I’d certainly always heard it was pretty certain Alexander the Great was, if not gay, then bisexual, at least in keeping with Greek cultural values of the time. Evidently, though, that this will be part of Oliver Stone’s upcoming Alexander the Great movie has some Greeks up in arms.
A group of Greek lawyers are threatening to sue Warner Bros film studios and Oliver Stone, director of the widely anticipated film “Alexander,” for suggesting Alexander the Great was bisexual.
The lawyers have already sent an extrajudicial note to the studio and director demanding they include a reference in the title credits saying his movie is a fictional tale and not based on official documents of the life of the Macedonian ruler.
“We are not saying that we are against gays but we are saying that the production company should make it clear to the audience that this film is pure fiction and not a true depiction of the life of Alexander,” Yannis Varnakos, who spearheads the campaign by 25 lawyers, told Reuters on Friday.
For what it’s worth, it’s not just a nationalist thing.
Some are already taking aim at Mr. Stone’s movie. “There will be people who see Alexander the Great’s bisexuality as applauding that lifestyle, and unfortunately it will lead some young boys, young men down a path that I think they’ll regret someday,” said Bob Waliszewski, a film critic with Focus on the Family, a Christian group.
Riiiiiiight. I expect to see a huge number of folks take up homosexuality after watching Alexander the Great. Just like so many people became assassins after seeing one of Colin Farrell’s earlier roles …
(via GoaF)
Like Alexander the Great’s lifestyle is available now… Absolute ruler, rich, military genius, pre-AIDS, pre-crotch rot in general, no indoor plumbing…
Like any hetero guy is going to watch the movie and say, “I want to see more Jared Leto skin on the screen”, instead of, “I want more Angelina Jolie.”
Like Stone made it up. The Greeks who are whining about this should stop living in the past. Everybody’s ancestors did a lot of nasty things and, far more often (what with the numerical superiority of peasants), had horrible things done to them by their own countrymen.
That came out wrong.
Everybody’s ancestors did things we don’t like. Al’s being bi, even to a homophobe, shouldn’t compare to the thousands of deaths he caused — or all kinds of crap my NW European ancestors did… often to others of my NW European ancestors.