Sunday, November 24, 2013

Out Spotlight



Today's Out Spotlight was a writer and artist during the Harlem Renaissance. He was the first out black writer. Today's Out Spotlight is Bruce Nugent.

 Richard Bruce Nugent to a middle class African-American family in Washington, D.C. July 2, 1906. . He was the oldest child of Richard H. Nugent, Jr., a train porter, by his wife, Pauline.  After his father died in 1920, Nugent moved to New York to live with his mother. When he told her he was going to be an artist, she sent him back to Washington.
Nugent met author Langston Hughes at a salon in poet Georgia Douglas Johnson’s home. In 1925, Hughes found Nugent’s poem “Shadow” in a trash can and had it published. The poem shocked readers because it was about being gay.

Nugent returned to New York, where he moved in with fellow writer Wallace Thurman and pursued art and writing. One of his drawings was published on the cover of Opportunity: Journey of Negro Life.

Along with Hughes and other Harlem Renaissance luminaries, Nugent cofounded Fire!!, an African-American art magazine. In 1926, he published “Smoke, Lilies, and Jade,” the first literary work by an African-American that openly depicted homosexuality.

His only stand-alone publication, Beyond Where the Stars Stood Still, was issued in a limited edition by Warren Marr II in 1945. He later married Marr's sister, Grace on December 5, 1952.

This marriage however was never consummated since he was openly gay, but she insisted they marry with the notion that she could change him. It was not seen as a ploy to hide his homosexuality, but rather they were just very close. They were married nearly 17 years until Marr’s death.

In 1964, he was elected co-chair of Columbia University’s Community Planning Conference, an organization that promoted the arts in Harlem.

Nugent was open about his sexual orientation and was known for his vivacious personality and elegantly erotic style. Called the “Gay Rebel of the Harlem Renaissance,” he is remembered for living unconventionally and for following his own path. Nugent passed away on May 27, 1987 at the age of 80.

“You’d be surprised how good homosexuality is. I love it.”

24 comments:

destiny said...

I never said there were no pictures of Matt Bomer's kids. Most of them are from the period after he came out, when they were running pictures to get the point across about his family. There are also pictures that float around out there but never make it onto to the major gossip sites, tabloids, etc. And yes, photos were taken down from one of them after Matt or his partner obviously complained.

A perfect example of control over kids photos is that Just Jared recently ran photos saying Matt and Simon were on the way to the movies. But there are photos out there that show one of the kids--but nary a mention of that on JJ.

My point was that where kids are involved, parents do have a great deal of control--but not 100%--of what gets around and where. My point still stands--that you can have a family, acknowledge it, but still control and keep your privacy.

destiny said...

I love how the presumably male troll loves to carry on about how know one who doesn't have children could possibly have a clue about what is involved in raising children, but himself writes as though he knows everything about the women who post here when he couldn't possibly know anything about women.

prairiegirl said...

"I love how the presumably male troll loves to carry on about how know one who doesn't have children could possibly have a clue about what is involved in raising children, but himself writes as though he knows everything about the women who post here when he couldn't possibly know anything about women."

Well said, Dest.

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Special K said...

You said it, Dest!

presuming is like assuming said...

Why are you presuming it's a male troll? Maybe it isn't.

the real m said...

Another on the spot observation, Destiny. You are on a roll lately.

Special, I am always amazed that you consistently find such interesting spotlights. It's also always amazing that despite the intense prejudice, some people had to be out even at this early time.

The troll is obviously male. And I doubt he has children or a family. Too much time on his hands.

Special K said...

Riding home on the train tonight the guy next to me was watching Prisoner's on his phone, with subtitles. Which is funny since Prisoners doesn't release on DVD/digital download until Dec 17th. Would've loved to have heard what their dubbed voices sounded like on the pirate copy.

prairiegirl said...

Do you reckon Prisoners will go exclusive to satellite TV like End of Watch did? What in the heck was that all about?

How come End of Watch has not hit cable? It's been forever now. I thought it was hugely successful so why wouldn't it be on HBO or Showtime?I would think you'd reach more people by going to one of those stations than to a dish network.

I'm curious to hear from someone who will watch it, if there indeed is a scene in the movie where Jake's character and Anna Kendrick are walking around the outside of a Subway shop.

Remember that deal? The explanation was given that they were filming a scene and so that's why Jake had a wedding band on.

Seems like a pretty critical moment to me so I'm kind of curious again. I haven't forgotten about that, don't know about anyone else.



Florida Tom said...

Probably even too much of the F and MF word for HBO PG. Ridiculous.

the reinvention of Jake Gyllenhaal said...



Jake Gyllenhaal: "I Feel Like I've Just Begun My Career"

By Erik Davis Nov 25, 2013

Movies.com: You know, one thing we have in common is that we both had unconventional Bar Mitzvah parties.

Jake Gyllenhaal: [Laughs] Is that the only thing we have in common?
Movies.com: No way, but it’s one of the things. I read yours was held in a homeless shelter, and I found that really interesting. I’m curious to know why.

Gyllenhaal: So am I! [Laughs] What my mother says is that she practiced this secular humanism, and she wanted her kids to have a perspective on the world and be able to feel like the idea of giving was as important as the moment that you were celebrating. So yeah, my parents on my 13th birthday – along with a party; we still had a typical party as well – we all spent the day at a homeless shelter. Why, what was yours?

Movies.com: I grew up in New York and it was always my dream as a young kid to visit California and Hollywood, so in lieu of an actual party, my parents and I road-tripped California.

Gyllenhaal: No s**t! That’s so great!

Movies.com: Well it sounds better than it was. I was 13, and ordering room service and watching Back to the Future II in a hotel room was a lot more fun than sitting in a car with my parents.

Gyllenhaal: [Claps hands] Haha, that’s amazing! Really, I love it.

Movies.com: You seem like such a relaxed guy, and yet everyone we talk to says you’re really intense. Are you an intense dude, or are we confusing you with the roles you play?

Gyllenhaal: Obviously it’s not something for me to say. I couldn’t tell you that. But I am focused when I work on something, and I think my tendency of late has been to move towards darker material.


Pt 1 of 2

the reinvention of Jake Gyllenhaal said...

Pt 2 of

Movies.com: Why is that? Do you get a rush from this type of material?

Gyllenhaal: I just seem to understand them a bit more. I’m someone who wants to know the truth of a situation, whatever it is. Like it’s hard for me to be in a context like this and not want to have an exchange. That’s what I like in a scene. Sometimes it’s hard to find material that allows for more of that exploration; allows for you to explore all different types of feelings. I have an instinct when I read something, and I like to share that with the person making the film to see if they are into those ideas, and that’s what I did with Prisoners. This role could've gone a number of different ways, but I had this idea that I shared with Denis Villeneuve, who I was working with at the time [on Enemy] and he was into it. He likes to explore that sort of darker, unconscious world. That’s why we love working with each other, because we’re not afraid of going to those places. In fact, we revel in them. I don’t know if that’s intense, or intensity, but we’re definitely not interested in skimming the surface.

Movies.com: Your character in Prisoners, Detective Loki--we know very little about him. So coming into this role, did you create an entire backstory or was one given to you? How much more did you know about him versus how much the audience knows?

Gyllenhaal: I know a lot about him. There were a few clues that Aaron Guzikowski had written into the script, like there’s a line about having spent time in a boys home and there were about two or three clues as to who he was. He was alone in a Chinese restaurant at the beginning of the movie – those types of things. From there Denis and I just started to work. Denis had always told me about this idea for the movie – this theme he wanted between institution and the individual. Hugh Jackman's character represented the individual and my character represented the institution, and that thematically he wanted my character to have been worked by the institutions into the position that he’s in.
My interpretation of that is that if he had been in a boys' detention center or boys' home, maybe he went through the juvenile detention system. And during that time maybe he did some things that allowed him to understand the criminal mind. We went through that story and we wrote it ourselves. From there we just gave little clues. The tattoos he has, he covers. Maybe he’s ashamed of those things. He’s looking for truth in other people, but he’s ashamed of his own truth. I could show those tats to someone to show that they couldn’t f**k with me, and then other times when I needed to bring out another type of truth in someone, I would hide them. Things like that, all over the place. But yeah, there was a long backstory that both Denis and I know. Things we like to share and things we’ll always keep to ourselves.

Movies.com: Was this a satisfying character to play? After you were done, did you feel like you brought something to this performance that maybe you haven’t tried yet?

Gyllenhaal: There’s allowance in this role for stillness. I had to listen very carefully, and I think I’ve just moved more towards simplicity as something you have to get to--nonacting. And again, it’s that sacred space you find yourself in. When you’re in front of the camera and there’s that space, anything is possible and anything should be possible. I learned that with this character. There were choices I would make that Denis would always protect, and working with him was him protecting that space in front of the camera, allowing me to do things and experiment. The first thing we did together in this movie Enemy, that was the entire experience. It was this crazy experiment of acting and directing; us working together and trying to figure things out. I’m very proud of that movie. So with Loki, we sort of evolved. We took all those things we learned from that process on Enemy and we put it underneath. That’s what I learned… just deliver the pizza.

the reinvention of Jake Gyllenhaal said...

Pt 3

Movies.com: Do you want to keep working with Denis?

Gyllenhaal: Yeah I would love to. There’s a deep, deep honesty between us. I make a joke – and he says this a lot about me, too – that I love him and I hate him. I think that’s the perfect relationship in a way. If he needed me for anything, I would be there. But I’ll always challenge him on things and ask him questions, and try to push his boundaries as he does mine. But ultimately, because he’s the leader, I’ll completely respect him.

Movies.com: Some of the best movies are born out of these close, intimate relationships that actors and actresses have with their directors. That’s not something you’ve really had yet in your career. Is that something you’ve been searching for?
Gyllenhaal: I haven’t known that that was possible. I feel like I’ve just begun my career, in an interesting way. I didn’t know that all that matters are those relationships, and the trust that goes on. That it’s a very delicate process to bring out honesty in someone else, and that I think it’s only time that allows that to happen in any relationship. If you make two movies together or more than that, you just trust that someone has your back if you make a choice, be it bad, great, crazy, sane – those choices in that space will be protected if you trust each other. And that is beautiful. In all of our jobs, we should make space to get to know the people we work with. It only brings out better work. Actors are strange creatures. Everyone is in their own way, but it’s a very odd job.

Movies.com: It is an odd job, and you've done it all. Something changed after Prince of Persia, though. Do you think you only had one shot at leading a big franchise, and was that it? Was Prince of Persia your last attempt at that, or is “the big blockbuster” still something you want to keep pursuing?

Gyllenhaal: I’ll say it’s definitely not a goal…

Movies.com: At one point it was a goal, right? You were almost Spider-Man, and came close to starring in both Batman Begins and Avatar. So at one point there definitely was a hunger in you to do that kind of stuff. Has that changed?

Gyllenhaal: I think the hunger in me now is to find and make relationships with filmmakers who I love and respect, and give to them and their movies whatever the size of it is. I really don’t care about the size of the film. What I care about is the connection with the person you’re making the movie with. That’s what makes a great movie. And I think I’ve gotten much better at being able to see who wants to go to those places I want to go to. I think that’s the thing I want and have always wanted, but I didn’t always know.

Movies.com: You haven’t done a comedy in a while, either. Bubble Boy was your last straight comedy, and that came out in 2001. Did that film turn you off from making another comedy?

Gyllenhaal: No way, I’m always down. There was never any decision to not do that thing. I’m down to do whatever, man. I just want to keep working. Honestly, you want to keep working.

the reinvention of Jake Gyllenhaal said...

Part 4


Movies.com: It feels like the trend this awards season has to do with tales of survival. From Prisoners to Gravity to Captain Phillips to 12 Years a Slave, it runs through so many of these films. Since you're a guy who reads a lot of scripts, do you get a sense for what that next trend might be?

Gyllenhaal: What a lot of people said to me after Prisoners is that we need an opportunity for more commercially successful adult fare to come out. That’s been like the mantra after this movie, and I think this awards season has allowed for that, too. Especially considering the fact that we’ve had some movies this year like that have made money. I was watching Network on the plane, and there’s this sort of undercurrent of the movies being made that are moving us away from a certain truth. I have a feeling there are more of those Network-type movies that are exposing a truth, and we need to move towards those.
Movies.com: Maybe it's on you to keep making them...

Gyllenhaal: What I know I want to do is keep making movies that allow me to interact with real human beings doing real jobs. That I can spend months with them and learn and put it on film, and not have it feel like a performance. I think we’re moving a little more towards that, and if we do that’s great. I think it’s moving away from acting and hopefully moving more towards a sense of presence, and hopefully that’s where movies are moving towards, too. I can only speak about acting, and I feel like that’s where acting is going. Hopefully you’ll see a new generation of actors who are moving that way, who want to experience it more instead of just act it.

Twitter said...

MoMA Film ‏@MoMAFilm 16m

"That's what a movie star should be. A pure gentleman." - Jake Gyllenhaal on @RealHughJackman

8:46 PM - 25 Nov 13 · Details


MoMA Film ‏@MoMAFilm 10m

That’s it for our Q&A with #Prisoners’ Denis Villeneuve, Jake Gyllenhaal, Melissa Leo & screenwriter Aaron Guzikowski. #Contenders 2013

8:54 PM - 25 Nov 13 · Details

the real m said...

End of watch has been on pay per view, but I think Tom is right. It's loaded with F-bombs and they would have to edit out so many the dialogue would be staccato. Best viewed on DVD if you want to catch it. Or netflix.

Where's Hugh? Watching cricket said...

Hugh Jackman ‏@RealHughJackman 5h

Aussies go up 1 nil... great start!

4:08 PM - 25 Nov 13 · Details

prairiegirl said...

Hey m, so have you seen it? Is there a scene in EOW where Jake and Anna's characters are walking around the outside of a Subway station?

I'm not interested in seeing it, I am just looking to find out about this alleged filming going on at a Subway.

prairiegirl said...

Now, it could be that Hugh "Mr Jackman" Jackman could be recuperating at home but he sounded pretty into that cricket game to me.

The game was not going on today, I don't think. The tournament ran through yesterday. Was it on TV perhaps?

I hate to beat a dead horse but Hugh Jackman not appearing at a single one of these Fall Q & A's is very noticeable to me.

He worked on the film like everyone else, doesn't he want to promote it during this critical period? I don't understand the absence while Jake is doing every single one of these Q & A's.

The pecking order is kind of looking crystal clear here to me.

Methodical Muser said...

I wonder if Mr. Jackman was watching the cricket match with his wife of seventeen years? *grin*

prairiegirl said...

lol. '17 years'

Seriously though. Maybe Austin laid down the law and said no more Jake/Hugh bromance? No more backstage 'goosing' from anyone who's not the real Goose Man, huh?

the real m said...

PG, it's been so long since I watched End of Watch, I can't remember that much detail.

Jackman is such a solid actor and so in demand, he probably does not need to show up anywhere unless he wants to. That said, he seems to enjoy interacting with the public more than most.

prairiegirl said...

Hugh is pictured on Just Jared walking his dog on Friday the 22nd and again today walking with his wife of 17 years on the sidewalks of NYC on either Saturday the 23rd or Sunday the 24th. He also had some down time to cheer on the Australian cricket team several times who were competing over the last several days in a tournament of some sort.

All of these activities seem to belie overcommitment and demand during this past weekend when two Q & A's took place in the same city where he lives and was seen out and about - which is NYC.

I'm not sure what this says to his fellow actors from the same film that he can't take time from cricket watching and strolling to spend a couple of hours with them? Must have been another pressing personal matter I'm to assume, I guess.

prairiegirl said...

Much to everyone's relief, lol, that'll be the last I say about the matter.

Happy Tuesday
; )