{"id":5671,"date":"2014-10-20T09:00:15","date_gmt":"2014-10-20T13:00:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/posturemag.com\/online\/?p=5671"},"modified":"2017-07-27T00:37:01","modified_gmt":"2017-07-27T04:37:01","slug":"julianne-moore-the-queer-ally-and-lesbian-icon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/posturemag.com\/online\/julianne-moore-the-queer-ally-and-lesbian-icon\/","title":{"rendered":"Julianne Moore: The Queer Ally and Lesbian Icon"},"content":{"rendered":"

With this month\u2019s NYFF screening of Maps to the Stars and the upcoming gay rights drama Freeheld, Julianne Moore seems to be revisiting her fondness for queer-themed roles\u2014so I break down the actress\u2019 most prolific LGBTQ characters and collaborations, for some perspective.<\/p>\n

If one were to look at the trajectory of Julianne Moore\u2019s filmography, a certain trend would soon emerge: the actress is a serious favorite among queer filmmakers, and the feeling seems to be quite mutual.\u00a0 The 53-year-old\u2019s illustrious career boasts a myriad of collaborations with acclaimed LGBTQ directors, including Gus Van Sant (Psycho<\/i>), Todd Haynes (Safe<\/i>, Far From Heaven<\/i>), Tom Kalin (Saving Grace<\/i>), and Tom Ford (A Single Man<\/i>)\u2014several of which have also landed the actress her most notable roles as a gay character, among them being Kimberly Peirce\u2019s Carrie<\/i>, Stephen Daldry\u2019s The Hours<\/i> and Lisa Cholodenko\u2019s The Kids Are All Right<\/i>.<\/p>\n

From these collection of films, Moore received 2 Academy Award and 4 Golden Globe nominations, and it\u2019s very likely that this year will see yet another addition to the list by way of Richard Glatzer and Wash Westmoreland\u2019s Still Alice<\/i>, an accomplished offering that was recently entered in this year\u2019s Oscar race.\u00a0 Moore stars as the title character, and her harrowing portrayal of a woman suffering from Alzheimer\u2019s is layered with an honest and stunning devastation that certainly stands out as one of the actress\u2019 best performances to date.\u00a0 So much so, in fact, that it\u2019s almost impossible to imagine her not getting a nomination, especially since this role seems to be the most-likely-to-succeed from among the other possible contenders in the Best Actress category.\u00a0 And this time around, it would be not one but two<\/i> queer filmmakers\u2014professional and romantic partners Glatzer and Westmoreland\u2014whose collaboration with the acting veteran will pave the way for the big prize.\u00a0 If such is the case, then Moore will become the sixth example of a queer filmmaker directing someone to a Best Actress Oscar since 2000; as Meryl Streep, Kate Winslet, Charlize Theron, Hilary Swank and Nicole Kidman have all won Oscars for their roles in films helmed by queer filmmakers within the past 15 years (3 of which were directed by women).<\/p>\n

Known for taking on progressive and at times provocative parts, Moore\u2019s momentum is far from slowing down, and her particular affinity for sexually fluid roles continue to manifest through various ongoing projects.\u00a0 In addition to Still Alice<\/i>, Moore also currently stars in David Cronenberg\u2019s Maps to the Stars<\/i>; a cynical Hollywood satire that premiered at Cannes and screened at this month\u2019s New York Film Festival.\u00a0 Moore plays Havana Segrand, a descendent of Hollywood royalty who, despite being the daughter of classic actress Clarice Taggart, is now an aging, anxious C-lister whose mental stability is often derailed by the ghostly visions of her mother who died decades earlier in a fire.\u00a0 Although Havana is not a gay character per se, she nonetheless exerts a degree of sexual curiosity and exploration, as evidenced by a rather graphic threesome love scene involving two females that leaves little to the imagination.<\/p>\n

\"Moore<\/a>
Moore as Havana Segrand in Maps to the Stars (Image Courtesy of FilmLinc)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

From her towering performance as a washed-up actress to a role that treads territory more reminiscent of The Kids Are All Right<\/i>, Moore is also starring alongside Ellen Page in the upcoming gay rights indie Freeheld<\/i>, based on the 2007 Oscar winning documentary short of the same name.\u00a0 The Peter Sollett-helmed drama chronicles the real-life case of New Jersey police detective Laurel Hester (Moore) and Stacie Ardeen (Page), a lesbian couple who fought to amend the Domestic Partnership Act after the former became terminally ill and government officials denied Ardeen the pension benefits of her Hester. \u00a0Produced by Kelly Bush (PR rep known for representing many of Hollywood\u2019s LGBTQ talent), the film is also set to star Steve Carell as the Garden State Equality activist Steve Goldstein who helps fight for the same-sex couple\u2019s rights.<\/p>\n

It comes as little surprise that aside from their obvious common denominator, Maps to the Stars<\/i>, Freeheld<\/i>, and even Still Alice<\/i> share virtually no similarity, yet that is precisely the point. I reference these films simply as a means of illustrating Moore\u2019s inclination for either collaborating with queer filmmakers, or playing characters that harness a level of autonomous sexual intrigue.\u00a0 In that sense, Moore can even be viewed as the female analog to Neil Patrick Harris, since both actors seem to continually embrace roles that embody a sexuality different from their own.\u00a0 Unlike many of her contemporaries, Moore often punctuates her performances with thoughtful social commentary\u2014and it is this bold, impressive, and unexpected consistency that allows her work to be regarded with such a unique appreciation and respect.\u00a0 In fact, I would be hard-pressed to find another relevant mainstream actress whose film resume is as prolific and diverse, yet still emblematic of a strong queer sensibility.<\/p>\n

Twitter: @DemionFilm
\nFacebook:\u00a0facebook.com\/demionfilm<\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

With this month\u2019s NYFF screening of Maps to the Stars and the upcoming gay rights drama Freeheld, Julianne Moore seems to be revisiting her fondness for queer-themed roles\u2014so I break down the actress\u2019 most prolific LGBTQ characters and collaborations, for some perspective. If one were to look at the trajectory of Julianne Moore\u2019s filmography, a\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":5672,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"image","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[2065],"tags":[335,1963,1504,830,1503,76,81,135,134,43,38],"yst_prominent_words":[],"class_list":["post-5671","post","type-post","status-publish","format-image","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-culture","tag-demitra-demi-kampakis","tag-film","tag-filmmaker","tag-icon","tag-julianne-moore","tag-lesbian","tag-lgbtq","tag-posture","tag-posture-magazine","tag-posturemag","tag-queer","post_format-post-format-image"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/posturemag.com\/online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/julianna.jpg?fit=1499%2C1000","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6QBV8-1tt","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/posturemag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5671","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/posturemag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/posturemag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/posturemag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/posturemag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5671"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/posturemag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5671\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11201,"href":"http:\/\/posturemag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5671\/revisions\/11201"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/posturemag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5672"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/posturemag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5671"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/posturemag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5671"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/posturemag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5671"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/posturemag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=5671"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}