J. Edgar Movie Review

(Photo by Keith Bernstein – © 2011 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.)

Last night I saw "J. Edgar", the new movie about J. Edgar Hoover starring Leonardo DiCaprio, directed by Clint Eastwood. Although beautifully filmed with great sets, costumes and makeup I was baffled at their presentation of Hoover, head of the F.B.I. for many years. In the the gay world he was known to be homosexual with a lover who worked with him and often getting into drag. The adage, "When you have a secret life the only one it's a secret to is you" could never have been truer. And this was years ago.

The movie presents him as a man who loved another man but probably never acted upon it, the movie even has the man he loved discover his nude body in death and cover it up with a bedspread as though he had never seen it before. Come on.

And only upon his mother's death does Hoover put on her necklace and dress and fall on the floor sobbing. Really. The whole thing is so overly dramatic and to a gay man the sensibility is ridiculous. I am sure the two of them were just a rowdy old pair of queens getting into bad drag at even worse parties. I saw photographs of him in a wig and a dress decades ago. So why all this delicacy? A very long, slow, dark movie about a really awful guy who blackmailed everybody and was quite crazy. DiCaprio is very sensitive in the role but I don't think dreadful, bossy old J. Edgar was much like that. And be so nervous about "Was he gay?", "Did he do drag?" It seemed dated. I left the theater wondering why they even made this movie.

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(Photographer: Ron Nickel. Collection: Design Pics. Royalty Free)

Dear David,
I follow your blog even though I am a woman. I find a lot of what you say interesting and relevant. I was in a relationship for seven years. We were engaged to be married. Then it all fell apart. Now a lot of men find me attractive and I am involved in a number of romances at the same time. Am I not behaving the way you think I should?
~Popular Gal

Dear Popular Gal,
You go get 'em, gal! If you were the masculine side of the fallen apart relationship everyone would be admiring you. So do I.

Come On Out! with David Leddick ~ Episode 13

Welcome to today's episode of Come On Out! with David Leddick, where I interview my pal Heriberto about his personal coming out story. Enjoy!

Fashion Talk - Is this the new look? I hope not.

My fashion thoughts this week are about your hair:

1. Is this the new look? I hope not. Your haircut or hairdo should be designed to make you look better. I don’t think this does so.

2. I have never been a fan of dreadlocks but I saw this and thought it looked really good. Really romantic. If you have the hair to do this I would certainly consider it.

3. I am beginning to see a lot of this slicked down side-part and I like it. I think this neo-1930’s look tends to make any man better-looking. And isn’t this what you have in mind? I am even doing it myself.
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Dear David,
I live in Fort Lauderdale and the other day I stopped into a cafe for a cup of coffee and there was my ex. We were lovers about a decade ago. He left town when we broke up. He was in Fort Lauderdale for a week visiting and clearly had no plan to call me or see me, though he knew exactly where I was.

Later I felt very upset and rejected. He was the only man I have been really involved with. I learned alot and changed alot because of him. Yet evidently I meant very little to him. Was I overreacting? I am still upset.
~A Fool for Love

Dear Foolish Lover,
We can get a great deal from a romance where you are the lover and the other person is the loved one. Just congratulate yourself for having really lived and felt and loved and grown when you were with him. He’s the loser. In lot’s of ways.

Handsomest Man in the World ~ Model Named Leebo

I have a strange Handsomest Man in the World today. A model named Leebo in bizarre clothes and good abs. He’s got something. Sort of like James Franco, is this really a star? Tons of press but I am not aware of a really important film or stage role. Am I wrong? Please let me know if you know.
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Dear David,
I am interested in a South American man with whom I had a kind of whirlwind romance a few months ago. We met, we crashed into each other’s arms, we had what might have been the best sex I ever had, and then it has drastically slowed down. He is always very busy with real life responsibilities (I believe it isn’t other men) and then when we meet we tussle and rustle somewhat, I feel he is aroused in a big way then he just wants to cuddle. What’s going on here? What would you do?
~Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered

Dear Triple B,
What immediately comes to my mind is that he is having flare-ups of herpes or something like that and doesn’t want to infect you. It’s that or he really isn’t interested in having your relationship go further. I think you can have a talk. Don’t be shy. Ask him:

1. Do you have herpes and don’t want to have sex? You can get it under control.
2. Are you not seriously interested in me?
3. Are you intimidated by the idea of having a real relationship with another man?

If you are really feeling something for this guy this is not an unreasonable conversation to have.

Rekindle a Former Flame?

Dear David,
I have just broken off with my lover of seven years who wants more sexual freedom. I have been seeing a former lover of some fifteen years ago who has a little son of two. I often babysit his son and I have come to love this little boy a lot and very recently my ex and I are considering being together again. I am not quite sure who I love here. What’s you take on this?
~Second Time

Dear Second Time,
I don’t want to bring any kind of formula thinking to this problem because there’s a child involved. Normally I would say it didn’t work once it probably won’t work twice. But I could be wrong.

However I kind of feel that perhaps you are too young fora relationship that is basically about family. Am I wrong here? I think any lasting real relationship has to be based on a great romance. Otherwise it’s a roommate with a little sex thrown in. I guess overall I would say give it a try but don’t get overly upset if what didn’t work in the past doesn’t work now.

Fine Artist In Search of Advice

(Paul Cadmus | The Bath | 1951)

Dear David,
I’m an up-and-coming fine artist. I paint and draw the nude. There is nothing more un attractive than the lifestyle of an artist who is not also financially successful. The art world seems a bit daunting and hard to understand at first glance. Would you have any advice for me for success in this mileu?
~Little Picasso

Dear Picasso Jr.,
Here’s what I think. The art world has become a huge market catering to the new super-wealthy wanting to show of their wealth and pay millions for half a cow in a tank of formaldehyde. This isn’t going to last like a Da Vinci or Michelangelo work from the Renaissance. It’s interesting, all the very high paid painters of the 19th century are now forgotten and Van Gogh is famous, who only sold one painting in his lifetime and that was to his brother.

I think art is to make you feel something, not to be thought about. Contemporary art is very disposable. You think about it. You talk about it. You forget it. You are in the tradition of artists who want you to feel. The last school of this kind of artist were the Magic Realists, who in the 1930’s and 1940’s included Paul Cadmus, Jared French, George Tooker, Bernard Perlin and some others. Only Bernard Perlin is still alive. George Tooker just died and was never lost to sight. He always had buyers and sold for good prices. You are a part of a reawakening to this kind of art which is going on right now. If you do the nude it has to have some personal view as to why the nude is beautiful and meaningful. Your own personal magic has to be brought to it. Think about this. When you have maybe 15 or 20 paintings you like then I would go online and find galleries outside of New York, like Minnealpolis, Atlanta, Dallas.

I think your timing is perfect. Representational art is on its way back. Now you must find your own thing so it is representational art for the 21st century. Good luck and keep in touch.

Come On Out! with David Leddick ~ Episode 12

Welcome to today's episode of Come On Out! with David Leddick, where I interview my pal Ewell about his personal coming out story. Enjoy!