riverpheonixs:“The media hype about the film, Phoenix and Reeves talking positively about the roles
riverpheonixs:“The media hype about the film, Phoenix and Reeves talking positively about the roles and Phoenix rewriting a scene to convey his character’s homosexual love for Keanu Reeves'character did two things. Firstly showed that the film studios and mainstream demonstrated a latent homophobia, in that, they were surprised a Hollywood actor and teen idol would accept such a role. Secondly, Phoenix and Reeves taking the roles and believing in the film had set a president for future Hollywood stars and paved the way for Hollywood studios to (nearly fifteen years later) cast two other teen idols, Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal, in Brokeback Mountain (2005). My Own Private Idaho was able to set a prescient because the casting of Hollywood stars in positively and overtly homosexual roles had not been seen before. In essence it raised the bar for other film makers and actors to step up to. Phoenix had created a character which cross sections of audiences sympathised with or wanted to emulate.” - Jessica Otterwell (Getting Into the Outside. Representations of Class and Homosexuality in Gus Van Sant’s My Own Private Idaho, 2013) -- source link