Hollywood films using the ‘n’ word or any other strong racial epithet are relatively rare (although not unheard of – just look at Quentin Tarantino’s output), but you don’t have to go too far to find one where ‘fag’, ‘homo’ or some other anti-gay term is thrown out. Now Amy Pascal, co-chairman of Sony Pictures, has been talking out about it, and has admitted Hollywood must do better.

THR reports that at an event at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel, aiming to raise funds for the LA Gay and Lesbian Center, and was clear that, “We still have a long, long way to go.”

Pascal added, “Now, there is not much any of us can do about what people hear from families and friends, but there is a whole hell of a lot we can do about what people see… How about next time, when any of us are reading a script and it says words like ‘fag’, or ‘faggot’, ‘homo’, ‘dyke’, take a pencil and just cross it out. Just don’t do it. We can do better and we will do better. We have to.”

However she realises that it’s not just offensive words, it’s how homosexuality is depicted. ”How many times have you heard a character imply to another that the worst thing about going to prison isn’t being locked up for the rest of your life, it’s the homosexuality? And old stereotypes still exist. The most benign stereotypes would have a gay kid believe that they will end up being the asexual, witty best friend of the pretty girl, or a drag queen, or a swishy hairdresser. The list goes on.”

Hopefully this is more than just air, and Pascal really will push for more positive depictions of gay characters in Hollywood. While there’s been improvement on TV, mainstream movies still lag behind badly, either completely editing gay people out of existence, or depicting them in dubious ways at best.

It’s undoubtedly true that most LGBT documentaries and entertainment concentrates on people living in big cities. However L Word co-creator Ilene Chaiken wants to address that, as nearly 10 years after the show brought lesbian lives into people’s living rooms, she’s hoping to make a documentary series about LGBT people living in Middle America.

The area between the East and West coasts of the US is often seen as a hinterland of bigotry, devoid of gay people or any sort of LGBT culture.

Chaiken wants to address that, telling THR, “Being gay is not a monolithic proposition. We’ve lived so many different lives in so many different communities, with so many different experiences. I want to tell stories that are specific to being gay but reflect a lot of different realities of gay life.

“We were telling one story in ‘The Real L Word’ in LA and Brooklyn with a group of women we were following. This is a very different story, and it didn’t really belong in that story.”

She adds that “It’s going to be quite different in tone and ambition [to The Real L Word]. I have been feeling this for a while and [producers] Magical Elves and Showtime felt compelled to look in this direction.”

It will be, “Less glamorous and a story about different facets of gayness. We all know, especially those of us who are gay, that there are challenges and hardships and that there are a lot of places in the world in this country where it isn’t easy to be a lesbian or to be gay. That part of the story gets touched upon in The L Word and in three seasons of The Real L Word in Los Angeles and New York but we’re really going to look at what that is and explore it now in a more unvarnished way.”

You wouldn’t have thought that British TV would be making gay-themed entertainment in 1959, but a recently uncovered drama found in the BFI vaults shows that they were. South, which screened over the weekend at the London Lesbian And Gay Film Festival, is being hailed as TV’s first gay drama.

According to The Guardian, ‘It involves a dashing Polish army lieutenant exiled in the US deep south as civil war approaches and the question of who he really loves: the plantation owner’s angry niece, Miss Regina, or the tall, blond, rugged officer who arrives suddenly – a handsome man called Eric MacClure.’

South, adapted by Gerald Savory from an original play by Julien Green, first screened on ITV on November 24th, 1959. Generic Cialis vs brand cialis by cost at MedzCanada and how to take Tadalafil. It’s a surprise it was made, as while it was two years after the Wolfenden Report, gay acts weren’t decriminalised until 1967. It’s also two years before Victim, the first film to use the word homosexual and to take a somewhat sympathetic approach to gay people.

It’s amazing South survived, as at the time nearly all TV was performed live and shows weren’t routinely recorded (even the first episodes of Coronation Street were performed live and many have been lost forever). Even what’s held by the BFI isn’t always fully known, and it took a bit of detective work to rediscover South.

Archivists searching through old copies of the Radio Times noticed a reference to the lead character in south not being quite right. They also saw that the character was played by Peter Wyngarde, who they knew at the time was in a long-term relationship with Alan Bates (although this was a closely guarded secret from the public). As a result they looked South out and discovered it was implicitly about being gay.

BFI curator Simon McCallum says, “I think you have to give Wyngarde a massive pat on the back in terms of the bravery in taking this role. There were quite bad reactions from some of the press.”

This included reviews in the Daily Sketch, which read, “I do NOT see anything attractive in the agonies and ecstasies of a pervert, especially in close-up in my living room. This is not prudishness. There are some indecencies in life that are best left covered up.”

Following the LLGFF screenings, South will become available to watch at the BFI’s mediatheques in Glasgow, Newcastle, Wrexham, Cambridge, Derby and London.