From ‘The-Nose-Knows’ file, you thought you knew everything about Cyrano de Bergerac: 17th-century sword-fighter with a big schnozz, and a poetic soul who writes love letters for a friend (who dies) and falls for the girl himself. And this all was a play. Literary Review (Feb. 2008) begs to differ: Cyrano was a real person as revealed in a review of Cyrano: The Life and Legend of Cyrano de Bergerac by Ishbel Addyman. The real man wrote tragic plays as well as early science fiction, and made the Catholic Church very annoyed because he refused to believe in witches. (The good fathers burned people for less.) The play made much of his unrequited love for the beautiful Roxanne, but the true Cyrano had plenty of requited love, all for men. Yes, Cyrano was gay and even had a notorious friend, one Charles Coypeau Dassoucy, ‘… who traveled with an entourage of winsome choirboys.’ Sounds like the true-to-life would make as good a play as the romance.
From the ‘Bad-Vacation-Choice’ file, The New York Times (Feb. 24) says that ‘…Easygoing Jamaica is Dire Place for Gays.’ Mobs have been attacking gay men in their homes, partly inflamed by the ‘…antigay lyrics of Jamaican dance hall music’ much of which uses the term ‘homo.’ No one was prosecuted when a group attacked a church during a gay businessman’s funeral. In what sounds like a satire but is not a newspaper ‘…published an article that said gays were responsible for a shortage of women’s underwear’ on the island. A number of gay men have been wounded by machetes.
From the ‘Am-I-Blue?’ file, The New York Times (Feb. 24) reports theater-goers are shocked—shocked!—to hear four-letter words in a revival of Tennessee Williams’ play Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (specifically, to hear James Earl Jones as Big Daddy use the vulgar term for the sex act) : How could they do that to sweet, gay Tennessee’s play? Uhh, calm down folks. See, Tennessee did it to Tennessee. He wrote those very words, censored, until now, when the times (but not the Times) caught up with him. James Earl says he luuvvvs saying those words.
From the ‘You-and-Who?’ file, The New York Times (Feb. 27) informs us that some of those pesky, perky movie and TV stars have discovered that one way to disarm gossip about their private lives is to start it themselves. So Jimmy Kimmel, the ostensible main squeeze of comedian Sarah Silverman (whose relationship has been touted on his show) is now touting his sexual relationship with Ben Affleck after she played up her more-than-romantic relationship with Matt Damon. What’s next? Matt and Ben? Oh, wait, that’s already been done. They sing off-color songs about all this by the way. It’s on YouTube somewhere.
From the ‘You-Said-What-to-Whom?’ file, The New York Times (Feb. 26) reviews a new documentary, ‘Please Talk to the Kids About AIDS,’ in which two small children (aged four and six) ask detailed questions re sex, including gay sex. Many of the adults had more trouble with answering than the children had asking. The two little interviewers talked to ‘… AIDS experts, gay activists, condom distributors, a sex toy saleswoman, a cross-dresser playing Queen Elizabeth II and an Indian transgender hijira in a sari.’ The movie will soon be commercially available.