Reykjavík Grapevine - 05.06.2009, Side 10

10
The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 7 — 2009
Questioning Our Sexuality | "Is it really so strange?" Spiritual Leader Visits | Irina Domurath
Five Guys to Turn a Straight Man Gay
1. Hugh Jackman in X-Men (2000)
There is something about watching a
childhood icon like Wolverine come
alive, especially in this hunky frame
that starts something stirring you didn’t
even know was there. His pose when
he has the blades on one guy’s neck
and turns around to cut through the
shotgun is unforgettable. So is the black
leather. Pity about the yellow spandex.
Hugh shows more skin in this year’s
Wolverine, but this, before we knew he
was a song and dance man, is his most
charged moment.
2. Harrison Ford in Star Wars (1977)
Sure, Luke Skywalker is the guy all
adolescents identify with. He is the
guy we would like to be but Han Solo
is the man we would want to have. In
a movie rife with sexual confusion
and genital metaphor, it’s still Han’s
handsome smile that steals the show.
It’s not Leia who gets our lightsabers
rattling, its...well, you get the point. The
Greeks understood that all teenage boys
secretly desire to be, uhm, Greeked
by interesting older men, and the
big brother figure of Han fits the bill
perfectly.
3. Jake Gyllenhaal in Jarhead (2006)
Jake spends most of this movie
prancing around the desert in varying
states of undress, most memorably
wearing nothing but a Santa Claus hat
on his crotch. Ho, ho and, indeed, ho.
In a military society inhabited only
by males, it is guys like Jake who have
to provide the festive spirit, and this
he does admirably. At the end-of-the-
war party, his commanding officer
welcomes him with the words “a little
overdressed, aren’t you, soldier?” In
other words, “get yer kit off, Jake.”
4. Elvis Presley in King Creole (1958)
The proverbial “if I had to fuck a guy”
guy. Elvis was gorgeous in Jailhouse
Rock, but it is in the opening scene of
this movie, singing Crawfish out on
the balcony and combing that hair,
that is his defining moment. Long
before Bowie, the Pelvis was the first
superstar to toy around with sexual
identity. “Everyone who sees Elvis and
does not want to be Elvis there must be
something wrong with,” quoth Bruce
Springsteen. We all know what he really
meant.
5. Macaulay Culkin in...well, let’s just
drop it here, shall we?
Words
Valur Gunnarsson
Women, whether sitting on panels
of beauty contests or destroying
each others’ fashion sense around
the water cooler, have always
been able to appreciate feminine
beauty. This, of course, gives them
a distinct competitive advantage
when it comes to bending us to
their wills.
It’s high time we turned the
tables and that grown men started
discussing each other’s looks in
other than derogatory fashion.
So here, in the interests of gender
equality, are five men who would
make even the most militant
heterosexual question his beliefs.
Valur Gunnarsson and the men he loves...

The Dalai Lama´s visit to the
University of Iceland on June 2
revealed to me how different the
Western and Eastern cultures are,
their approaches to politics and
people...
The Dalai Lama was clearly confused.
His translator whispered repeatedly:
“University of Iceland, University of
Iceland” as the Dalai Lama went up to
the speaker’s desk. The Buddhist monk
lost patience, waved, said: “Anyway...”
and welcomed the “people” in the
room. He giggled like a child. He then
expressed his admiration for all the
educated people in the room, referring
to himself as someone who only
“learned from encounters with others.”
Eventually becoming aware of the fact
that he was in Iceland, he started the
debate: “I think that Icelanders on their
island are a little bit isolated, but...
basically, we are all the same human
beings.” He giggled again. Disarming.
He sat down. The discussion with the
Dean of the Faculty for Humanities, two
Professors of philosophy and one for
religion, centred on religion, politics,
the economic crisis and the people’s
lost trust in politicians as well as the
equality of men and women.
Uncomfortable academics
The questions and answers could
have hardly been more opposing: the
professors focused on complicated
and broad subjects, such as war and
corruption, whereas the Dalai Lama’s
answers were always exemplary
individual cases. It was obvious that
the Western scholars were not always
happy with the answers they received.
Comments like: “Well, that’s all good in
theory, but …” were common.
The Buddhist monk continued talking
in examples, creating microcosms to
explain the big issues and solve the
problems of the world. In the end, for
him it all boils down to two parameters:
morality, together with education, and
self-discipline. One hour of discussion
was clearly too short for the Dalai Lama,
who was at his best when he indulged
in long philosophical monologues only
interrupted by short conversations with
his translator and accompanied with
laughter every once in a while. Being
reminded of the time, he turned around
to the dean later and asked – almost
giggling again – if he was talking for too
long and if this was a waste of time now.
He also felt sorry for the dean, who was
standing behind the speaker’s desk the
whole time and invited him to sit down
and be more comfortable.
The dean did as he was told and the
Dalai Lama gave him a friendly pat on
his knee, which the dean was clearly
uncomfortable with. In the end of the
discussion, the Tibetan leader took his
time to hand the traditional Buddhist
white scarves to every participant
in the discussion and thanked them
individually. Everyone was smiling. The
Dalai Lama was too frank, too happy
to not reach everyone in the hall. I got
the impression that we, the Western
educated people, make everything
more complicated than it actually is. In
contrast, modest him sees everything
clearly, just black or white. And maybe
that’s what things are: black and white
– which is the easiest and at the same
time hardest part in this philosophy for
our educated Western brains, because
it makes us realise how difficult it is
to go the straight and obviously moral
way.
A Friendly Clash Of Cultures
The Dalai Lama Goes Iceland!