http://ca.eonline.com/news/the_awful_truth/why_fbi_after_clint_eastwood/268292?utm_source=eonline&utm_medium=rssfeeds&utm_campaign=imdb_topstories
As regular readers of this blog know, I am no homophobe when it comes to gay issues. And I have read and enjoyed Mr. Casablanca's work since his days as a columnist at the late, lamented Premiere magazine.
But I feel I must point out that J. Edgar Hoover is known for his (for better or worse) revolutionary methods of law enforcement and information-gathering, and for the weighty psychic toll that he endured when his machinations spiralled out of control over a period of fifty years.It is this aspect that director Clint Eastwood and writer Dustin Lance Black have chosen to focus on, not the rumored cross-dressing or the rumored relationship with right-hand man Clyde Tolson. And as for the GQ quote that Clint does not give a crap about whether Hoover was gay or not that Mr. Casablanca treats as his smoking gun, I do not believe that Eastwood has anything against gays in general. In a GQ article a few years ago, he even went so far as to state that the government should leave everyone alone when it comes to sexual orientation.
I know this for sure: If official records, not innuendo from highly-paid sources, are ever
dug up detailing any extracurricular activities between Hoover and Tolson, then an eighty-two-year-old straight and macho director probably is not the best choice to bring that material to life.
But, coming off of Milk, I think Gus Van Sant would be. And I would see that movie. I have no problem with Hoover being gay, if that was true and not the result of a 50-year-old smear campaign.
For now though, I am looking forward to seeing Leonardo DiCaprio go deeper into character as J. Edgar than he likely has before, after only being able to scratch the surface of Howard Hughes. Hopefully, he earns some time on the Oscar podium...with Clint by his side.
MTMG
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