Patrik-Ian Polk: 'I'm used to actors being scared to play gay characters'

http://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/apr/21/patrik-ian-polk-actors-scared-gay-characters

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When we meet for coffee in his Harlem neighborhood, it’s immediately clear why Patrik-Ian Polk, director of the new film Blackbird, named his production company Tall Skinny Black Boy. He is lanky, quiet, serious and dressed in all black, except for the exclamation point of his bright pink hat. There’s a lot to be excited about.

Blackbird has already won a handful of awards, and has two big names as its stars: Mo’Nique and Isaiah Washington. It’s a story he’s wanted to tell for years: the coming-out and coming-of-age story of Randy Rousseau, played by Julian Walker, a black southern teenager struggling with the realization that he’s gay.

Blackbird is the first release from RLJ Entertainment, the production and distribution company spearheaded by Robert L Johnson, founder of BET. Despite this mainstream affiliation, Blackbird initially faced a serious challenge: none of Hollywood’s young black actors would play the lead role. Some cited religious reasons; others were concerned about the “graphic” love scenes between men.

“All my films have dealt with black gay subject matter,” Polk says. “I’m used to the fear that’s out there with actors scared to play a gay character.”

To call the film’s love scenes “graphic” is really an exaggeration, or perhaps a way to clearly signpost scenes that cause the unease some feel about queer love, particularly between men. What Blackbird actually shows is a coming-of-age story about a young, confused, but well-meaning teenager who, in his denial of his sexuality, is aiming to honor his family and religion.

Mo’Nique, who plays Randy’s mother, and is an executive producer on the film with her husband, Sidney Hicks, says she believes “America is ready for [gay] love.” She and Hicks decided to produce the film, knowing it would have an impact in the way black, southern, and church-going folks discuss homosexuality. “This story … [is] gonna save a lot of lives and we’ll be part of that,” she said.

By featuring an openly black gay character at its forefront, Blackbird does the important work of allowing marginalized people to see themselves on screen. The script, co-written by Polk and Rikki Beadle Blair, is an adaptation of the 1986 novel of the same name by Larry Duplechan. Polk first read the book as a freshman at Brandeis University. “It was revelatory,” he says. “It was like, Wow, a story that’s somewhat similar to mine. I’d read white coming-of-age novels, gay-themed, plenty of those. So I think I was inspired by the lack of representation, just telling the stories that I, as a gay black man, wanted to see.”

In so doing, he’s become what some call “the father of black gay cinema” and though it’s a heavy title, it’s also an accurate one. His films Punks (2001), The Skinny (2012), and the hugely popular web-series-turned-TV-show Noah’s Arc were some of the first to focus primarily on black gay characters. “I resigned myself to the idea that if all I do is black gay work for the rest of my life, that’s fine. I certainly don’t mind being known for that. Because there wasn’t really anything before. I feel like it’s important work. I’d rather do this and look back have a career of this type of groundbreaking work as opposed to a bunch of films that really aren’t that memorable. People still talk about Punks, 15 years later. People still talk about Noah’s Arc. Those things meant something to people.”

Though we’re at a moment when LGBTQ people have their highest visibility ever, and black men such as Michael Sam and Frank Ocean have come out in very public ways, Polk still thinks the idea of black gay love makes some people uncomfortable.

“There’ll be an article about a [black celebrity] coming out, and people go, Why do we need to know this? It’s the same kind of thing, that same old, outdated attitude of ‘Don’t ask, don’t tell’, keep it in the closet. And that’s the attitude that, quite literally, sometimes kills people. That’s why I think it’s important that we have a film like this and people see it because people think it’s out there, you think it’s everywhere, but people still respond that same way.”

Blackbird, which premieres in select cities on 24 April, comes on the heels of the hit TV series Empire, a show which featured an openly black gay character, portrayed by Jussie Smollett (who starred in Polk’s 2012 film, The Skinny).

“Empire is sort of forcing black America to have this conversation about sexuality,” he says. “You watch a show like Empire, and you like all of these characters, they’re all interesting. So you look at a character like [Jussie Smollet’s] Jamal Lyon, and you think, Oh wow, he’s attractive, he’s talented, he’s dancing, and singing this song that I really can enjoy and get into. And, oh wait – he happens to be gay. All great works of art have that potential to change your perspective on things.”

Despite the lingering conservatism that informs some people’s ideas about gayness, Polk acknowledges that there has been a radical shift in how queer people, black and otherwise, move through the world. Julian Walker, the 21-year-old star of the film (who didn’t have professional acting experience before Blackbird), is an openly gay, black, Mississippi native. Just as Randy’s friends in the film encourage him to be open about his sexuality, Walker, and many other young queer people, are growing up in a world where “it’s OK to be gay,” and their sexual identity is met with acceptance, even indifference.

In that way, Blackbird heralds something both new and familiar. As with Polk’s other work, the film’s themes – love, family, community, self-acceptance – are common to almost every story told on-screen, or otherwise. It’s the telling of these stories with black gay characters that can create a blind spot for Hollywood, and viewers who stop short of watching the films, thinking they’re not relatable. But Polk is hopeful that Blackbird will continue the conversation that Empire has sparked, and that more stories about the black gay experience will make their way to the big screen.

“I think when people see [these stories], they feel like they know these characters. I think that’s how it starts to change hearts and minds.”