itself. ideal directly, the sissy represented a Such examples include Robert Downey Jr.’s Oscar-nominated man whose e eminacy served to fulll a role in Tropic under, where he appears as an overly devoted lovably pitiful character. Such a character Australian method actor controversially cast outside his race acted as a foil to the more than likely (Stiller, 2008). As Michael Rogin details in his book Blackface, straight romance that drives the narrative; White Noise: Jewish Immigrants in the Hollywood Melting Pot, his lack of masculinity accentuates that of “Blackface is a form of cross-dressing, in which one puts on the the male protagonist (Bensho 16). is insignias of a sex, class, or face that stands in binary opposition is the case with e Dickson Experimental to one’s own” (30). Much in the same way blackface aimed to Sound Film, a seventeen-second video single out African American culture as something perverted in featuring two men dancing to the melody relation to what was widely considered as the “ideal” American of a violinist, which many consider the culture, namely a white one, gayface has its own—albeit rst instance of suggested homosexuality subtler—origins in cinema. in a moving picture (Dickson, 1895). Indeed, blatant homosexuality depicted in American lms e sissy’s sexuality was supercially was largely unheard of before the Motion Picture Production metrosexual at best, and seldom did his Code (or Hays Code) citation prohibited it from 1930 to 1968, mannerisms or disposition elicit strong which cited the behavior as “indecent” for public audiences to disapproval in audiences. He behaved as spectate. e allusion to homosexuality was permitted, as the a whimsical fool or a persnickety stooge. director could slip it past the censors by keeping the character’s His latent homosexuality registers in sexual orientation unconrmed and incidental to the plot. the viewer’s mind as no more than an Out of these stipulations, the “sissy” archetype emerged, most unconscious understanding, or at the very prominently in the 1930s, and with it came some of the earliest least a doubt, that whatever sexuality he instances of gayface (Bensho 14). As opposed to blackface, embodies is of little consequence to the early depictions of gayface in the form of the sissy were not quite viewing experience. so malign or openly degrading. Fitting in with Hollywood’s earlier propensity for more lighthearted fare, wherein comedies https://cedar.wwu.edu/orwwu/vol6/iss1/2 MACAUSLAND | 7 2 MacAusland: The Beneficence of Gayface As the decades have waned on are commended, such as Hilary Swank’s performance in Boys and the forbidding of gay characters— Don’t Cry or Heath Ledger’s and Jake Gyllenhaal’s in Brokeback previously under the classication of Mountain. For many actors seeking total character engrossment, “sexual perverts” by the Hays Code— it is not necessarily the tendentiousness of a queer role that has been lifted to the point of their allures them. In an interview regarding his lm Philadelphia mainstream status, there has been a (Demme, 1993), wherein he portrayed a homosexual man dramatic shift since the days of the a¬icted with AIDS, Tom Hanks expressed, sissy. Well-written queer parts have transformed the role of the homosexual People are saying that I was bold to do this, that it was from something ridiculed or pitied, to a courageous choice. I don’t see it. It’s bold for me to something that is highly sought after do what? To play a man who goes to sleep in Antonio due to their newfound emotional pull Banderas’s arms every night? Who has sexual inter- with audiences, thereby making them course with him somehow? Is that what’s bold? As a critically lucrative. is gives the actor society we should be beyond that. (Hanks) a suitable range to spread their talents beyond their own sexuality—assuming Nevertheless, with the advent of known straight actors tackling they are, in fact, straight actors employing roles outside their sexualities, so too has arisen a lesser-known gayface—and elicit praise otherwise not controversy around the morality of gayface. accessible with the oversaturation of Similar to how blackface is condemned for its stark and straightness. Of course, Hollywood has un«attering representations of African Americans, gayface has always recognized great transformation, received its share of criticism over the years, though certainly such as Christian Bale’s weight loss for not enough to make much of a dent in its prevalence, if at all. e Fighter or weight gain for American Hollywood has matured from the concept of the sissy and other Hustle. Bale was nominated for an Oscar more o ensive archetypes with its ever-expanding liberalism, for his work on both, and was awarded but there still exist movies that rely on their homophobia within Best Supporting Actor for the former the narrative. A blatant example of this is I Now Pronounce (“Christian Bale Biography”). In a similar You Chuck and Larry, a lm targeted specically to straight manner, queer identities su used with men. is gives cause for concern for gay moviegoers, and poignancy or re«ective of controversy understandably stimulates a desire to ensure that lms advocate Published 8by | WesternOCCAM’S CEDAR, RAZOR 2017 3 Occam's Razor, Vol. 6 [2017], Art. 2 homosexual relationships rather than making prot at their identied individuals have absolute expense by putting them in a harsh light. Admittedly, however, reason to be wary of representation Adam Sandler and Kevin James do not fall under the category by those people who identify with of gayface for their collaboration. ey are both straight actors an opposite sexuality, whose bigotry that portray homophobic straight men portraying gay men, but has both disenfranchised and caused they expect the audience to chuckle every time the famously acts of hateful violence against them. gay-for-pay Nick Swardson prances about in a butter«y costume Technically speaking, any homophobic with a preponderance of glitter speckled upon his bare chest lmmaker given the authority to depict (Dugan, 2007). ough by the end of the lm an apparent pro- queer lifestyle in a harsh and degrading gay and overall accepting message is conveyed, some pictures light could do so to the same e ect as take a more negative approach. Take for instance e Silence of blackface, both in terms of pervasiveness the Lambs, a Best Picture winner that is often considered one and infamy.

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