Every couple years or so, a new movie comes out that features a really hot, lifelong lesbian who – despite everything she’s built her life around – falls in love with a man. In 2010, it was The Kids Are All Right, in 2001, Kissing Jessica Stein, and from 1990-2013 it appeared repeatedly in my grandma’s sweetest dreams (it’s cool, we watch Ellen now). In 2014, we’ll have The Humbling, the latest film adaptation (from director Barry Levinson) of Philip Roth’s widely panned novel, which tells the story of a middle-aged thespian (Al Pacino) who falls in love with a younger lesbian named Pegeen (Greta Gerwig. Also, where are we, County Cork?). Photos released from producers earlier this week show that Pegeen has transformed from a ‘red-zippered’ lesbian (book’s words, not mine) to one who clearly buys her hoodies from Anthropologie. Hooray.
[Here’s the picture, which I’m not sure if we’re allowed to host ourselves]
Now sure, every once in a while, this kind of thing happens. But how often, in movies, do you see a gay man who just ‘meets the right girl,’ or a straight woman who just meets the right ‘Portia De Rossi?’ Never. It’s a fantasy, and people will get angry. The Humbling comes to Toronto in September. I fear for my Facebook feed.
[more pictures over at Indiewire]