This week, Netflix released The Prom, a musical that follows a group of theater stars who swarm a high school to help a girl who wants to take her girlfriend to prom. It stars Meryl Streep, Nicole Kidman, Kerry Washington, Andrew Rannells, and James Corden.
James — who is straight and married to Julia Carey — plays Barry Glickman, a gay man and Broadway actor.
Keep in mind, there are still gay men who are not cast in movies because of their sexuality, while straight men playing gay characters are praised and win awards.
James' performance was seen as offensive and rife with stereotypes.
In general, people were upset that a straight actor was hired to play a gay man in the movie:
First thoughts on 'The Prom' Why on earth would they hire James Corden... a British, straight, TV show host that cant sing... to play a gay American Broadway actor... next to the amazing Andrew Rannells, who fits the role perfectly?? #TheProm #ThePromNetflix #theatre
I’m only 3 minutes into The Prom movie and this James Corden performance is already giving bad gay stereotypes 🙃
This person called James' performance "grossly inappropriate":
#TheProm is another example of Ryan Murphy choosing to go for gasps instead of focusing on a strong subject matter. James Corden’s performance is grossly inappropriate. It’s not brave playing a gay man, in fact you stole the role from a member of the LGBTQ community.
Another person called out the irony of James' "homophobic" rendition of a man in a musical that focuses on gay rights:
The unrepentant violence that is James Corden doing a homophobic portrayal of a gay man in a musical about gay rights.
People also pointed out how hiring a straight actor to play a gay man just leads to straight people acting out stereotypes and tropes when depicting a gay character:
So... we couldn't get a gay man to play James Corden's role in #TheProm ? They were all too busy? Do we still think it's kosher to have non-LGBTQIA people playing aggressively flamboyant, stereotypical gay characters? Does anyone ever learn? LMK.
Setting aside personal views on James Corden, one of the biggest problems of hiring a straight actor to play a gay role is that their interpretation of what 'gay' means will so often be stereotypical and problematic. At least if it's a gay actor that's less of a problem.
In conclusion, this person sums up my thoughts on the entire situation:
STOP CASTING STRAIGHT ACTORS IN GAY ROLES