Billy Eichner accidentally stirred up some drama after a recent interview about his upcoming gay romantic comedy, Bros.
While the LGBTQ+ community has seen an uptick in representation on TV and in movies over the last decade, there’s still a notable dearth of romantic comedies. Part of that might be due to missing the romcom boom of the ’80s and ’90s, but it still stings.
Bros is not only adding to the minimal existing offerings, but is both written by a gay man and starring a largely LGBTQ+ cast. On top of that, it’s getting a theatrical release — something that is becoming even more of a feat in a world dominated by streaming.
Eichner addressed this in a recent interview with Variety, saying, “I told myself to look around and appreciate how rare and magical this moment is because you are making a movie that looks and feels like all the romantic comedies you grew up loving, but you’re doing it as a gay man.”
“And this is not an indie movie,” he continued. “This is not some streaming thing which feels disposable, or which is like one of a million Netflix shows. I needed to appreciate that ‘This is a historic moment, and somehow, you’re at the center of it. You helped create it.’”
Part of his quote was shared on Variety’s Twitter, and quickly garnered backlash due to reading like a dismissal of queer films like Fire Island or The Half of It that were released directly to streaming platforms.
Eichner ultimately responded to the criticisms, clarifying that he meant to address “the way that, historically, LGBTQ+ content has often been considered niche and disregarded by Hollywood,” rather than to take a swipe at the quality of the films released through non-theatrical avenues.
In a society where most queer-driven films aren’t given the same platforms or opportunities as movies centered around pointedly heterosexual characters and relationships, and where the ones that do generally reinforce the idea that queer trauma is the only way to appeal to straight audiences, a movie like Bros getting a theatrical wide release actually is a big deal.
But all the low-key streamers and underground queer cult films that got us to this point are also a big deal, and having a conversation about the reluctance of Hollywood to embrace queer actors and queer stories isn’t possible without paying those movies the respect they have earned through persevering without the support of the system.
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