The year 2010 was fertile in cultural production. In Brazil and abroad, a lot has been produced in terms of LGBT themes, and a lot of good things have come out of the oven. Let's remember the biggest highlights in each area.
Fine Arts
The exhibition "Andy Warhol, Mr. América", at Estação Pinacoteca, in SP, was a talent show. Quite complete and eclectic, it brought together different phases, supports and media used by the father of Pop Art throughout his career. The strength of Andy Warhol (1928-1987), for those who didn't know yet, became even more evident.
The "Selected Works" exhibition brought together historical works by American artist Keith Haring (1958-1990), marking the 20th anniversary of his death. Unforgettable works – most with his famous dancing dolls – were able to be seen by the public who passed through Caixa Cultural, at Conjunto Nacional, in SP.
Cinema
The Close gay film festival had its first edition in Porto Alegre, in October. It was a success, bringing together Brazilian short, medium and feature films with themes linked to the LGBT universe. May the festival continue to grow over the years.
The film "Man at Bath", by gay French filmmaker Christophe Honoré, was one of the highlights of the year. Shown at the 18th Mix Brasil Festival, its star is porn actor François Sagat, who was in São Paulo following the screenings. "Man at Bath" is a beautiful, strong film, with nudity and sex scenes that are both explicit and bucolic.
"Dzi Croquettes", a documentary about the legendary performance group from the 70s, arrived in cinemas and remained in theaters for months, with a surprising success – but, without a doubt, deserved. The film, directed by Tatiana Issa and Raphael Alvarez, is a masterpiece that immortalizes the story of these pioneering, transgressive and cursed artists.
"Direito de Amar" was the Brazilian title for "A Single Man", designer Tom Ford's film directorial debut. Despite the terrible title – identical to that of a 1987 Globo soap opera –, the film is a pearl of sophistication and elegance, narrating the drama of a gay professor in his forties who becomes a widower when his boyfriend dies.
"Como Esquecer", by Malu de Martino, brought the story of a lesbian teacher (Ana Paula Arósio) who tries to recover from the end of a romance. Subtle, beautiful and synthetic, the film has a strong performance by Arósio, and the courage to address the topic head-on.
Literature
The book "A TV no Armário – A Identidade Gay nos Programas e Telejornais Brasileiros", by Irineu Ramos, scored points by presenting an unprecedented study on the LGBT presence on our TV. With his work, the journalist showed how much Brazilian television still has to improve in the retrograde images and messages it transmits about the gay universe.
"I", Ricky Martin's autobiography, went to stores with an automatic bonus: in the book, the Puerto Rican singer goes into detail about his homosexuality, announced in June 2010.
Music
It was a year full of shows, and in the LGBT field things were abundant. We had Beyoncé at Morumbi, Mika and Of Montreal at Planeta Terra; Scissor Sisters in Via Funchal; Placebo at Credicard Hall; Air at the Natura Nós Festival… There was something for all tastes.
Greyson Chance hasn't even debuted on CD, but he's already made his presence felt. The 12-year-old American boy appeared on YouTube singing and playing Lady Gaga's "Paparazzi" on the piano. He became a superstar and was signed by Ellen DeGeneres' music label.
Daniel Peixoto, the former vocalist of the band Montage and now a solo singer, was once again hummed in the mouths of the fervent and night owls, with the song "Eu Só Paro se Cair", a tribute to bohemia.
Theater
The musical "Mamma Mia!", with repertoire by the Swedish pop band Abba, was staged in Brazil in a well-maintained production by Teatro Abril. Good performances and a beautiful musical direction managed to ignite the charm of the play, which is gay to the core.
TV
Globo's soap opera "Ti-ti-ti" managed to advance a few steps by portraying gay characters. By telling the story of Julinho ( André Arteche ), who loses her boyfriend Osmar (Gustavo Leão) in a car accident, author Maria Adelaide Amaral managed to raise the level of discussion about homosexuality, in good and strong dialogues between Julinho and the family of the deceased.
One of the biggest TV highlights in 2010 ended up being a rerun. At 45 minutes into the second half, the pay channel Viva aired the soap opera "Vale Tudo" (1988-89), which became an instant success. His phrases and slang appeared on Twitter, becoming trend topics, the XNUMX-year-old audience began to rewatch the soap opera, and the "twenty-year-old" audience fell in love with the work they didn't know. The rerun ended up giving Viva the audience leader position on pay TV.
And the series "Glee", in its second season, kept the excitement strong. Episodes with Britney Spears and Gwyneth Paltrow, tributes to "Rocky Horror Picture Show", lesbian and gay kisses, in short – everything was unmissable.
