Why doesn't the film industry accept bisexuals?

They work on what they think sells within the legal limits. They must think bi-sexuals don't sell.

I agree with Spendi (huzzah! watch the world spin on its axis backwards). I posit that the vast majority in the film industry do accept bisexuals; at least those I know/knew do. What will make a screenplay get as far as production has to do, in Hollywood at least, with potential profit. Well, not always, but it is a very large factor.

Or maybe because of the question about sellability, screenwriters, often hungry people in terms of trying to wedge into Hollywood, don't write the screenplays, or even propose them via treatments. Maybe the treatments or screenplays are poorly written. (Oh, but wait...)

Almost all producers think that one in the bush is better than two in the hand.

It's a valid explanation at least money is. But do you really think that Gay films market significantly better than Bisexual films?

PS: I don't mean to say the film industry won't accept a bisexual employee. I haven't noticed that. I just mean in terms of what the films seem to say. The films seem to say a bisexual is just a confused gay. Therefore failing to accept a bisexual as a valid character.

When you tell a story in little over than an hour you are going to have to employ a lot of reductionism, and this favors clear narratives. Going only by what you've said here (I'm no film buff) my theory is that bisexuality lacks some of the gestalt for a simple narrative by being an inherently more complex literary character that isn't as easily type-cast to one team.

Probably that and the fact that most all films uphold the traditional ideals of monogamy and monogamy and bisexuality really don't play well together.

Unless you're referring to the gay porno "industry," i'd say that there are an insufficient number of samples available from which to have derived your thesis. Hollywood, the traditional film industry, just doesn't make very many "gay" films, which is why a motion picture such as Brokeback Mountain got as much attention (undeserved) as it did. Had that movie been judged by the standard of romantic films about heterosexuals, which Hollywood has churned out by the hundreds over almost a century, it would be considered lame. It got the attention it did because it was a homosexual romance motion picture.

Of course, if you're referring to gay porno movies, you've already left the realm of the film industry, because it is a part of a separate industry. Of course, anyone responding to this thread who doesn't care to accept the basic premise could easily point out that we don't know that it is true that the film industry doesn't accept bisexuality. We just have your word for that.

I get Robert's point re monogamy and bisexuality not playing as it has to do with complexity of story.
I've no idea how many screenplays on this theme are treading water.
A sharp writer could work these channels.

I probably shouldn't have made my statement quite so strongly. "Film Industry" implies mainstream film. Where my comment is much more applicable to indie film high-quality indies which you can rent at Block Buster, but still indie film. Because the reality is the "film industry" doesn't really except gays well enough to even have gay leads for the most part.

That is a completely reasonable statement with which i would agree.

((((((((THUD))))))))

Several movies merely handle the subject in a context of historical completeness for a character, eg Frieda Kahlo, MAry Shelley. As robert stated , having sufficient time to develop this as a plot element may waste time in a story.

For the same reason they dont accept cheques.

Bisexuality involves a conflict. In this particular case, it is the conflict between heterosexuality and homosexuality. As anyone familiar with Aristotle's Poetics knows, conflict is at the heart of all drama. Choosing to remain bisexual doesn't resolve the conflict: only a choice between homosexuality or heterosexuality leads to a satisfactory resolution and dramatic denouement.

Happy, contented bisexuals can't be at the center of a drama, because they lack the requisite internal conflict (see, e.g., Chasing Amy). At best, they can be peripheral figures.

I disagree with Joe. But oddly enough I noticed you disagreed with yourself.


Bisexuality is often misunderstood by the indie films to be a conflict between heterosexuality and homosexuality but a true bisexual isn't conflicted they are neither heterosexual nor homosexual. A bisexual sexually attracted to both genders, and this is not a place of conflict before the bisexual settles down to being either a heterosexual nor homosexual as the movies so often depict.

It would have been helpful if you had actually pointed out where I disagreed with myself.

But let me try to clear up what I think may be the cause for your evident confusion. In my previous post, I was not making some sort of clinical observation about bisexuality. Instead, I was limiting myself to cinematic representations of bisexuality. I'm quite aware that there are lots of unconflicted bisexuals out there. I would add that there are a lot of happy, contented bookkeepers out there too. And nobody makes movies about them, either.

The movie could be a bio-pic of actress Anne Heche's life . That certainly could be a potentially marketable movie. In fact, her whole family and family dynamics is/aren't dull to say the least.

..and as to whether or not Anne Heche is bisexual or lesbian is beyond my understanding. I'm not sure whether or not she is clear on the subject, ased on interviews of her and her info in various resources. she currently is married to man (actor named Tupper) and they have a child. She had been in a well-known long term relationship with Ellen deGeneress.

I did point out where you disagreed with yourself:

Quote:
Bisexuality involves a CONFLICT. In this particular case, it is the conflict between heterosexuality and homosexuality.

Quote:
Happy, contented bisexuals can't be at the center of a drama, because they LACK the requisite internal CONFLICT.

Maybe because there aren't too may good scripts around with bisexual characters?

Heck, I'd happily watch a good film about just about any subject. But I concede that it would probably be an "independent" film at this point in time.