Hugh Jackman’s one man show, Hugh Jackman: Back On Broadway, is filling up the Booth Theatre. Jackman is certainly a triple threat so it comes as no surprise to me that not only is he in the spotlight on Broadway, but also that the reviews are so positive. However, one reviewer wrote an article on the musical revue that is receiving more online attention than the show itself. “New York Times theatre critic Ben Brantley has created controversy bysuggesting Hugh Jackman behaves like ‘a flaming queen‘ in his one-man Broadway revue. ‘Let’s face it,’ Brantley wrote of the actor, whose solo show Hugh Jackman: Back on Broadway is regularly breaking sales records at the Booth Theatre in New York, ‘Mr Jackman is, unapologetically and triumphantly, the bi-est guy in town: bicultural, bimorphic, binational, biprofessional and, for entertainment purposes, bisexual.’”
Since the publication of his article, Brantley has been consistently condemned for his comments, or at least, word choice. He’s being called a homophobe, among other unappealing things. I am simply very confused about why this is causing so much hubbub.
Brantley explicitly states in his article that he was not referring to the the actor’s sexuality, but to the demeanor associated with being gay or bisexual. In my opinion, that says it all. He’s not calling Jackman gay, he’s only saying that the star is abundantly comfortable with his love for musical theatre, performing, and other things associated with being gay or bi. HE WAS EXPLICIT IN THAT.
On another note, why is it so goddamn important that these words were used to describe a straight actor? I think that these people who are condemning Brantley for his word choice are giving too much power to the words in the first place. As if that being associated with this liminal identities is a negative thing. Everyone knows that Hugh Jackman is a happily married straight man. That is indisputable. Big f-ing deal if one critic describes him as bi. There is nothing wrong with being bi in the first place, so… Cut it out and quit your whining.
