Too gay for Greeks: Lawyers threaten 'Alexander' suit

[Conservativesux]

Crimes and Trials - Court TV

Too gay for Greeks: Lawyers threaten 'Alexander' suit

Wed Nov 24, 5:05 PM ET Crimes and Trials - Court TV

By Jessica Su, Court TV

(Court TV) — Colin Farrell has played his share of rugged action roles, from the prominently tattooed Bullseye in "Daredevil" to a tussling CIA (news - web sites) trainee in "The Recruit."

Now the actor is playing a gay conqueror in Nov. 24's "Alexander," and some in the Greek legal community are not happy with his portrayal.

A group of 25 lawyers in Greece has reportedly threatened to sue film studio Warner Brothers and director Oliver Stone for suggesting that the title ruler was bisexual.

In the epic, Alexander the Great, who established an empire spanning from ancient Greece to India before his death at 32, is married, but also has a male lover, Hephaistion.


The lawyer leading the campaign, Yannis Varnakos, said the impending suit is not an attack against gays, but rather a demand to make the film historically accurate.


"We cannot come out and say that President John F. Kennedy was a shooting guard for the Los Angeles Lakers basketball team and so Warner cannot come out and say Alexander was gay," Varnakos told Reuters.


Although Varnakos had not yet seen the film, he claimed there was enough evidence to point to the film's inaccurate references.


In a letter Friday, Varnakos asked Warner Brothers to put a disclaimer in the beginning of the film about the fictional portrayals, according to Reuters.


According to scholars, Stone's portrayal of Alexander does not defame the Macedonian king. Ancient sources, like Arrian and Plutarch, have pointed to Alexander's bisexuality, said Jeremy McInerney, classics professor at the University of Pennsylvania.


"It's part of tradition that Alexander and Hephaistion were lovers. It's not unreasonable to portray that," McInerney said.


"Stone responded that they thought differently back then, and it's true," McInerney said. "Ancient Greek society had a different attitude toward homosexuality and, under certain circumstances, thought it was acceptable."


Stone said he had a historian on the set to ensure the film's accuracy.


The gay community has praised the filmmakers for exploring Alexander's sexuality.


Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (news - web sites) director Joan Garry said in a statement that the film "breaks new ground" because it portrays Hephaistion as "the true love of Alexander's life."


"I think the lawyers should see their film before they make up their mind," McInerney said. "But it's a Hollywood film and we shouldn't mistake it for history."

Even if Stone had portrayed Alexander as a cross-dressing rodeo clown, it might make little difference from a legal standpoint.

More at:

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=99&ncid=720&e=1&u=/ct/20041124/cr_ct/toogayforgreekslawyersthreatenalexandersuit

[Vincardog]

1. I knew it when I heard the beach on CNN say that aWoL reminded her of

Alexander the Great. I could not figure it out. But of course His gate swings both ways. That is it. :wtf:

[Bono71]

2. That's pretty funny. Seems those lawyers protest too

much, if you know what I mean. I wonder if they are impeccably dressed.

[Ima]

3. Sue to change history? LMAO

"Stone responded that they thought differently back then, and it's true," McInerney said. "Ancient Greek society had a different attitude toward homosexuality and, under certain circumstances, thought it was acceptable."

[Deja Q]

11. Like painting depictions on artwork and pottery.

The Greeks hate their own heritage? Grand.

[delete_bush]

12. your pottery remark immediately

made me think of that great scene in The Birdcage where the Senator (Gene Hackman) and his wife are looking at the soup bowls and one of them remarks about the "young men playing leapfrog"!

[liberalmuse]

4. Sheeit.

My daughter got free tickets to the premier here in town. When she came home, I'd been asleep and mistakenly said, 'I'd go gay for Angelina Jolie'. Now that's something you do not want to tell your 17 year old daughter.

On edit: Her reply was, 'Yeah, that's what all my friends say.'

[Name removed]

5. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Tuddie]

6. For cryin' outloud! My 16 yr-old macho intellectual son told me

he knew Alexander was either gay or bisexual and he learned it in history class at school (of course he's in a private progressive school...) It's a military thing, he says. The ancients used to pair soldiers and encourage intimate relationship for the purpose of emotional bonding and loyalty: Made them more fierce on the battlefield defending their partner against the enemy. Nothing new here: it's all about the relationships. Isn't that what politics, business, warfare, etc. is all about? No shame there - unless one chooses it.

[Bono71]

9. Your son is right, though I am not sure if that applied to the

Macedonians. The Spartans employed this tactic.

[lateo]

10. It is no secret that...

In the time of Alexander it was a well know custom for Greek men to take a younger man "under their wing"...nudge...nudge...wink...wink....

[Rumba]

14. The Last of the Wine

In a classics class in university, "The Last of the Wine" was a reading assignment. It dealt very frankly with the "pair lovers" policy in ancient Greek military organization. Not a bad read.

[DRoseDARs]

7. Frm wht I've heard, all he does is look at a guy "that way" and that's it.

"Breaks new ground," my ass. Bloody hell, Survivor: Tuvalu breaks more new ground than that. :eyes:

[Just Me]

8. Fascinating obsessions,...but, ya' really need to adhere to CR,...

,...e.g. copyright standards set by DU. May wanna' quickly edit down to 3 paragraphs before you are skunked *smile*.

[daleo]

13. Read Plato - Symposium

Yes, the classical Greeks had very different attitudes.

[Xipe Totec]

15. Ok, Reality Check Here...

I just saw the movie Alexander. Frankly, it was a really crappy movie. The dialog was overly melodramatic. The background music was sappy, sentimental, and desperately tried to drown out the dialog. The 'gay' scenes amounted to Alexander and Hephaistion doing eyes at each other across the room, giving each other gifts, and throwing hackneyed love cliches at each other. The audience giggled through most of these scenes of which there were far too many.

Oh, he was gay? I get it. Move on. What else did he do? Hey, Oliver Stone, Alexander is gay. I understand. You made your point. What else?

Aw jeez! :eyes:

Read Mr. Cranky's review of the movie before you decide if you want to see it. It got a stick of dynamite rating.

http://www.mrcranky.com/movies/alexander.html

[eleonora]

16. rottentomatoes.com smacked it good

I think it only got 14% of fresh reviews.