Hello Friends!
If a fan base more fiery and vocal than Beliebers, Swifties, and Directioners exists, the world learned this week it's the Shadesers. This group of people is so passionate about the film adaptation of Fifty Shades of Grey that they are taking to the internet to voice their displeasure over the choice of Charlie Hunnam and Dakota Johnson as leads, cast for the roles of Christian Grey and Anastasia Steele. Fans who had hoped gay actor Matt Bomer would get the role instead of Humman are accusing the film's casting directors of homophobia.
Barbara Paz Osorio Navarro, a 19-year-old from Chile, is one such Shadeser. Her Change.org petition calling for the lead roles to be recast received more than 20,000 signatures over the course of a day, and now has close to 50,000. It reads: "Matt Bomer is the PERFECT DESCRIPTION OF CHRISTIAN GREY AND ALEXIS BLEDEL IS THE PERFECT ACTRESS TO REPRESENT ANASTASIA STEELE and if THEY ARE NOT, NOBODY WILL BE And I read the whole trilogy and I can assure that Matt is the perfect actor for this movie and Alexis too. So please PLEASE, all of the GREYsessed and Bomerettes in the world NEED those actors. They always will be for us the Christian Grey and Anastasia Steele. WE CAN DO ANYTHING GUYS, ANYTHING."
"I think Matt has been rejected because of his sexuality," Navarro, who calls herself a "Bomerette," told Cosmopolitan.com in an email. "It's 2013 and I find it really amazing that a person can be discriminated against for being gay. Talent is what matters. If [his not being cast] is not discrimination, then I don't know what to call it."
Dakota Johnson...
Navarro believes die-hard fans upset with the casting won't see the film if a change from Hunnam to Bomer is not made. "I hope that [the film's casting directors] open their eyes and realize the great discontent among fans," she said. "We are not happy with this. Many people believe that our main objective is to verbally attack or insult the actors that were chosen. That's not true. We want our voice heard. That's it all."
While Navarro's movement seems to be the only one of its kind (so far), like-minded ladies have taken to Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram since casting was announced to promote the #Bomerette hashtag and proclaim their belief that Bomer is the ideal choice to play Christian Gray.
But while the Bomerettes' campaign will likely do little to change the actual casting of the film, the concern that Bomer was overlooked—or even discrimnated against—isn't completely unfounded. Bomer's sexuality, as it pertains to Fifty Shades, made headlines in August, when Less than Zero author Bret Easton Ellis—who was once in the running to write the screenplay for the much-aniticiapted film—proclaimed via Twitter that the actor was completely wrong for the part.
Charlie Hunnam...
"Casting Matt Bomer is the equivalent as casting Jesse Tyler Ferguson..." he wrote in response to a fan hoping Bomer would be cast as Grey. "Matt Bomer isn't right for Christian Grey because he is openly gay. He's great for other roles but this is too big a game." (It seems like Ellis hasn't read a recent study showing that audiences by and large accept openly gay men when they play straight roles.)
But after casting was announced, Ellis again took to Twitter, explaining that Bomer was never even considered for the role: "Talked to E.L. James at a party over the summer: her first choice for Christian was Rob Pattinson and Matt Bomer was never in the running."
Was Bomer not a contender because of his sexuality? We will probably never know. So far, the Bomerettes and their accusations that Fifty Shades' casting was tinged with homophobia have yet to be addressed by the team at Focus Features, which is producing the film. But given the litany of roles straight and gay men have played that were off-orientation, if you will, like Jake Gyllenhaal in Brokeback Mountain, Sean Hayes playing it straight in the Broadway hit Promises, Promises , and even Cate Blanchette playing Bob Dylan in I'm Not There, the accusation that Fifty Shades' casting was outright homophobic seems like a stretch. Or, at least, one can hope.
As for Bomer himself, he says he's "touched" by the Bomerettes' support. He told EOnline.com that he's "so grateful for the fans" and is "looking forward to seeing the movie with Charlie and Dakota."
Culled from Cosmopolitan...
xoxo
Simply Cheska..
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