Do Straight People Owe It To Billy Eichner To See His Gay Rom-Com?
He’s attributing Bros’ poor performance to homophobia, but the real answer is likely more complicated
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Last week I made plans with friends to see Bros, the new romantic comedy centered around a gay male couple. I wanted to see it for a few reasons:
- I enjoy Billy Eichner’s frenetic, angry style of comedy
- I knew it would be light fare, which is perfect for this moment in my life
- I wanted to show support for the LGBTQ+ community
My plans got rescheduled to next week, so I can’t give you a review. But the movie review site Rotten Tomatoes deemed it “certified fresh” with a 91% approval rating and Rolling Stone Magazine already has it on their list of the best comedies of the 21st century. So I’d say it’s worth seeing.
Apparently, a good proportion of the public were unmoved by these accolades. Specifically straight people, according to Eichner.
Billy Eichner co-wrote and stars in Bros, and is the biggest name attached to the front end of the movie (Judd Apatow produced). So he’s been working overtime on the promotion circuit because he has a lot to gain or lose with its success or failure.
Critically, it’s a huge success. However, the Hollywood Reporter calls the opening weekend box office “dismal”. Projected to earn $10 — $12 million, the film launched to less than half of that, $4.8 million.
By Sunday afternoon, Eichner was showing a little desperation with this Tweet:
You could argue it was just edgy humor, but Eichner doubled down with the following: “Even with glowing reviews, great Rotten Tomatoes scores, an A CinemaScore, etc, straight people, especially in certain parts of the country, just didn’t show up for Bros. And that’s disappointing but it is what it is.”
Bros’ top 10 audience markets were in New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco, which seems to support his theory that the LGBTQ+ community showed up for the movie while a lot of straight folks did not.
But is simple homophobia and/or collective indifference responsible for the movie’s dismal performance? I don’t think so.
America is a divided country, and we know there are those who wouldn’t go see a romance about two gay men on principle. But there are also enough members of the LGBTQ+ community, and allies, to have far surpassed the first weekend projections if people really wanted to see the film.
I think Bros was facing a few major issues that had nothing to do with homophobia. In fact, a lot of its challenges could have been addressed by a change of platform.
In a world where a movie date costs upwards of $50 when you factor in gas, parking, and outrageously priced theatre snacks, people are becoming increasingly picky about what movies they see at a theatre.
Since comedy isn’t known for its sweeping cinematography, many prefer to watch it via streaming platforms unless there’s a compelling reason not to.
As The Hollywood Reporter observes: “Of late, comedies that have worked at the box office have been upheld by major star power, such as Ryan Reynolds in Free Guy (20th Century/Disney) or Sandra Bullock and Channing Tatum in The Lost City (Paramount). Comedy has many sub-genres, and both of those films are also action-adventure.”
So the general consensus is — people aren’t going to see just any comedy at the theatre — you have to produce a big, bankable star. Billy Eichner has a sizable following, but his star wattage is pretty dim when compared with that of Ryan Reynolds or Sandra Bullock.
Simply put, he may not have the power to helm a major theatrical release.
Another potential issue, as the Hollywood Reporter suggests, is that romantic comedies of any ilk, straight or gay, just don’t pack the theatres anymore. While they were huge in the late 20th century and early aughts, Entertainment Weekly’s list of the top-grossing romantic comedies only features two films released after 2009 (Silver Linings Playbook and Crazy Rich Asians).
There are good reasons for that. For one, the intimacy of a romantic story plays well in the living room, so a big screen is unnecessary. Plus, great rom coms are rare, so many people have moved on to different genres.
Romantic comedies have not disappeared, however. They still have clout on the right platform.
Happiest Season, a lesbian romantic comedy released in 2020, broke Hulu streaming records. According to Harper’s Bazaar: “It became the most-watched film across the streaming website during opening weekend and had the most hours watched among all the site’s original films.”
It’s natural for Eichner to be upset that his film underperformed, but to go straight to homophobia is misguided. He’s clearly not endearing himself with his potential straight audience. Comments on Entertainment Weekly’s post on this matter include:
“I don’t want to be shamed into seeing a movie. With his comments, I’m not sure I want to go see him or his movie.”
“Since when is anyone supposed to go see a movie that doesn’t interest them — must be homophobia!”
“We are struggling to put food on the table and gas in the car. This was the last thing on our minds.”
Hopefully, Bros’ box office will show a sharp increase after good word-of-mouth, but the answer may have been to reconsider the platform all along.
A modified version of this story by the same author appears here.
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