I stand by a gay Apatow style comedy being a good idea with potential to Bridesmaids, but it never overcame lack of star power in part due to lack of options (Who’s the most famous gay male comedy actor, NPH?) and self imposed by refusing to cover it up with straight actor cameos. You could tell from the trailer it wasn’t hitting.

The main issue is that Hollywood itself is still very homophobic behind closed doors. Actors who come out are not allowed to progress to being a bankable star, and the ones that have reached that level are told to stay in the closet if they want to keep being there. Richard Madden is the latest example. He would not have received the Eternals lead role if he had come out. Even though he walks around with his 23 year old boyfriend Froy Gutierrez everywhere but the tabloids don't dare mention they are in a relationship either. It's extremely taboo, controlled from top down across the whole media industry.

What does this have to do with the topic here?

Algren said something without having experience or knowledge of himself (the "I half wonder"), to which Barrabas responded to as someone with the experience or knowledge, and Algren understood the point or position made thereafter. And Algren has since asked for those in the community to shed light on his questions that he doesn't have experience or knowledge to answer himself. That has been an ideal sort of exchange. (And quite refreshing!)

Gay people aren't extreme individuals, as in "far left" or "far right." They have had more things, rights, to fight for than many, most of which (marriage, work place discrimination, etc.) only being won very recently (not even 10 years in America), but that certainly doesn't make them (us) extreme, good grief. The Women's Suffrage movement was considered progressive at the time (and for about 100 years beforehand!), so think about how ridiculous that was when it was considered "extreme" for so many decades.

And what you see on the TV doesn't reflect the entire community, just as any other group that's lumped into a category doesn't reflect the entire community.

As for this movie, it's sort of a 50/50 situation for me. I see it as both "too much" and "not enough" (in a sense that it has to... exist, if that make any sense), I guess. Ideally, it'd be great to just see gay people (like me) in any random TV show or movie once in a while without it being like "Look! Gay representation!" when they do. It doesn't have to be every TV show or movie. It's kinda like how stores go all out during Pride Month with gay-themed merchandise and advertising. Like... it's "appreciative" (even if it's largely to make profit, but hey, that's America), but instead of piling all of that into one month, can it be sprinkled or spread out all year or something to where it's just... normal or unnecessary?

But back to movies (or TV shows), some people get upset if there's a gay couple or something "gay" in a movie if it's not an announced gay movie or carries some warning (...). It gets turned into a political move or agenda thing most of the time. A gay person or couple just being in a movie or TV show doesn't mean it's pushing some agenda... Can studios go "overboard" sometimes? Yeah, certainly.

So it's, unfortunately, still sort of (unnecessarily) complicated. I guess there's always, at least for now, going to be some group that gets offended with "gay" one way or another. Hopefully in years to come, gay people on the screen of some random movie isn't even thought of and is just as normal as an interracial couple on screen today (which was controversial and offensive to some not *that* long ago).

I can see how Madden would be afraid to make it official as his career prospects revolve around masculine action roles. You can see them afraid to cast a gay guy as James Bond even if they won't admit it. That it's an open secret in itself might end up costing him. I don't know if it's homophobia as much as it is just business, the audience is going to believe the movie less and be distracted by it if a actor they know is gay is banging a Bond girl looking type.

Basically in support of algrens post - to a point. There is absolutely a crowd out that basically goes "LGBTQ in mainstream? Better go support it!"

$22M off an $8M "opening" day? That's very impressive. I figured it would come in the $19-20M range like TWK and DWD. Should clear $65M even with Halloween Ends and Prey For The Devil on the horizon.

TGM spends its 19th and likely last consecutive weekend in the top 10.

Richard Madden is gay?

I dont think Smile will be leggy, the film is shit and people actually booed wben the film ended at my screening.

Up to $22.7M. $8M over It Follows entire run in just 3.5 days.

How would Will & Grace get made if Hollywood was "very homophobic" behind closed doors? How would Brokeback Mountain get nominated for Best Picture? How would Moonlight win Best Picture? How would Bros be green-lit?

I think the issue with some gay people (certainly not all) is that when something doesn't go their way, they pull the gay equivalent of black people's race card. Do you seriously expect every gay actor to become a bankable star? It's a small pool to source from, so naturally gay stars will be less. But the gay community still has its stars. Ian McKellen has had a long and successful career. So has Ellen Degeneres. George Takei, too. I do not believe they would have if Hollywood was secretly Saudi Arabia. And you still need to be talented and/or likeable, which let's be honest, Richard Madden was never going to be the next Brad Pitt. He's very average-looking chiseled face type, like the gay version of Simon Baker (surprise, he's also not a bankable star!).