Tuesday, June 3, 2008

Heartthrobs Next Door, or How AfterElton.com's Hot 100 List is out! (pun!)

You know a Hot 100 List is gonna be mighty fine when Jared Leto is #100 (and no, there's no sarcasm in that sentence at all! - I may not be a fan of 30 Seconds to Mars, nor can I name a recent cinematic outing by Mr Leto, but all I have to say to you is: mascara + Alexander. I rest my case).

Go check out AfterElton.com Hot 100 List here. Jake 'Jack Twist' Gyllenhaal took the #1 spot. And it reminded me: "Jack-Twist" (v.) ie. 'I have just been jack-twisted' needs to happen; that and after watching SatC I want to start using 'colouring' as an euphemism.

Glad to have seen on the list: Christopher Gorham, Robert Downey Jr., Ricky Martin, Eric Mabius, Lee Pace, David Boreanaz, Ryan Gosling, Heath Ledger, & Neil Patrick Harris. (Funnily enough... I've blogged on every single one of 'em except for the two Ugly Betty hotties, but there was enough love for their show here)
Made me wonder why they were on this list: Matthew McConaughey (Why?), Shia LeBoeuf (for more on my Shay-ya thoughts) & especially T.R. Knight (c'mon, his character is a wimp, and he's not even that hot).
Pleasant Surprises: David Tennant (Scrumptious Doctor Who?), Jake Siberman & Van Hansis (who knew Daytime soaps had gay hotness?) & Luke McFarlane (do I really need to keep up with ABC's B&S now?).

And, of course, my faves:
Paul Rudd
What's sexier than a funny man? A sexy funny man who can rock the facial hair and whose name rhymes with thud. Clueless might be long-gone (in people's minds... I still watch it from time to time - by that I mean every Wednesday, of course) but Mr Rudd has aged into his looks and looks better than ever, n'est-ce pas?

Jamie Bamber

What is there to say about Lee 'Apollo' Adama that has not been said in the form of comments in gay and straight blogs/ forums/ list-servs/ bathroom stalls right after the infamous 'towel scene' on arguably one of the best (sci-fi) shows ever, Battlestar Galactica? Exactly. Just drool on.
James Marsden
I love that GAP ad. I really do. James looks so comfortable in that awkward pose that I'm going to pretend like I wasn't (re) watching Heights on TV yesterday. Cause I wasn't, I mean I don't watch Lifetime... unless James is macking on Jesse Bradford while Glenn Close rehearses for Lady M that is.

Christian Bale

Yes, I know POP COLONY has this one covered, what with his stunning Details cover, but I just had to include Bruce Wayne in here because if there's something I love in a man it's talent, and Mr Bale - with projects like American Psycho, The Machinist & 3:!0 To Yuma has shown he has plenty of it! Good thing he's not hard on the eyes.

Zac Effron
You know I had to include Mr T(w)een Heartthrob. Just look at him! And it's legal... right? Meh, who cares. The guy can sing! (well, when someone else isn't recording the HSM 1 soundtrack for him) and dance! (Oh Link!) and can make you swoon with low-rise trunks! Now that's talent, I say.

AfterElton.com, Hot 100 List

5 comments:

Vance said...

So many men, so little time...

what? I love Shia! since his Even Stevens days. And T.R. pre-outing!

I'd get excited about Paul Rudd here but I could go on forever. Oh wait, I could go on forever about James Marsden.. oh wait.. I could go on forever for Jamie Bamber, oh wait...

Anonymous said...

82 guys on the list are straight or supposedly straight. SELF-HATRED MUCH? Gay people value heterosexuality OVER homosexuality. It's sick. After hundreds of millions of gay people throughout history were forced to live by straight people's demands or else gay people should be disgusted by those overlords instead of worshipping them. Gross. Michael Jensen and Brian Juergens said they would not talk about MIKA because he's in the closet and that's not supporting the gay "community." Yet they post articles about straight people who have done zero for gay people every day. Shameless and repulsive. Stop perpetuating self-hatred among gay men.

mB said...

I actually don't think it is a matter of self-hatred.

First off: If you read the article on AfterElton.com it says there were more out gay men in the list this year than last year. So, at least we're moving forward in some sense.

Second: of the Top 5, 4 of them are gay.

Third: Are you implying that gay men can/should only find gay men attractive? That sounds just as intolerant as what you're arguing. I believe your claims of 'self-hatred' for the lack of out gay men in the list is a bit simplistic, especially because the 82 straight men in the list are far from the straight majority: most have either played gay or have been active and vocal about their support of the gay community. Should there be more gay men on the list? Probably. Should gay men be more ubiquitous in pop culture? Probably. But to think that these issues would be addressed, let alone resolved by blogs and lists like this is kind of preposterous.

But most importantly, there's the issue of visibility. The list is compiled from popular vote, so I think it is more diagnostic than anything else: gays aren't voting for gays because gays have limited visibility which in turns creates the kinds of lists we're seeing here. This is a greater issue and just saying that lists like this perpetuate straight homogeneity is a tad (melo)dramatic.

Regardless, if you want to take away from this post and AfterElton.com's list "self-hatred" be my guest, I just don't see your point, nor do I wish to spend more time trying to argue for a sort of affirmative gay action when it comes to popular males who are attractive - really, not worth either of our time.

POP COLONY said...

TR Knight?!?!?! His bf maybe but definitely not his frumpy/whinging ass.

Aside from that the list looks almost as if yours truly had written it. Except in my list Christopher Meloni would not have dropped in ranking (those bastards!).

Dame James said...

My Top 10 List here

Yay for James Marsden (I do love that Gap Ad too) and Zac Efron!