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February 03, 2009
Gus van Sant Shoots Dustin Lance Black For Vogue Paris pour Hommes
The awards season brings out the weird in many people.
How I came to end up with a copy of what purports to be the Fall/Winter edition of Vogue Hommes International with a photo shoot that Gus van Sant shot and Dustin Lance Black posed for in various states of dress and undress is really not the point.
But to the studio that feels slammed and endangered by the images in this profile, written by Bruce Benderson and Philippe Garnier, it is a low blow meant to derail their movie’s award chances and to spur homophobia in the older Academy membership.
I disagree. And that doesn’t mean that I don’t think that the source of the copy of the magazine that I now possess – as opposed to rumors from many sources about this piece, which have been floating out there for some time – didn’t have mischief in mind. But as I have been saying forever… the vast majority of all sources have mischief in mind. They all have an agenda. And it is not the job of the journalist to disregard the agenda. But you cannot throw the baby out with the bathwater either.
For me, this is the work of the same man I praise for his directorial effort on Milk, as well as Paranoid Park, as well as most of the other movies he has made. I see it as being as significant and insignificant as Kate Winslet showing skin in Vanity Fair or Sean Penn doing his stories in The Nation.
What it is not, to me, is the same as lingering on who Anne Hathaway used to sleep with and what photos were or were not taken during that relationship or a slam piece on Mickey Rourke’s emotional experience of this season, using reporting as a weapon against the question of his sincerity.
That said, the studio is freaked out about it. For them, it seems to be A Beautiful Mind-style smear campaign or, in more recent history, smears around Slumdog Millionaire.
And so, I am pulling the links to the large images of the pages from the magazine for now. They will go back up when the Academy voting period is over.
There was no threat from the studio over advertising or anything, though there was a gurgle about “our future relationship.” If I thought these images were actually news of any kind, 1) I wouldn’t be pulling it, and 2) I would have spoken to the studio before publishing the article to see what their position on it was, and would have taken that into some consideration.
But when emotions are raw, paranoia is high, and people feel a real threat… and there is so little on the line… I feel justified in being generous instead of dogmatic.
Posted by dpoland at February 3, 2009 12:37 PM
Comments
I really want a copy of that MILK screenplay.
Posted by: DeafBrownTrashPunk ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.mcnblogs.com/thehotblog/nav-commenters.gif)
at February 3, 2009 01:23 PM
It would rule if Vogue ever had Adrian Lyne photograph a Kristen Stewart layout.
GOOD IDEA.
Posted by: LexG at February 3, 2009 01:54 PM
I don't see what's weird about a 56 year old man taking photos of a mid-30's screenwriter in various states of undress. Sheesh...sensitivo people out there...
Posted by: don lewis (was PetalumaFilms) at February 3, 2009 09:27 PM
'A Beautiful Mind-style smear campaign'
and look how that turned out
Posted by: leahnz at February 3, 2009 09:48 PM
I mean, remember when Jason Reitman photographed Diablo Cody in her bra and panties last year? No one said squat about that.
Posted by: don lewis (was PetalumaFilms) at February 3, 2009 10:07 PM
The more semi-naked photoshoots Dustin Lance Black wants to do the better.
Posted by: KamikazeCamelV2.0 at February 4, 2009 03:34 AM
This is meant in all innocuousness, and with a wide-eyed straight guy cluelessness:
But don't gay guys notice that women are, like, hotter and shit, than guys?
Posted by: LexG at February 4, 2009 03:43 AM
I'm vacillating between 1) wishing that the openly gay director and openly gay screenwriter of the most mainstream gay-themed film in several years had avoided this type of stereotypical display and 2) thinking, goddamn, that is one hot screenwriter.
Posted by: urmomsdealer at February 4, 2009 04:24 AM
In regards to #1... well, I just think that's pretentious. This whole "we're better than the others" mentality won't get us anywhere.
Posted by: KamikazeCamelV2.0 at February 4, 2009 04:39 AM
Have you ever seen Paul Newman in The Long Hot Summer, Richard Gere in American Gigolo, a young Bruce Springsteen performing, or, ya know, Hugh Jackman at any point in time, Lex?
Posted by: CaptainZahn at February 4, 2009 04:57 AM
I don't know if 'generous' is the right word for this situation (I just now read the accompanying text). 'Conciliatory' seems more appropriate.
Posted by: jeffmcm at February 4, 2009 05:10 AM
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