Last week we got our first look at the first movie poster and first video trailer for the new film Valentine’s Day which seems to feature pretty much every actor in Hollywood and is scheduled for release on the week of February 14, 2010. At the time, I noted how cool it was to see so many cool actors featured in the film … including Bradley Cooper who, as it appeared in the trailer, was coupled up with Julia Roberts. It turns out that Bradley‘s character is actually gay and he is really coupled up with Eric Dane, who is not featured on the movie poster at all and is only briefly glimpsed in the trailer … nowhere near Bradley Cooper. Do you suppose the people trying to market Valentine’s Day are purposely omitting any information at all that reveals that there is a gay love story included in the film?
We’ve been keeping you updated on the star-studded movie Valentine’s Day since we first heard Bradley Cooper was playing a gay man in it. We had fun with the fantasy casting, and even though Hollywood didn’t take our advice, we weren’t complaining about them casting Grey’s Anatomy’s Eric Dane in the role of the closeted football player boyfriend. We weren’t thrilled about the teaser trailer when it came out, because it almost looked like Julia Roberts and Bradley were a couple, but we mostly laughed it off since it was a teaser. The full length trailer dropped over the weekend, and once again, Eric and Bradley don’t appear together in it. In fact, the picture above is as close as they get, which is consecutive frames in the trailer. Romantic, huh? Taylor Lautner and Taylor Swift get more screen time in this two minute clip than our boys do, and they reportedly filmed their brief cameo in an afternoon – in fact, that should be all of their time in the movie. From this, you’d think they had equal billing to Julia though. Is it really impossible to market an ensemble romantic comedy to the masses with a gay couple in it? Could that really be considered a bad marketing move in Hollywood now? First, a gay director (Tom Ford) takes a movie about a gay man based on a book by a gay man and degays the marketing for that movie, and now this?
To be completely honest, I had NO idea that there was a gay couple included in this film. I, like pretty much everyone else not familiar with the screenplay, had no inkling of gayness in the film … not from any of the marketing materials. It seems very obvious to me that this is intentional. How do you put out a 2 minute trailer and show every couple in the movie and completely omit the only gay couple in the movie? Even more devious, the trailer makes it appear that Bradley Cooper (arguably the hottest actor in Hollywood right now, therefore a big box office draw) is coupled up with Julia Roberts (I made that very assumption when I blogged about the trailer’s release last week). Not only is this insulting to me but it also makes me angry. I honestly feel duped. Considering how the studio has decided to market this film, I’m not sure I’m at all interested in seeing it at all when it gets released in theaters. If they’re so ashamed to feature the only gay couple featured in the film (which makes no sense as to why they included them in the first place) then I might be too ashamed to go see the damn thing in theaters.
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Wow. Thanks for ruining the movie for me. Glad to know the big plot twist before I go see it. Lovely.
Seriously. Not EVERYBODY is out to get homosexuals. I agree with Jackelynn – if they had a problem I highly doubt they’d include that story line and use such big name heterosexual actors.
Get a grip.
@MJ — I don’t recall saying that “EVERYBODY is out to get homosexuals”, please show me where I stated that? I still stand by my assertion that this movie trailer is misleading and dubiously so.
Move along y’all.
Much ado about nothing.
Trent is having a pissy fit.
Come on! If Eric Dane’s character is supposed to be a closeted gay man in the movie, no wonder the studio’s hiding it! I totally support equality and same sex marriages, but as a gay man myself, I really don’t think this is that important…
I mean, I understand, Trent, that probably the studio prefers the gay couple to be kept under wraps so that the movie has a greater audience, but come on… it’s not such a big deal… I think we have other issues to worry about :P
ok so i’m a little confused… was this supposed to be a twist? or when i sit down to see it will i know right away that bradley cooper and eric dane are playing gay men? if it is a twist i see why they are hiding it… but i doubt it is. julia roberts may play his sisteR? either way it seems as if they are hiding it in a way. i feel offended for gay people because it’s saying that they shouldn’t advertise the gay couple because it will keep people away from the film.
If someone was already a Bradley Cooper fan, they would not be shocked by his choice of taking on a gay role. He was 1/2 of a gay couple (the other half being Micheal Ian Black) in David Wain’s Wet Hot American Summer. This movie looks like it is trying to be Love Actually but on Valentine’s Day…just not my cup of tea. I’ll wait for the dvd.
Ok Trent, please chill.
As a gay man, I’m actually okay with it. Don’t you think it’s a Surprise TWIST for the audience that actually watches the movie.
And things like that will pull other people in to watch it, I believe. By a good word of mouth, assuming the movie is good. I like the idea!
I mean No-One expects it, and I’m pretty sure not everyone who goes into watch the film knows which actor plays what character and what the character is suppose to entail.
I for one think it’s a good idea! It’s not expected, and it’s a cool twist.
I
@JSM — I’m quite chill. Groovy actually. I still think this is shaaaaaaaady.
@Paul, sorry , shouldn’t have said it like that. It’s hard to put yourself in other people’s shoes and for that I’m sorry .
odd, i never thought they were coupled. if they were… how would julia be ok with the stewardess so blatantly coming on to him and mocking it. i assumed they were just sitting together in a plane and that her “connection” is going to be with emma roberts (likely her daughter) and shirly mcclain and hector elizondo her parents. i saw julia in military fatigues in one shot i am guessing she’s coming back from overseas… but again, just an assumption on my part. i had no idea there was a gay couple, but i don’t understand why they would HIDE that. i guess i am a bit naive when it comes to all of that stuff though. it wouldn’t keep me from seeing the movie and it wouldn’t make me see it either… however i do agree that there are people who are close minded enought to not go for that reason. i wondered how eric dane fit in… if bradely cooper and eric dane are a “couple” that is one hot damn couple. too much pretty for one couple, imo… people will be slipping on the drool out of the theatres. lol
The marketing department totally did it on purpose and it’s not there fault they just don’t believe people want to see gay couples. Just like you never really see interracial couples in high profile movies because the industry doesn’t think that people want to see it. It’s a shame really. I think that if this is the big “twist” in the movie it’s probably not going to be very well because really a male in the closet? Hmm that’s never been done before. lol. I’m so sick of these movies who just have a list celebrities and no original story
i don’t know much about the actual movie, but it does seem like a very deliberate omission in the trailer. that said, i doubt the people creating the movie are the same ones marketing it. the former are likely concerned with telling a story while the latter care more about mass ticket sales.
this isn’t anything new though. Bruno ads were noticeably asexual, as were commercials for the Tom Ford movie (mentioned in the article you quoted), and even Brokeback Mountain shied away from deliberately “gay” displays.
It’s unfortunate, but I can’t say i actually blame the marketers–they’re essentially de-sexualizing (/de-gaying) the product the same way a lot of shows have to be dumbed down for the sake of mass appeal.
The gay couple wasn’t shown in the trailor because it is supposed to be a twist in the movie. The movie company obviously doesn’t want to give away a secret of the movie. I don’t think there was any hidden agenda in not showing the gay couple. I mean come one why would you want to see a movie if the trailor gave away the whole plot? I personally think this is an awesome twist and would have been pleasantly suprised to see them as a couple if I hadn’t read the comment and spoiled it for myself. I think the important point here is to be happy that a gay couple is going to be represented in a mainstream movie by two popular actors. It will show people that there is nothing wrong with you no matter your sexuality.
ahhhh my two favourite men :D
good couple… i’d quite like to see this actually! xoxox
Well I guess the secret is “out” now. HAha . Why do they always give away the plot twists before the movie is out?
i dont understand why people jump to conclusions about these things. why always think the worst? its supposed to be a twist, not everything is “shady” or a plot to “dupe” you.. its simply meant to surprise the viewer. if they were “ashamed’ about gay relationships, they wouldn’t have written one into the movie for crying out loud.
Eric dane and Bradley cooper omg that could be the most hottest gay couple ever lol
Unlike ‘The Vintner’s Luck’, at least they didn’t make the gay storyline (and whole point to the book) disappear. Welcome to the world of gay people trying to find a movie we can relate to. Needle in a haystack!
I saw the very first screening of this film in LA a couple months ago… very rough cut. I was picked to stay for a focus group to discuss the film and what I thought about it further.
So there’s “the twist” that Bradley Cooper and Eric Dane are coupled and they are the only couple in the film that have any chemistry whatsoever, but they DON’T KISS! every other couple in this film kisses (and more), except the gay couple! And I voiced this at the focus group, because I was let down that the only couple I was really rooting for didn’t have that final pay off of a kiss… not even a peck on the cheek! They just look deeply into one another’s eyes for a brief second. And the man who led the focus group said: well, we don’t really need to see that (meaning the two men kiss), do we?
Infuriating!!!
@Em — Your comment is well-taken and proves my point exactly as to the way the single gay relationship is treated in this film. Had they left the “gay” relationship out altogether, it would’ve sounded much more appealing to me. This need to silence and then sanitize the only gay storyline makes it sound like complete garbage in my book.
I also saw this movie at a screening in LA and the coupling of Bradley Cooper and Eric Dane is a twist ending, but unfortunately now after blogs like this audiences won’t have the same reaction. I went into the film knowing nothing about it other than it being on Valentine’s Day and having an all-star cast. When the twist came at the end I was pleasantly surprised and loved that they were coupled up. The preview shows Bradley on the plane and Julia Roberts addressing the flirty flight attendant and it gives a very hetero vibe to Bradley’s character. That is ON PURPOSE! You go through the movie thinking he’s going to be with Julia and then you get the surprise at the end. While @Em is right that there was no kiss, the twist scene is still very sweet given other things in the movie with Eric Dane’s character that lead to that.
I’m sorry that people are actually learning of the twist before going into the movie because it loses its wow factor, but just know that there is no evil intent on the marketing side to leave that out of trailers. As someone who saw the movie without knowing, I am glad to see they left that out. It would have ruined both their storylines if you knew that going in.
Overall, still a very cute movie and one I recommend for both those straight and gay!
@Addison — Awww, it’s cute that gay relationships are treated like a surprise, trick ending meant to fool people into thinking they don’t exist and then SURPRISE there it is! It would be far too obvious if in a movie about love that features a large cast of heterosexual relationships they decided to include a single gay relationship and treat it as normally as they would treat any of the hetero relationships without making it a gimmick. Sorry, I’m not impressed at all.
I agree its fairly shady.
@Amanda – Ur Too Cute.. No Worries..