Have a question about gay male entertainment? Send it to aftereltonflyingmonkey@yahoo.com! (Please include your city and state and/or country.)

Q: Recent discussions about "appropriate" gay movies for high school students got me thinking about how many gay movies include full frontal male nudity. I'm not complaining. When it's part of a sensual sex scene, I get it. But, for example, watching Redwoods, I noted that Everett's brother and partner both get naked at different points in the movie, and in neither case did it really enhance the plot or was it necessary for the scene. Why do you think male nudity is so prevalent in gay movies? Is it the obvious reason that the audience appreciates it? Is it more of a sociological reclaiming of the types of nudity that women endure in straight films all the time? Or are the directors just pervy? – George, Cambridge, MA

A: Gratuitous film nudity is in the eye of the beholder – except in the case of Redwoods, where I think we can all agree those shots were indeed completely gratuitous. Even more weirdly, they were both very minor characters – and not, damn it, the movie’s handsome leading men.

Anyway, I’ve noticed this recent trend in gay movies too, and I think you’ve put your finger on the three most salient causes. Here’s how I break it down and where I place the responsibility:

Sociological Reclaiming: 2%

Pervy Directors: 20% *

Appreciative Audiences: 78%

*higher in cases like Pedro Almodovar

Okay, so I’m teasing Pedro Almodovar, but the fact is, gay directors are simply acting like heterosexual directors have always acted when it comes to objectifying women in their movies. I’m continually amazed by the cluelessness of heterosexuals who are shocked by how gay men sexualize other men and yet don’t seem to see that they’re literally surrounded by the sexualizing of women by heterosexual men (and, often, by women themselves – see bra, push-up).

But it’s so ubiquitous, so unbelievably commonplace, that it’s invisible to most straight people.

Antonio Banderas in Pedro Almodovar's Law of Desire (1987)

Anyway, sexualizing and objectifying actors is part of what film does, so it’s hard to say exactly where the “perviness” of gay directors segues into their “sociological reclaiming” of onscreen nudity and legitimate broadening of the notion of male and on-screen sexiness.

Regarding the responsibility of the gay movie-going audience, keep in mind that, in America at least, this is a phenomenon mostly limited to very low budget indie gay film – exactly the kind of project that the mainstream media (and often even the gay media) ignore. The producers of these movies are baldly and shrewdly doing whatever they can to get attention among their target audience.

And it works! How many more people do you think will rent Redwoods now that we’re talking about it here? (Before you do, here's my review.)

As a playwright with a couple of gay plays, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been told by people in the theater, “Get your actors naked in the first act and you’ll triple your box office.”

Hell, Naked Boys Singing!, an extremely mediocre play, has been running for something like ten years! Trust me: it ain’t because of a clever score.

I suspect it also doesn’t hurt that most gay movies are now enjoyed in home theaters, not public ones where people might feel some semblance of shame.

Next Page! What does it take to get AfterElton.com to talk about a hot guy in green tights?!

Q: The only reason I tune into Smallville is because Justin Hartley can't seem to keep his shirt on. So my question is: why no gay following for Oliver? He's never mentioned on AfterElton.com, and he's got to be one of the hottest guys in a series. His name is Queen, for heaven's sakes! – Paul, Vallejo, California

Justin Hartley as a blazing hot Green Arrow

A: It’s true, we almost never mention Justin Hartley, who plays the Green Arrow on Smallville – although from the look of things, we definitely should! – nor do we often write about the show itself.

But in our defense, almost no one else writes about them either.

What makes a show a “watercooler” show – the kind of show that critics write about and fans talk about, both online and off? It’s not simply a question of numbers – Medium and The Ghost Whisperer both do respectably, also on Friday nights, but no critic ever writes about them either (except to say that no critic ever writes about them!).

Who the hell are all these other superheroes? I thought Smallville was about Superboy!

It’s all about that “buzz” factor. And that’s mostly a question of the quality of the show and the passion of the fans. As long as Charmed ran on television, I don’t think I ever once heard, “Oh, my God, I am such a Charmed fan!” (Now watch: someone will make that exact comment. Bless you.)

With Smallville, it's kind of a "perfect storm" of anti-buzz: the show runs on Friday ("the television night for people with no lives"), on the "teen" network (it's hard to get respect when Gossip Girl is your signature show).

Plus, Smallville has been on forever. For TV critics like myself at least, every year there is a new group of “must watch” shows. We have to cut something from our ever-expanding TV-watching schedules, and it’s usually mediocre long-running shows like Smallville that go. Even regular viewers might still be tuning in, but it’s often more out of habit than passion.

What changes that? Emails like yours, Paul. Hartley is definitely on my radar now!

Next Page! Caprica's gay couple! Plus, more gay horror movies than you'd expect!

Q: I was just wondering, with the stellar new sci-fi show Caprica delivering Sam Adama as not only an assassin but as a main gay character, can we expect to see his partner? Do we know who this person is and the actor portraying him? -- Spiritmage4

A: Sam’s partner Larry is played by Julius Chapple, and he appears in two episodes so far, last Friday's “Gravedancing,” and the fifth episode, “Know Thy Enemy.”

Alas, the actor moved back to Montreal and won't be available as much as the producers had hoped. I don't know what it means for the character down the road, but personally, I hope they write him off and give Sam a new relationship — or pull a Darrin-on-Bewitched and just recast him with a look-alike actor.

Assuming the show survives, that is. The ratings have been baaaaad. And I confess: you like it a lot more than I.

That said, I applaud Caprica for giving its characters names like “Sam” and “Larry” and “Daniel” and “Joseph,” and not cliché sci-fi names like “Zarton” or “Omegalar” (or, frankly, “Apollo” and “Starbuck” and “Baltar”!).

Q: Word Up, Monkey. I love horror movies, slashers, sci-fi, that sort of stuff. As I'm sure you know, those aren't great films for queer visibility. I just wanted your recommendations for a few horror movies that have gay or bi men in the core cast. The scary movies I've seen with queer male characters, like Cursed, Cherry Falls, or Jeepers Creepers 2 (barely), are all right, but there have to be more, right? – Brad, Columbus, OH

There are. I actually think Hellbelt, the 2004 gay slasher pic, is underrated. There are also the “homoerotic” (although not always explicitly gay) movies by David DeCoteau – my favorite of which is the intentionally campy (and Speedo-heavy) Leeches. The impossible-for-me-to-spell Cthulhu, based on a short story by H.P. Lovecraft, also has a gay protagonist, although I've heard such wildly mixed things about it – everything from "It's okay" to "It's unwatchable!" – that I can't bring myself to Netflix it.

For more traditional Hollywood fare, I’d recommend Bride of Chucky (which has a gay leading character, and is also a pretty good movie), A Nightmare of Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge (which is chock full of mind-bogglingly gay imagery, though the filmmakers swear it was all unintentional), and Single White Female (which is very mediocre, but includes a gay neighbor who turns out to be a hero).

For two horror films where gays are front-and-center as villains, try The Hunger and The Fan, which are both so over-the-top in their homophobia that they now play as kind of campy fun.

And I could swear there was a gay sub-plot among the villains in the Scream movies, but I can’t seem to confirm that, so maybe I’m mixing them up with Scary Movie where they made Scream's gay subtext much more pronounced.

Q: Although I can honestly say that I am not a closet-fan of Jersey Shore, that doesn't mean I'm without my MTV guilty pleasures. I'm a fan of Parental Control, not that I can justify that. My question for you is, oh Wise Flying Monkey, how man guy-guy and girl-girl pairings have there been, and which season/episodes were they in? – Dylan

A: I’ve never seen these shows – like I said, there are only so many TV-watching hours in a week – and I hate trying to write about a show I know nothing about, so this is definitely one for my sub-monkeys to answer (that would be you, my readers, in the comments). Fly, my pretties!

Q: Have you read The Terror by Dan Simmons? It’s a fictional account involving monsters, murder, and cannibalism of what happened to the doomed Franklin Expedition who were lost at sea trying to find the Northwest passage. There are two gay storylines in the book. One is between two "good" sailors: a young rugged mate and his older, wiser friend who leave their sexuality "back home." The other is between a murderous "sea lawyer" who fomented mutiny among the crew and a giant man with a very low IQ who the sea lawyer keeps as his dim-witted sexual and murderous servant. The author seemed to relish the deviant sexual behavior of the "bad" couple and threw the "good" couple in to sort of “balance” them. Am I being too critical in thinking that it is wrong to use gay men as freakish perverted monsters, or should we all be past that in 2010 and be more open to all portrayals of gay men in pop culture? – Morgan, Ottumwa, Iowa

Q: I am in love with Mr. Jeffrey Archer and his amazing literary works. But in general, I have noticed his gay characters are pretty stereotypical – a gay guy being weak and ignorant about stuff like public dealing (in the short story “You'll Never Live to Regret It”) and a lesbian being completely rude, outspoken, and “butch” (in "One Man's Meat"). Is this really the case or am I reading too much into it? – Punjab, India

A: Although I’ve read both Jeffrey Archer and (especially) Dan Simmons, I’m not comfortable saying anything definitively about either of their attitudes toward GLBT folks – although Morgan and Punjab, you both make interesting criticisms. It goes without saying that very few people ever come out and say, “I harbor anti-gay prejudice.” Indeed, most people who hold anti-gay prejudice aren’t even aware they do.

It’s interesting to me that both Simmons and Archer are outspoken conservatives – in Archer’s case, he was literally an elected member of Britain’s Tory party (and was later beset by financial and sexual scandals).

Does that mean they’re both anti-gay, or that they allow anti-gay attitudes to creep into their writing? Not necessarily. For one thing, the gay policies advocated by the British Tories are generally far, far more progressive than America’s Republicans – and may even be more progressive than at least the more conservative members of American’s Democratic Party.

Obviously, there are

individual Republicans who support GLBT equality, and maybe I'm engaging in gross generalizations by even bringing this up in this context. But it’s worth noting

that surveys show a dramatic difference between members of the two American

political parties in their attitudes toward GLBT people – and, depressingly, the differences

are growing more stark over time. One recent poll found that a mere seven percent of Republicans currently support same-sex marriage – including only four percent of Republican men.

This is disturbingly reminiscent of that thoroughly depressing Gallup poll out of the UK last year that couldn't find a single British Muslim that thought that homosexuality was morally acceptable. That's right: out of 500 respondents, not a single one was okay with gay people.

But I digress. The greater issue is this: one of my big frustrations is when white heterosexual writers don’t know, or won’t admit, that their view of minorities comes, in large part, not from actual contact with actual members of minority groups, but from media depictions of that minority.

And media depictions are often biased – and were far more biased when older white writers like Dan Simmons and Jeffrey Archer were formulating their world-view.

Still, things are changing. I made the mistake of watching Accidentally On Purpose last week, and they did a gay storyline that was all about that most tired of gay stereotypes – that every gay guy is obsessed with fashion, and every woman needs a gay best friend.

Even three years ago, I would've been annoyed. But last week, I turned off Accidentally On Purpose and sort of shrugged and said to myself, "Thank God there are so many other gay characters on television these days."

Have a question about gay male entertainment? Send it to aftereltonflyingmonkey@yahoo.com! (Please include your city and state and/or country.)