[_Seth]

Originally Posted by Braden

Would it have been equally as enjoyable with a straight cast? I'm not sure.

If the straight actors were talented enough to portray the roles well then why would it matter?

Originally Posted by Ammi

...just touching on James Corden in The Prom, who has been mentioned...?..and his performance of Barry was described as ‘disgusting’ because of the ‘stereotype’ that Barry’s character was ....or was it that James portrayed him as that stereotype...it was such a controversial casting, anyway ...I watched the movie and his portrayal wasn’t the greatest but at the same time, his character was actually quite endearing as well, I did like the character...I might watch it again, actually...but his performance was termed as ‘offensive’ ...but then if he had been LGBTQ, surely he would have still given the same performance and portrayal of. Barry...so would ‘offensive/disgusting’ etc not have applied then also because he would be seen as portraying his own sexuality...?...what I’m thinking as well is that Rupert Everett as a LGBTQ person portraying George, an LGBTQ person in My Best Friend’s Wedding was also surely a very ‘stereotypically portrayed’ character and his performance didn't get criticism so far as I recall...

This is where it just gets over complicated for no reason. Plus, the public are fickle as hell so I would expect their opinion on this to waver based on the actor.

At any rate, how would casting directors verify if someone even is gay? What if they're unsure and still discovering themselves? Can bisexual people play gay roles?

How about we just let the best actors play the roles they audition for, or is that seriously unreasonable?

Side note regarding gay stereotypes - as a person in the gay community I can confirm that the utterly vast majority of gay men are extremely effeminate and present in a very feminine manner. (Which is fair enough, but unfortunately when I'm gay I have very little choice because I'm not attracted to men who act like women, as much as I would happily be friends with them. )