Why do Actors have to die to get Oscar Nominated??
Benedict Cumberbatch’s recent nomination for playing Alan Turing in The Imitation Game puts him in the ranks of male actors (mostly straight) who’ve played gay characters and are honored with Academy Award nominations. The disturbing consistency amongst this sampling is that these characters almost always die in the films or in a post script following the films’ ends. This recognition implies an affirmation of the notion of the homosexual identity as sinful, thinly veiled as progressive inclusion in the dialogue of contemporary cinema. Listed here, chronologically, are characters who have served as representations of gay men to the Academy based on nominations awarded to actors for their performances where the character dies. [Warning: Spoilers, naturally, to follow.]
Luis Molina in Kiss of the Spider Woman
Nominated Actor: William Hurt
Plot Synopsis: Based on the novel by Manuel Puig, two jail mates in Brazil, Luis Molina and Valentin Arregui (played by Raul Julia), develop a friendship, understanding, and queer romance through Molina’s storytelling and recounting of old, romantic movie plots. Molina is imprisoned for sex with an underage boy, and Arregui is a political prisoner.
How Does He Die? Molina is shot by homophobic cops who throw his body in a heap of garbage after he reaches out to revolutionaries associated with Arregui in an attempt to aide his still-imprisoned love.
Did He Win? Yes, Best Actor in a Supporting Role in 1986.
[Where to stream Kiss of the Spider Woman]
Plot Synopsis: Based on the novel by Manuel Puig, two jail mates in Brazil, Luis Molina and Valentin Arregui (played by Raul Julia), develop a friendship, understanding, and queer romance through Molina’s storytelling and recounting of old, romantic movie plots. Molina is imprisoned for sex with an underage boy, and Arregui is a political prisoner.
How Does He Die? Molina is shot by homophobic cops who throw his body in a heap of garbage after he reaches out to revolutionaries associated with Arregui in an attempt to aide his still-imprisoned love.
Did He Win? Yes, Best Actor in a Supporting Role in 1986.
[Where to stream Kiss of the Spider Woman]
Andrew Beckett in Philadelphia
Nominated Actor: Tom Hanks
Plot Synopsis: Andrew Beckett is fired from his law firm when his fellow partners discover that he has AIDS. He employs the assistance of personal injury lawyer Joe Miller (played by Denzel Washington), who overcomes his own socially conditioned homophobia through building understanding with Beckett and witnessing the prejudice he encounters as a homosexual and, more specifically, an HIV-positive man.
How Does He Die? Well, he dies of AIDS, obviously. Beckett very dramatically passes out as the trial is occurring and hears word of his victory while in the hospital and he tells his partner (played by Antonio Banderas) that the good Lord can take him now.
Did He Win? Yes, Hanks won Best Actor in a Leading Role in 1994.
[Where to stream Philadelphia]
How Does He Die? Well, he dies of AIDS, obviously. Beckett very dramatically passes out as the trial is occurring and hears word of his victory while in the hospital and he tells his partner (played by Antonio Banderas) that the good Lord can take him now.
Did He Win? Yes, Hanks won Best Actor in a Leading Role in 1994.
[Where to stream Philadelphia]
James Whale in Gods and Monsters
Nominated Actor: Ian McKellan
Plot Synopsis: James Whale, director of Frankenstein and Bride of Frankenstein, befriends his gardener, Clayton Boone (played by Brendan Fraser), in his retirement after having suffered from a series of strokes. Whale’s consistent and eerily predatory advances on Boone maintain an air of violent conflict, exacerbated by Whale’s disapproving housekeeper, Hanna (played by Lynn Redgrave).
How Does He Die? Whale commits suicide, found floating face-first in his pool by Boone as Hanna screeches at the discovery of his suicide letter.
Did He Win? No, McKellen lost Best Actor in a Leading Role in 1999 to Roberto Benigni for Life is Beautiful.
[Gods and Monsters is currently not available to stream online.]
Plot Synopsis: James Whale, director of Frankenstein and Bride of Frankenstein, befriends his gardener, Clayton Boone (played by Brendan Fraser), in his retirement after having suffered from a series of strokes. Whale’s consistent and eerily predatory advances on Boone maintain an air of violent conflict, exacerbated by Whale’s disapproving housekeeper, Hanna (played by Lynn Redgrave).
How Does He Die? Whale commits suicide, found floating face-first in his pool by Boone as Hanna screeches at the discovery of his suicide letter.
Did He Win? No, McKellen lost Best Actor in a Leading Role in 1999 to Roberto Benigni for Life is Beautiful.
[Gods and Monsters is currently not available to stream online.]
Renaldo Arenas in Before Night Falls
Nominated Actor: Javier Bardem
Plot Synopsis: This film explores the life of Renaldo Arenas, Cuban poet and novelist, in his attempt towards artistic expression and an open adopting of the homosexual lifestyle (as it is so often called), as well as his attempts to leave Cuba while being imprisoned for periods of time for sexual molestation and publishing abroad without consent.
How Does He Die? Eventually leaving Cuba and coming to the United States with his lover Lazaro Gomez Carriles, Arenas commits suicide after contracting HIV.
Did He Win? No, Bardem lost Best Actor in a Leading Role in 2001 to Russell Crowe in Gladiator.
[Where to stream Before Night Falls]
Plot Synopsis: This film explores the life of Renaldo Arenas, Cuban poet and novelist, in his attempt towards artistic expression and an open adopting of the homosexual lifestyle (as it is so often called), as well as his attempts to leave Cuba while being imprisoned for periods of time for sexual molestation and publishing abroad without consent.
How Does He Die? Eventually leaving Cuba and coming to the United States with his lover Lazaro Gomez Carriles, Arenas commits suicide after contracting HIV.
Did He Win? No, Bardem lost Best Actor in a Leading Role in 2001 to Russell Crowe in Gladiator.
[Where to stream Before Night Falls]
Jack Twist in Brokeback Mountain
Nominated Actor: Jake Gyllenhaal
Plot Synopsis: Ennis Del Mar (played by Heath Ledger) and Jack Twist meet herding sheep through the summer in the Wyoming mountains. Both married to women, the film chronicles their long-distance, clandestine romance and the torment it causes them each within themselves, within their family units, and between each other.
How Does He Die? It’s ambiguous. Lureen Newsome Twist, Jack’s wife (played by a series of wigs and Anne Hathaway), tells Ennis that he died in a freak car accident, but you get the idea that some gang of homophobes beat the shit out of him.
Did He Win? No, Gyllenhaal lost Best Actor in a Supporting Role in 2006 to George Clooney in Syriana.
[Where to stream Brokeback Mountain]
Plot Synopsis: Ennis Del Mar (played by Heath Ledger) and Jack Twist meet herding sheep through the summer in the Wyoming mountains. Both married to women, the film chronicles their long-distance, clandestine romance and the torment it causes them each within themselves, within their family units, and between each other.
How Does He Die? It’s ambiguous. Lureen Newsome Twist, Jack’s wife (played by a series of wigs and Anne Hathaway), tells Ennis that he died in a freak car accident, but you get the idea that some gang of homophobes beat the shit out of him.
Did He Win? No, Gyllenhaal lost Best Actor in a Supporting Role in 2006 to George Clooney in Syriana.
[Where to stream Brokeback Mountain]
Harvey Milk in Milk
Nominated Actor: Sean Penn
Plot Synopsis: The biopic tells the story of Harvey Milk, the first openly gay person to be elected to public office in California, tracking his political rise and harrowing fall as well as the social, historical, and political players and motivations that shaped and dictated his eventual destruction.
How Does He Die? Milk is assassinated by fellow San Francisco supervisor Dan White (played by Josh Brolin) in Milk’s office in City Hall after defeating Proposition 6, which sought to ban gays, lesbians, and their supporters from working in the public school system.
Did He Win? Yes, Best Actor in a Leading Role in 2009.
[Where to stream Milk]
Plot Synopsis: The biopic tells the story of Harvey Milk, the first openly gay person to be elected to public office in California, tracking his political rise and harrowing fall as well as the social, historical, and political players and motivations that shaped and dictated his eventual destruction.
How Does He Die? Milk is assassinated by fellow San Francisco supervisor Dan White (played by Josh Brolin) in Milk’s office in City Hall after defeating Proposition 6, which sought to ban gays, lesbians, and their supporters from working in the public school system.
Did He Win? Yes, Best Actor in a Leading Role in 2009.
[Where to stream Milk]
George Falconer in A Single Man
Nominated Actor: Colin Firth
Plot Synopsis: George is an English teacher who is grieving the sudden death by car crash of his boyfriend in 1960s Los Angeles. The film follows what George intends to be his last day alive as he plans to commit suicide.
How Does He Die? After opting out of suicide, George suffers from a heart attack and dies.
Did He Win? No, Firth lost Best Actor in a Leading Role in 2010 to Jeff Bridges in Crazy Heart.
[Where to stream A Single Man]
Plot Synopsis: George is an English teacher who is grieving the sudden death by car crash of his boyfriend in 1960s Los Angeles. The film follows what George intends to be his last day alive as he plans to commit suicide.
How Does He Die? After opting out of suicide, George suffers from a heart attack and dies.
Did He Win? No, Firth lost Best Actor in a Leading Role in 2010 to Jeff Bridges in Crazy Heart.
[Where to stream A Single Man]
Hal Fields in Beginners
Nominated Actor: Christopher Plummer
Plot Synopsis: Oliver (played by Ewan McGregor) reflects on the life and death of his father, Hal, in this melancholy romantic dramedy through a series of flashbacks involving his past relationships, his father’s coming-out after his mother’s death, and his unfolding dalliance with the chronically underused MĂ©lanie Laurent playing the chronically overused archetype of MPDG.
How Does He Die? Hal dies of terminal cancer after the death of his wife and his subsequent coming-out as a homosexual man and coming-into an active role in homosexual life.
Did He Win? Yes, Plummer won Best Actor in a Supporting Role in 2012.
[Where to stream Beginners]
Plot Synopsis: Oliver (played by Ewan McGregor) reflects on the life and death of his father, Hal, in this melancholy romantic dramedy through a series of flashbacks involving his past relationships, his father’s coming-out after his mother’s death, and his unfolding dalliance with the chronically underused MĂ©lanie Laurent playing the chronically overused archetype of MPDG.
How Does He Die? Hal dies of terminal cancer after the death of his wife and his subsequent coming-out as a homosexual man and coming-into an active role in homosexual life.
Did He Win? Yes, Plummer won Best Actor in a Supporting Role in 2012.
[Where to stream Beginners]
Alan Turing in The Imitation Game
Nominated Actor: Benedict Cumberbatch
Plot Synopsis: The biopic tells the story of mathematician Alan Turing in his attempts to break an unbreakable Nazi code during World War II. Turing is a closeted homosexual whose social oddities and eccentricities make him a less popular member of the team.
How Does He Die? Turing commits suicide, though not in the film, but in a post script following the film.
Did He Win? WE DON’T KNOW, but my opinion is that it’s Eddie Redmayne’s to lose.
[The Imitation Game is available to Preorder on Amazon and iTunes.]
Plot Synopsis: The biopic tells the story of mathematician Alan Turing in his attempts to break an unbreakable Nazi code during World War II. Turing is a closeted homosexual whose social oddities and eccentricities make him a less popular member of the team.
How Does He Die? Turing commits suicide, though not in the film, but in a post script following the film.
Did He Win? WE DON’T KNOW, but my opinion is that it’s Eddie Redmayne’s to lose.
[The Imitation Game is available to Preorder on Amazon and iTunes.]
The exclusive attention paid to characters who are deranged, dead or doomed to die suggests a romanticizing of gay men’s suffering and further suggests that the only gay representation deserving of accolades are ones who undergo punishment for their identities. The fact that most of these examples are within the past ten years suggest that this is, perhaps, a new archetype that’s formed. It serves as a reflection of gay people becoming more palatable to the American public — but only in a certain packaging and within a certain context. This makes this phenomenon similar (albeit not the same) as the observation most recently articulated by Selma‘s David Oyelowo about representations of people of color and when they are recognized as being honorable by the Academy and the extreme validity of that argument. Also worth noting here is how representations of lesbian characters whose actresses are recognized for their performances by the Academy are almost always monstrous women woebegone and warped by their perverted desire.
It’s important that as the culture shifts on the culture’s terms, we continue to push back and broaden the scope of the representation of the gay male experience, and of all marginalized experiences and narratives, beyond the pathological and self-sacrificial. The recent surge in these archetypes makes me wonder about how a character like Sonny in Dog’s Day Afternoon, and other gay representations that defy this tendency, would be received by the Academy and the American public as a representation of a gay man in 2015.
James Worsdale is a Brooklyn resident interested in film and pop cultural representations of queer folk, women, and POC. He also cannot wait to see Neil Patrick Harris singing and dancing in a glittery tux, again.
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