Sad? Just Pay These “Handsome Weeping Boys” To Wipe Away Your Tears

Sad? Just Pay These “Handsome Weeping Boys” To Wipe Away Your Tears

_90901986_handsome-weeping-boys-4--ry

There are many ways to get your coworkers to bond. You can all commiserate awkwardly in the kitchen over apple juice and dry cookies. You can sit in a focus group, ostensibly to brainstorm future projects, but also to become better acquainted with your peers. Or you can do what many Japanese companies are starting to do: hire professionals to make your staff gutturally sob, and then allow a “handsome weeping boy” to wipe those tears away.

No, we’re not high on ketamine. Yes, this is a thing.

Related: “Little Joe” Dallesandro On Inspiring The Hustler Character In Lou Reed’s “Walk On The Wild Side”

According to the BBC, the session goes a little something like this: About ten people congregate in a conference room to watch a series of extremely maudlin film clips about, say, a deaf man’s daughter suddenly struck ill and rushed to hospital. This is a real example: the scene ends with the man unable to pass reception since he can’t speak up and say he’s her father. So he weeps and weeps and weeps and his daughter dies alone, alone, alone

Then, to kick it up a notch, a film about a dying dog begins. As do the sobs. And the sniffles. And the tears pouring down everyone’s aghast faces.

Then the man who’s been curating the films begins to wander around the conference room with a gigantic handkerchief, with which he wipes away all the tears. With great dignity, he folds up the used portions of the hankie so that everyone in the room gets a dry patch with which to wipe away their worries.

Related: “Former Classmate” Claims Obama Was Coked-Up Gay Hustler With “White Sugar Daddies”

The man’s name is Ryusei. As the article explains, he has “model good looks” and takes his job as professional tear-wiper extremely seriously. His official job title is ikemeso danshi, which translates to “handsome weeping boy.”

“Japanese are not used to crying in front of people,” he tells the BBC. “But once you cry in front of others, the environment will change, particularly for a business.”

_90901989_handsome-weeping-boys-5--ry

Companies get to choose from a wwide selection of these “handsome weeping boys.” There’s a gymnast. A funeral director. A shoe shiner. A trained dentist. Ryusei’s beat is “good-looking-but-slightly-older weeping boy,” see. He’s close to 40; most HWBs are in their 20s.

A man named Hiroki Terai is the entrepreneur behind the sessions, who tells the BBC he’s “always been interested in the hidden sagas of human beings.”

Of course, you could all just meet in the kitchen for apple juice, like we said earlier.

To learn more about these mysterious “handsome weeping boys,” we recommend reading the original article in its entirely. Grab a hankie, though.

feedproxy.google.com/~r/queerty2/~3/IKopWecL2zQ/sad-just-pay-handsome-weeping-boys-wipe-away-tears-20160902

WATCH: Adore Delano Stays True To Her Grunge Style In Fierce New Music Video

WATCH: Adore Delano Stays True To Her Grunge Style In Fierce New Music Video

adore delano icu music video drag queen after party rupaul's drag race all stars 2

When it comes to music by drag queens, nobody can hold a candle to Adore Delano. As a former American Idol and (spoiler alert) the first contestant to ever quit RuPaul‘s Drag Race, Adore has already built up a loyal and formidable fan base.

Related: Queens Of ‘Drag Race All Stars’ Recreate Iconic VMA Red Carpet Looks

After her decision to quit RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars during last night’s episode, Adore dropped a brilliant new single (and music video!) in what feels like an attempt to remind her fans that they love her for being her… not because of a television show.

“This song is definitely the heart of my new sophomore album,” Adore told Extra. “I wanted to show a more sophisticated side of me… I have a million sides to me and I’m excited to show them all to the world.”

Related: ‘Drag Race’ Star Manila Luzon Jailed After Donut Shop Fight (In New Music Video)

The new video definitely shows Adore’s love of grunge fashion and her unique aesthetics. It also serves as a gentle reminder to stay true to who you want to be, no matter what.

Watch:

 

feedproxy.google.com/~r/queerty2/~3/0P22rEyyLt4/watch-adore-delano-stays-true-grunge-style-fierf-new-music-video-20160902

Ian McKellen Explains Why ‘Gay Men Are More Masculine Than Straight Men’

Ian McKellen Explains Why ‘Gay Men Are More Masculine Than Straight Men’

Sir Ian McKellen

Sir Ian McKellen says that gay men are more masculine than straight men for one very specific reason: gay men love other men.

In an interview he and BFF Patrick Stewart did with The Evening Standard, McKellen and Stewart talked about their penchant for each playing warrior-types throughout their careers.

Said McKellen,

“I’ve probably played even more military men than Patrick. Gandalf is a soldier, Magneto is a soldier, Richard III, Coriolanus, Macbeth. And I think the reason is because I want my revenge on them all…The people who start wars, perpetuate them and glory in them. ‘God save our gracious Queen, send her victorious?’ I’m sorry. What does that mean?… If that’s what masculinity is then I don’t want any part of it at all.”

Turning from military men to sexuality, McKellen added, “I think gay men are more masculine than straight men. Because, guess what? They love other men!…So when bully boys say: ‘Faggot!’ you say, ‘That’s right, I’m with the boys.’”

McKellen also commented that both he and Stewart have lately been hard up to find roles they can sink their teeth into: “If there was a good script around, whether the characters were both straight or gay, we’d be up for it wouldn’t we, Patrick?” To which Stewart replied, “Oh, absolutely.”

The post Ian McKellen Explains Why ‘Gay Men Are More Masculine Than Straight Men’ appeared first on Towleroad.



feeds.towleroad.com/~r/towleroad/feed/~3/FwxnZeihOfY/

Get In Bed with Pietro Boselli – VIDEO

Get In Bed with Pietro Boselli – VIDEO

pietro boselli

Pietro Boselli is back baring his hard body, this time for Men’s Health España. 

The world’s hottest math teacher/model strips down to his skivvies and climbs into bed for the men’s mag, and also shows off his skin while skateboarding around town in a suit sans shirt.

Screen Shot 2016-09-02 at 11.25.41 AM

PREVIOUSLY: Pietro Boselli Goes for an Olympic Medal in the Abs Competition – PHOTOS

Check out his cover shot, and another snap from his shoot, below.

14125765_10157326892935285_8858189055842161268_oarticle-ya-en-tu-quiosco-57c40f0c6853d

BONUS

Watch Boselli look dapper in a new ad for Lab Series in which he shares what he’s learned on his meteoric rise to fame: “It doesn’t matter how clever you are, how handsome you are, being kind is the most important thing–it’s what will get you the furthest.”

[h/t Kenneth in the 212]

The post Get In Bed with Pietro Boselli – VIDEO appeared first on Towleroad.



feeds.towleroad.com/~r/towleroad/feed/~3/JINPjc3V9NU/

Summer Movie Season: Best & Worst Movies, Plus LGBT Highlights

Summer Movie Season: Best & Worst Movies, Plus LGBT Highlights

summer2016survey

How was your summer at the movies?

While summer didn’t technically begin until June 20th and isn’t technically over, “Summer Movie Season” is not beholden to the solstice and equinox but to The Blockbuster. Summer has long been the most lucrative season for Hollywood and so they’ve stretched it out to start earlier each year. It now tends to begin sometime in April with the release of the first movie that feels like a Summer Blockbuster proper (this year that would’ve arguably beenThe Jungle Book on April 15th) and ends on Labor Day weekend, aka Right Now. The romantic tragedy The Light Between Oceans is the smart ticket this weekend if you’d like to have a cathartic weep while staring at very pretty pictures. The movie, based on the bestseller of the same name, stars recent Oscar nominee Michael Fassbender and Oscar winner Alicia Vikander (a couple offscreen and their chemistry translates beautifully to the camera) as sad-eyed souls who fall in love. They marry and run a lighthouse on a remote island after World War I. When the childless couple find an orphaned baby in a boat, their lives change irrevocably. The cinematography is so beautiful you may be weeping even before tragedy strikes.

But that’s this weekend. How was your whole summer? It’s no secret that it’s been a very rough summer for the quality of blockbusters but if you’re lucky enough to live in a big city and smart enough to seek out films without gargantuan ad budgets, there was still plenty to get excited about. So herewith the Best & Worst of 2016’s Summer movie season…

captain-stretch-16

THE WORST

suicidesquad-diablohand

Garbage Fire
SUICIDE SQUAD  – It’s even worse than critics warned! Awful patchy storytelling, incoherent plot, zero character development, boring action sequences. It’s like watching commercials for a movie strung together for an entire movie length. The only semi-redeemable things about it equal three: Viola Davis’s perfection with the side eye as the intimidating Amanda Waller; Jay Hernandez in general even though he’s stuck with the racist conception of a character in gangbanger arsonist “Diablo”; and finally Margot Robbie’s mismatched eye shadow, pig tails and costuming as Harley Quinn. She won great reviews for some reason but really that old 30 Rock joke “I’m a very sexy baby” is a perfect encapsulation of the performance.

apokalypse-cloud

Worst Villain Not in Suicide Squad
This “prize” obviously has to go to Oscar Isaac, whose short incredible attractiveness is buried in pounds of ugly inexpressive latex makeup for his 7′ god with extremely vague superpowers (basically all of ’em) in X-MEN: APOCALYPSE

Movie Concepts So Horrifying I Skipped The Movies:
Self-satisfied Kevin Spacey playing a cat (and cats need no help for self satisfaction) in NINE LIVES — that casting is too much smug for one movie. No thanks. Also photos of Julia Roberts’s wig made MOTHER’S DAY look like a horror film. And who has even thought about ANGRY BIRDS since deleting it from their phones years ago when the addiction wore off?

THE BEST

captainfantastic-viggoshower

Best Actor
Viggo Mortensen, CAPTAIN FANTASTIC
The undervalued star digs deep into the role of a survivalist father with too many stubborn ideals, too little contact with society, and not enough compromise when he deigns to reenter it.

Honorable Mention: Hugh Grant, charming as ever but his light touch makes the undertow more poignant in FLORENCE FOSTER JENKINS

lightbetween-aliciaworried

Best Actress
Alicia Vikander, THE LIGHT BETWEEN OCEANS
It’s a pity that the Swedish actress won the Oscar for The Danish Girl earlier this year since it wasn’t even her best performance of 2015. (That’d be her amazingly layered android in Ex Machina). She’s very moving again as a baby-crazy young wife in this romantic tragedy.

Honorable Mention: Meryl Streep as the delusional offkey FLORENCE FOSTER JENKINS

sir-james-martin-love-and-friendship-2016-x-500

Best Supporting Actor
Tom Bennett is just hilarious as Sir James Martin, a very dumb and very wealthy man in LOVE & FRIENDSHIP. The movie hits DVD and BluRay this coming week and it can’t be recommended highly enough. It’s a very witty and pleasurable Jane Austen adaptation clocking in at a perfectly breezy 93 minutes.

Honorable Mention:  Ralph Fiennes, insufferable but great in A BIGGER SPLASH

Best Supporting Actress
Kate McKinnon stole the show with eccentric comic swagger in GHOSTBUSTERS. Too bad the movie had to endure so much nonsense in the media.

Honorable Mention – Kristen Stewart is radiantly romantically confused in Woody Allen’s CAFE SOCIETY

Absolutely-Fabulous-The-Movie-GIFs-3

Best Duo
Edina & Patsy, who else? ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS: THE MOVIE

suddenfear-joancrawford

Greatest Out-of-Time Moviegoing Experiences of the Summer
This summer’s high profile 4K restoration of Merchant & Ivory’s HOWARD’S END (1992), in theaters now, is unmissable. The film is absolutely perfect and should’ve won all the Oscars in 1992 (where it lost Best Picture & Best Director to Unforgiven). It’s even richer, funnier, and more dramatically resonant than you may remember if you saw it years ago with incredible performances from Emma Thompson, Vanessa Redgrave, Helena Bonham-Carter and Anthony Hopkins. It proves all over again what a master the director James Ivory is. It was sad when the Honorary Oscars were announced this week and he wasn’t named. Oscar is so stingy with the gay artists.

This summer also featured a restoration of the Joan Crawford noir SUDDEN FEAR (1952), which as reviews noted, is totally deserving of reevaluation and classic status. My friends and I had a blast watching one of Crawford’s greatest melodrama performances as a playwright who marries an actor she once fired (creepy Jack Palance) unaware that he and his girl on the side (shady lady Gloria Grahame) are after her riches. The film starts out as rigid as Crawford’s posture and clothing but things get enjoyably baroque in the last half hour when things go completely off (Crawford’s) script. Loved it.

Movies I Feel The Most Guilt About Missing Because People Seem To Really Like Them
Indignation, Hell or High Water, and Maggie’s Plan

littlemen-window

Ira Sach’s “Little Men” is now playing

10 Best New Films Screened (alpha order)

THE GAY

alexander skarsgard

Sexiest Performance by a Body Part
Alexander Skarsgard’s Abs in THE LEGEND OF TARZAN, all however many of them. So very many of them…

ghosbusters-tongue

Honorable Mention:  Kate McKinnon’s tongue in GHOSTBUSTERS
Runners Up [tie]: Chris Evan’s helicopter-stretched arms in CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR
Viggo Mortensen’s penis in CAPTAIN FANTASTIC

It’s only a penis. Every man has one.

abigger-swimlovers

Queerest Hetero Movie
A BIGGER SPLASH. It’s not just because of our favorite alien androgynous icon Tilda Swinton playing a Bowie-esque rock star, but also chatterbox Ralph Fiennes hopped up on lust and exhibitionism, sun kissed arthouse hunk Matthias Schoenaerts as Tilda’s sensitive  lover, and Dakota Johnson doing a Lolita riff. All adapted from a French film and directed by Tilda favorite Luca Guadagnino (of I Am Love fame) featuring emotionally messy karaoke scenes. And it’s as sexy as all of that sounds.

stucky2

Sexiest Gay Subtext
Steve Rogers ♥️  Bucky Barnes. “Stucky” is the gift that keep giving queer geeks in fan fiction, cosplay, and daydreams. Although maybe you have to subtract points because of CIVIL WAR‘s icky making-out-with-your-dead-girlfriend’s-niece subplot.

Finding Dory

Most Obnoxious Pandering for LGBT Dollars
FINDING DORY – all that business about the lesbian couple in the film? Girl, plz. It barely reads gay if you freeze it and you have to freeze it to catch it.

henrygamblesbirthdaypartyjoekeerycoledomanpoolnice-e1451958050490-1

Best LGBT Movie Discovery on VOD
Any quick perusal of VOD options and streaming services reveals a wealth of gay titles that you’ve maybe never heard of. We’ve all seem terribly amateurish LGBT films so sometimes a really good one fills you with missionary zeal. This summer the best one I caught was Stephen Cone’s  HENRY GAMBLE’S BIRTHDAY PARTY. It didn’t receive a theatrical release but this Chicago film is unusually confident in its storytelling voice and proves how much you can do with no budget. It never leaves one location (it’s all at the titular party) as it watches a young closeted gay man, his devout Christian family, and their guests throughout a day-long party. It’s fly on the wall approach and overlapping ensemble is a bit Robert Altman but with less cynicism and a sharp eye on how people navigate the confusing waters when faith and sexuality are both in the pool together. Henry is available on multiple platforms including Amazon, iTunes, Wolfe OnDemand, and Vimeo.

LGBT Plot Points To Argue About
THE LOBSTER – Wasn’t that joke about bisexuality such a satirical bullseye?
“The Predatory Gays Are Back!” See: Half the characters in THE NEON DEMON & the Cousin Terry business in MIKE AND DAVE NEED WEDDING DATES
FLORENCE FOSTER JENKINS – Cosmo at that Gay Party and Cosmo’s sexuality in general. Either Simon Helberg’s performance was too one note and mannered and opaque or the film couldn’t decide whether to embrace its bitchy queers or side-eye them.
SWISS ARMY MAN  – What’s going on there with Paul Dano’s drag role-play and the kiss with Daniel Radcliffe? Did Daniel Radcliffe put that in his contract or something? Must Be Kissed.

How was your summer at the movies?

florence-anothertake

The post Summer Movie Season: Best & Worst Movies, Plus LGBT Highlights appeared first on Towleroad.



feeds.towleroad.com/~r/towleroad/feed/~3/p7BkFIHY9gA/

Men who play transgender women send a "toxic and dangerous" message

Men who play transgender women send a "toxic and dangerous" message

It’s been two years since Time magazine proclaimed a new era of inclusion in America with a May 2014 cover featuring actress Laverne Cox and the eye-catching headline: “The Transgender Tipping Point.” The groundbreaking Time cover came 10 months after Cox appeared in her breakout role as Sophia Burset on Netflix’s Orange Is the New Black. That’s the power of entertainment media — one outstanding performance by a charismatic and talented actress can accelerate change across an entire culture.

Since then, trans people have begun to appear on reality shows like TLC’s I Am Jazz, E!’s I Am Cait, and in Strut, Oxygen’s upcoming show about trans models. Trans characters played by trans actors are beginning to appear in scripted TV shows like Amazon’s Transparent, Netflix’s Sense8, Freeform’s The Fosters, and CBS’ upcoming legal drama Doubt. And Tangerine, starring two trans actresses, was the indie film breakout hit of 2015, earning four Independent Spirit Award nominations and a GLAAD Media Award for outstanding film in limited release.

And yet — in spite of the critical and commercial success of projects that put trans people front and center — Hollywood is having a very difficult time letting go of the idea that putting a male actor in a dress, wig and makeup is an accurate portrayal of a transgender woman.

For more than 40 years, Americans have sat down in front of their TV screens or in movie seats and seen male actors “pretend” to be trans women. By casting Robert Reed, Terence Stamp, John Lithgow, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Tom Wilkinson, Lee Pace, Cillian Murphy, Liev Schreiber, Beau Bridges, Jared Leto, Eddie Redmayne, Steven Weber, Denis O’Hare and Walton Goggins as transgender women, viewers receive two strong and wrong messages: 1. that being transgender is an act, a performance, just a matter of playing dress-up; and 2. that underneath all that artifice, a transgender woman really is a man.

Matt Bomer is the latest actor to find himself in the crosshairs of controversy, following news this week that he will be playing a transgender woman in the upcoming indie film Anything, executive produced by Mark Ruffalo. Following the film’s announcement, Emmy-nominated trans filmmaker and actress Jen Richards responded with a series of tweets that re-ignited a long-simmering conversation about casting transgender roles.

Without a doubt, Bomer, who is a trailblazer in his own right as one of Hollywood’s most well-known and successful out gay actors, and Ruffalo, who’s been a longtime and outspoken supporter of the LGBT community, took on the project with the best intentions.

The decision to put yet another man in a dress to portray a transgender woman touches a nerve for transgender people, and rightfully so. It’s yet another painful reminder that, in the eyes of so many people, transgender women are really just men.

That message is toxic and dangerous. It’s what prompts lawmakers in states like North Carolina to legislate that a transgender woman must use the men’s restroom, humiliating her and putting her in harm’s way. It’s what motivated James Dixon to murder Islan Nettles as she walked down the street, minding her own business. At his trial, Dixon said that he attacked the 21-year-old black trans woman after he flirted with her, then his friends teased him saying, “That’s a man.” Not wanting to be “fooled” and feeling like his “manhood” was threatened, Dixon killed her.

Since Islan Nettles was murdered in August 2013, the same year Orange Is the New Black premiered, over 50 transgender women have been murdered in the United States. Those are just the murders we know about.

To all those writers, directors, producers and showrunners out there, let me say this: If you don’t see the dangerous real-world implications of casting men to play transgender women; if you are more concerned with the bottom line or with star power or with how your product will sell overseas, then don’t write transgender characters into your projects. We would rather be left out than be constantly portrayed as something we’re not. Portrayed in a way that gets us killed.

But if you are moved — if you see the problem that casting well-known men to play transgender women causes — then here’s a solution: Take a look at actresses who are also transgender.

Laverne Cox’s talent and her consistently smart and entertaining interviews have made a big splash in Hollywood. Yet she would be the first to say that she stands on the shoulders of trailblazing trans actresses like Alexandra Billings and Candis Cayne. And their hard work and visibility have paved the way for breakout stars like Jamie Clayton, Trace Lysette, Jen Richards, Angelica Ross, Michelle Hendley, Alexandra Grey, Hari Nef and Mya Taylor.

When you hire a trans actor, they don’t have to spend weeks or months “preparing and researching” to play a trans person. They can walk in the door on day one, ready to deliver an authentic, nuanced performance. You get the added bonus of having someone on set who can tell you if something about the dialogue or the characterization is falling into tropes and clichés that will ultimately not reflect well on you or the project. (You can also call GLAAD for that feedback. We want to help you get it right from the beginning.)

It should be noted that Jeffrey Tambor’s portrayal of Maura on Transparent is the rare exception where the casting fits the story being told — that of an older trans woman who is just beginning her transition. Additionally, Jill Soloway made the deliberate decision to bring in many transgender people behind the camera and in front of it. This conscious collaboration is why the show has been so well received by audiences, critics and transgender people.

And if you really want to be ahead of the curve in Hollywood, start bringing in trans actors to play non-trans roles. Because that’s where we’re headed, and the first films and TV shows to get there will receive credit for realizing that trans people can play any role.

One final word about transgender characters. It is great that so many roles are being written for transgender women to play. Trans women are most deeply affected by the way these characters have been written and (mis)cast. However, please consider also writing stories about transgender men. While trans men are spared the worst of our culture’s transphobia, our invisibility in the media means America doesn’t even know that we exist. For the young transgender boys I mentor, they look to the media to see themselves, and when they see nothing, it’s hard for them to imagine a future. So check out great trans actors like Elliot Fletcher, Tom Phelan, Ian Harvie, D’Lo, and Scott Turner Schofield.

The actors I’ve mentioned in this article are trained, professional, and experienced. You can find them on Actors Access and IMDb. If you can’t find them, call us and we’ll help you find them.

Bring them in to audition. Let them show you their craft. Create a role specifically for them. Listen to their stories and be inspired. The reality of lived trans experience is so much more interesting, so much more powerful, than the simulacrum Hollywood has peddled for decades. Collaborate with us to tell our own stories. You’ll not only make better films and TV shows, you’ll also make a difference.

September 2, 2016

www.glaad.org/blog/men-who-play-transgender-women-send-toxic-and-dangerous-message

Why Are Two Olympic Medalists Nuzzling This Bodybuilder On National TV?

Why Are Two Olympic Medalists Nuzzling This Bodybuilder On National TV?

Screen Shot 2016-09-02 at 12.40.04 PM

Here’s a fairly wild tableaux culled from Thursday evening’s edition of The Late Late Show with James Corden, which found Olympians Conor Dywer, Nathan Adrian, and Gabby Davis playing a round of a highly surrealistic game called, pithily enough, “Nuzzle Whaaa?”

Related: Bodybuilder Narrowly Escapes Being Run Over By Crazed Antigay Driver

The rules are simple enough: The contestants were blindfolded and then had to futz around with some unknown object. In this case, the object was a massive bodybuilder.

Related: Cute Bodybuilder Wears PUMP! Away From The Gym

Needless to say, when Corden inadvertently went downtown, it was an image we never thought we’d see on squeaky-clean CBS, but there you are. Let it suffice to say, the line “My head was in his balls!”  is uttered at one point during the broadcast.

Once the festivities are over, Cordon airily asked Douglas, “Where was my head…?” 

Douglas: “I told you to go up.”

Watch: 

h/t: Towleroad

feedproxy.google.com/~r/queerty2/~3/bdnFans7yv0/two-olympic-medalists-nuzzling-bodybuilder-national-tv-20160902