Is A Single Man Too Straight?

With A Single Man being touted as the most notable gay movie of the year, the film's poster is curious -- there’s no hint of a gay storyline in the ad.

By Advocate.com Editors

With early reviewers touting A Single Man as the most notable gay movie of the year, the poster for the directorial debut of out fashion designer Tom Ford offers a contradiction: There’s no hint of a gay storyline in the ad.

A Single Man, based on the novel by gay author Christopher Isherwood, follows a gay college professor (Colin Firth) in 1962 Los Angeles as he comes to terms with the death of his male lover, and it's filled with homoerotic encounters between Firth and a bevy of handsome young men.

However, the film’s official poster features Firth reclining on pillows next to costar Julianne Moore.

Although the film is already expected to be a major player come awards season, it’s difficult not to wonder if Bob and Harvey Weinstein, the savvy owners of the film’s distributor, the Weinstein Company, are purposely downplaying its gay elements in advertising to attract a wider audience.

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Reader Comments

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Name: Mark
Date posted: 11/8/2009 3:13:39 PM
Hometown: Wappingers Falls

Comment:
Due to the internalized homophobia of the gay creative team, they will feature scene after scene of the multi-layered relationship between the leading man and leading woman, then show a 2 second superficial scene with the leading man and a male lover, and wonder why straight people vote against same sex civil marriage equality.
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Name: Eliot
Date posted: 11/8/2009 2:43:09 PM
Hometown: Louisville

Comment:
I think the poster looks like a Woody Allen Romantic Comedy, and though I enjoy those, it is way too typical and straight for the subject matter the movie portrays.
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Name: Paul
Date posted: 11/8/2009 12:38:44 PM
Hometown: Seattle

Comment:
Firth and Moore are on the poster because THEY ARE MOVIE STARS! Movie stars sell movies.
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Name: Doug
Date posted: 11/8/2009 11:38:22 AM
Hometown: Boston

Comment:
Really? That poster isn't gay? Because it looks like a fag and his hag dishing about boys and about to eat a big tub of popcorn and watch Project Runway.
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Name: Mark
Date posted: 11/8/2009 10:41:13 AM
Hometown: Wappingers Falls

Comment:
Due to internalized homophobia, I'm not surprised that gay producers and a gay director would remove the gay content from the movie. It's unfounded because well done gay themed movies win Oscars and make money.
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Name: Timothy Hulsey
Date posted: 11/8/2009 9:12:43 AM
Hometown: Charlottesville, VA

Comment:
It isn't as though the Weinsteins haven't deliberately concealed gay content before, with THE TALENTED MR. RIPLEY and BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN for starters. I don't know why they do it, exactly, because the strategy almost always backfires when moviegoers realize they've been lured to the theater with misleading advertising.
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Name: Saskplanner
Date posted: 11/8/2009 2:00:02 AM
Hometown: Palm Springs

Comment:
I have read this book maybe 12 times. I saw the trailer last week. I dunno-there wasn't ONE scene that was shown in the trailer that I remotely recognized from the book.
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Name: Adrián Párraga
Date posted: 11/7/2009 12:54:47 PM
Hometown: Cochabamba

Comment:
I guess if Firth had been wearing a red feather boa and scandalous Stilletos this article would never have been written.
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Name: Jay
Date posted: 11/7/2009 9:25:19 AM
Hometown: Santa Monica

Comment:
A Single Man is the most significant gay novel of the twentieth century. But it is not just a gay novel. It is also a profound religious novel. But it is the first one to present gay people as a legitimate minority whose grievances should be placed alongside the grievances of other minorities (and everyone belongs to some kind of minority). The novel is not explicitly sexual, and the most important emotional relationship depicted in the novel's present (as opposed to the memories of George's life with his deceased lover) is that between George and Charlotte, his straight female friend who supported his relationship with his deceased lover). She is in love with George, but also respects his homosexuality. Considering that, it is not misleading to depict Colin Firth and Julianne Moore on the poster. Gayness is far more than sexuality, and it affects straight people as well as gay people. It would also be misleading to "sell" the film as about hot gay sex
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Name: Steve D.
Date posted: 11/7/2009 6:53:38 AM
Hometown: Toledo, OH

Comment:
Why, it's Michael Caine and Ann-Margret!

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