The Dying Gaul

...is the name of a film written and directed by Craig Lucas, based on his play. Roger Ebert's review grabbed me with his synopsis of the story--

"Woe to him who seeks to please rather than to appall."

Those words appear onscreen in the first shot of "The Dying Gaul." Here is another quotation, from later in the film: "No one goes to the movies to have a bad time. Or to learn anything." The first quotation is from Herman Melville's Moby Dick. The second is by a Hollywood studio executive, about a screenplay he likes but thinks is not commercial. The screenplay is about a homosexual love affair. Make the lovers heterosexual, the executive tells the writer, and I'll cut you a check for $1 million, here and now.

The executive is Jeffrey, played by Campbell Scott, who is becoming a master of characters with controlled but alarming emotions. The screenwriter is Robert, played by Peter Sarsgaard, in a sincere and inward role a little unusual for him. His screenplay is about his former lover, who was also his agent.

"Americans hate gays," Jeffrey tells him flatly.

--but did not in the end make me want to pay eight bucks to see it. Its low rating on Rotten Tomatoes didn't help either, but it's entirely possible I'll see it when it hits DVD or cable (it's a natural for Logo or Bravo).

But I did want to know where the story went, so I requested a book of Lucas' plays from the library and read it. I think the parts that resonated with me are not necessarily those that drove Lucas emotionally when he was writing it, judging from the play and his afterword. I can't be too specific without giving away more than I should; the story goes into some twisted and dark places that should be revealed to the reader or viewer on their own terms.

But artistic compromise, and specifically the...I hate to say economic viability but that is what I'm talking about, of a story about a homosexual love affair, are issues for me. For any of you who don't know, I've been working on such a story in a variety of forms for a couple of years or so. My story is about lesbians, not gay men, but the principle's the same. But I have added fears that because I'm a straight man writing about gay women, my "take" on them will be dismissed. Or worse, that it should be.

It's weird, but in a way, I find myself afraid that someone will say (in so many words), "You can't come in here. You're a boy." These fears are probaby fed by another book I'm in the middle of reading, which I expect to say a few words about here when I'm finished.

For another thing, I don't want to use that as an excuse, though. I mean maybe I'm anticipating resistance on a sexual front so I can defend myself if people just find fault with the story. Or the way I tell it. I don't want to be like Roseanne, Madonna or Striesand, assuming sexism everywhere if people just don't like my work.

"The Dying Gaul" is a story of identity, deception, and revenge.