Showing posts with label gay subtext. Show all posts
Showing posts with label gay subtext. Show all posts

Anton Starkman: I keep forgetting the teencom star's name and show. But he's got a physique, he plays gay-vague characters, and there are dicks

 


I found this guy on the teen idol website, star of a Nickelodeon show that I'd never heard of.  He's got a muscular physique, he is at the beach with a dude, and is that a pride pillow?  Certainly worth a profile.  So I checked him on IMDB, then got called away -- and forgot his name and the name of the show.  Wham or Whomp or something?



The only other shows I recalled were The Magical Mystery of something or other and Grey's Anatomy, his last acting role, in 2025.

So I went through the Grey's Anatomy Season 22 cast list on wikipedia and the IMDB, , and the only male actors who looked like my guy were Niko Terho, who has never appeared in a Nickelodeon show




Todd Denson, ditto.

Left: Google thinks that this is Todd Denson, but I'm not sure.

And Micah McNeill, who was in one episode of  ICarly.

Maybe I could find Wham or Whomp or whatever he starred in?

 I checked every Nickelodeon show broadcast during the last 20 years, and the only one close to Wham or Whomp was Warped, with 13 episodes airing between January and April 2022. 





 

It was a buddy comedy set in a comic book store, with superego Milo (Anton Starkman) butting heads with unrestrained id Ruby.  They both had heterosexual crushes, but not on each other.  Their friend Hurley (Christopher Martinez) worked in the pizza place upstairs.


 Harrison Xu of Extremely Unique Dynamic appeared in two episodes.

Darn, I forgot the name of the show while looking up the supporting cast.   





Anyhow, it appears that Anton Starkman is our guy. 

Repeat:  Anton Starkman, aka Anton Lee Starkman. 

He'd better be worth it.

Anton lists his gender identity and pronouns on the IMDB, but not his sexual orientation.  A good sign.





His on-screen experience begins  with the short Henry (2011): the "bookworm" boy keeps interfering with Mom's dates.  She tries to date four guys, including Jason  Beghle, seen here jumping out of a window naked.

In the short Lucy Falls (2013), a 7-year old small-town girl gets a boyfriend.  Guess who.

Next Anton played a young vampire in six episodes of American Horror Story (2015-16).

The younger brother of a boy with a dead pal in Shovel Buddies (2016).

The young version of Gideon, son of  Beauty and the Beast Belle and Rumpelstiltskin, on two episodes of Once Upon a Time (2017).  As far as I can tell, the older version, played by Giles Matthey, doesn't display any heterosexual interest.

More after the break. Caution: Explicit.

Jake Rory: The Shropshire Lad plays gay-vague on EastEnders, falls in love with Mercutio, gets naked in a third of his on-screen roles.

 


The media calls Jake Rory  a Shropshire Lad, reflecting the book of poetry by A.E. Housman, who was terrified of acknowledging his love for men:

Look not in my eyes, for fear
  They mirror true the sight I see,
And there you find your face too clear
  And love it and be lost like me.

He grew up in Maesbury, Shropshire, near the Welsh border; his Mum ran the Talbot Pub across the border in Welshpool.  After secondary school at The Hammond, he attended ArtsEd, a "world-renowned" drama school in London:



There he appeared in:

The Cherry Orchard (who hasn't?)

 Orpheus Descending, by Tennessee Williams.  Bi actor Marlon Brando starred in the movie version.

Macbeth

And The Voysey Inheritance: Desire and social obligation, by the heavily closeted Harley Granville-Barker.

He also had a minor role in the short Renters (2024): a lesbian couple in Auckland are looking for a flat.  One seems too good to be true, until... 


Jake graduated with a B.A. in Acting in 2024, and was immediately cast in a modernized version of Oedipus on the West End (October 2024-January 2025).  Mark Strong played Oedipus. Jake was in the ensemble, and understudied the roles of Eteocles, Polyneices, and Lichas (Oedipus' son, brother, and assistant).




In 2025, Jake and Connor Monroe wrote and performed in Mercutio,  a modern retelling of Romeo and Juliet, at the Camden Fringe Festival.  A review mentions an "unexpected romantic subtext," but of course the gay-subtext romance betwween Mercutio and Romeo is well known.  

Connor Monroe is apparently gay.  A woman posts on "Love Is All That Matters" about her "gay brother Connor Monroe," and someone by that name mentions having a husband. 



Jake also began television work in 2025.  In Episode 1.8 of The Agency, Martian (Michael Fassbinder), a CIA agent working undercover, walks in on his daughter  Poppy and her boyfriend Daniel (Jake), both naked.  Danny Boy strikes a pose, planning to fight the "intruder"; but upon realizing that it's just Dad, he settles for covering up.







Martian is nonchalant about his daughter getting busy.  Later he praises her for growing into a "cool person."

More after the break

Rooster, Episode 1.8: Are Rooster and Tommy boyfriends or father-son? Is Eli having a gay romance with a girl? With Jonah's butt and Noah's dick

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Adam's Hot/Hung Photos, Part 1: Forehead presses, anal poopers, divine dicks, an Oz salute, and Kermit the Frog



This is a collection of hot or humorous photos of Adam Devine, star of Workaholics, The Righteous Gemstones, and just about everything else.  I've already posted most of his available cock shots, but not to worry, he has lots of co-sars and friends. 

1. The "I lost my swimsuit in the ocean" excuse is getting old, buddy.


2. Adam's physique has been compared to Schwarzenegger's.  Not favorably, just compared.








3.  "I know he's not much to look at, but he makes me laugh." Girl, you’re looking in the wrong place .

.




4. Oh, for...three years of Kelvin/Keefe forehead presses, and now this!  Just kiss him, and save us all a lot of aggravation!








5. In The Out-Laws, Adam plays a hapless bank manager who butts heads with rival manager Dean Winters, here giving an Oz nude salute.








6. Adam's new commode, for turning bathroom time into fun time. It looks nice and all, but how do you poop?














More Adam after the break

Pablo the Penguin's penis: Jake Goldberg from "Backyardigans" and "Grown Ups" grows up to corporate, cooking, and some cock shots

 


Remember Pablo?  He was one of the backyard buddies on Nick Junior's Backyardigans (2004-2013) a high-strung, frenetic blue penguin best-buddying with the laid-back orange moose Tyrone.  Their friends included Tasha, a yellow hippopotamus best-buddying with the tomboy Uniqua, who has no animal species; and Austin, a purple kangaroo. 



Contrary to what commentators believe, gayness doesn't suddenly appear when you see your first drag queen. You are gay as a preschooler.  You may not be interested in physical intimacy yet, but you find some people and not others attractive, and form romantic bonds, early on.  In Backyardigans, Pablo and Tyrone were queer coded, although Pablo is more often paired with Austin on Archive of Our Own. 


A decade later, Nicholas Barasch, who played Austin in 20 episodes (2009-13), showed his physique on Riverdale.



Leon Thomas III, who played Tyrone in 25 episodes (2006-09), gave us a butt shot on Insecure.

 But Jake Goldberg, a long running Pablo (60 episodes, 2006-13), has given us one better: shots of his penis. 









Born in 1996, Jake grew up in New York, except for five years spent in Israel.  As a child and teenager, he appeared in episodes of 3D Rock, Law and Order: SVU, and Bull, and he played Adam Sandler's son in Grown Ups (2010) and Grown Ups 2 (2013)

Jake is second from the left.  Notice David Henrie of Wizards of Waverly Place on the right.


.   

His character crushes on girls, but also buddy-bond (and gets naked) with Nadji Jeter as Chris Rock's son. He was nominated for a Golden Raspberry Award, which may have turned him off acting as a career choice.

More after the break.  Caution: Explicit.

"The Naked Brothers Band," the most heterosexist teencom on Nickelodeon. Plus the grown-up brothers' cocks, butts, and gay-vague characters.


Around 2008, I researched queer codes on children's tv for what turned out to be three scholarly articles.  I gave high scores to Drake and Josh,  Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide,  The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy, The Wizards of Waverly Place, and The Suite Life of Zack and Cody.  Phil of the Future, Ed Edd and Eddy, and Zoey 101 got low scores, and the lowest: The Naked Brothers Band.

It was a mockumentary about the misadventures of a fictional band led by preteen brothers, Alex and Nat Wolff.  They never explained the embarrassingly salacious name, but I assume that it meant that you would be seeing their real life, uncurated and unmediated. 

Of course, it was curated and mediated.  Alex and Nat did have a band, and some of their real-life bandmates (like Dan Levi, left) were in the cast, but most of the characters and situations were purely fictional.  They were not at all famous.  Yet.   

In 2004, actress Polly Draper had the idea of making a mockumentary about her sons' band, sort a preteen Spinal Tap or A Hard Day's Night.  She got her wealthy (or wealthier) brother to finance The Naked Brothers Band, filmed it in mid-town Manhattan, and entered it the 2005 Hamptons International Film Festival.  Nickelodeon bought it, and suggested a teencom spin-off, competition to the upstart Myley Cyrus in Hannah Montana. 


 Nat Wolff was only twelve years old, and Alex was nine,  a little young to handle a teencom by themselves, so Polly added adults to the cast to pull some of the weight.  Mostly her relatives: husband Michael Wolff as the boys' widowed dad; niece Jesse as their babysitter; brother Tim as the school principal. Plus a steady stream of celebrity friends, including Ryan Seacrest, Tony Hawk, and Whoopi Goldberg, popped by to play themselves.

The result was three seasons of intense nepotism and aggressive "girls! girls! girls!' hetero-horniness (2007-09).

I only watched one episode for my research project (there were over 30 programs in my dataset), so to be fair, I just watched another:  "Three is Enough" (February 8, 2008)

In the teaser, Alex wants to practice putting his arm around his "true love" in the movies.  Nat is skeptical -- he has a new "true love" every week.  But he agrees to play the girl.  Then Alex plays the girl so Nat can practice.  The gender-play is a queer code, but it's drowned out by the endless discussion of how many girls they like.


Next: they have writen a new song, "Three is Enough."  Babysitter Jesse agrees: three is the perfect amount of everything, from donuts to boys. For instance, she can't choose between the three "adorable Timmerman Brothers" (played by Polly's excessively rich nephews).  She implies that she is dating all of them, and perhaps not one at a time. Maybe they are involved in a queer four-way romance.




Then the Handsome Foreigner next door (Michael W. Barry)  asks her to the big horror movie.  The Timmermans get jealous and decide to spy on them.

At the studio, famous cartoonist Jules Feiffer, playing himself, is drawing cartoons to project over the band's new song.  Alex asks to be portrayed as cooler and more teenager-ish, and for the girl he is in love with to look more like his real-life true love.  

The main plot: their manager, 12-year old Cooper (Cooper Pillot) accidentally asks a girl for a date.  The band suggests various ways to get out of it, but he doesn't want to get out of it. He just wants Nat to come along for moral support.  But Nat needs a date, and he can't ask his on-off girlfriend Rosalie while they're "on a break."  Can he?  This section can't be easily queered; it's boys and girls all the way down.

Verdict: A few gender-bending moments , but no gay subtexts.

I couldn't even find any gay actors in the cast, except for Andre Keenan-Bolger, who played the snippy director Christophe in four episodes.

After the break: Have the Naked Brothers continued their heteronormative erasure as adults?  Have they gotten naked?

"Sunny Nights": Will Forte sells tanning spray. With a lesbian sister, some gay gangsters, a lot of Aussie butts, and Vincent Rodriguez III in his underwear


I'm running low on tv series to review, so I went to Hulu and clicked on the first fictional series that popped up: Sunny NightsWait -- how can nights be sunny?  We'll find out.

Scene 1: Dawn in a horrible industrial area in Australia (I know because the logo says Screen Australia). A woman watering her lawn, two joggers.  An crocodile crosses a golf course and suddenly gets exploded into a bloody mess. 

Cut to a shirtless man (Will Forte) being rubbed by a woman wearing gloves, and telling the gathered men in suits that he works out; he just likes to rest between sets (no more than one minute, buddy).  His product can be used by anyone, anywhere, regardless of age, gender, or natural beauty: tanning goop!

One of the potential investors is about to make an offer, when the hotel manager rushes up: he's using a hotel for his demonstration without getting permission, and he and his assistant Vickie are not guests. 

They are forced out, and the potential investors reject them. 

Hey, they're not romantic partners, they're siblings.  That means the brother could be gay.  Plus sister Vickie is played by D'Arcy Carden, the bisexual actor from The Good Place.




Scene 2
: Brother actually booked them into a horribly run-down, pink-brick hotel with outside doors: Sunny Nights.  As they squeak in, a ruffian knocks on a door above them.  No one answer, so he bursts in and beats on the male occupant.  

Now it's a house, not a hotel room, with a woman saying "Hello, Gorgeous" to a tanning booth.  Or are you the sister?  Why is your hotel room a huge apartment with many personalized decorations?

Back to the hotel room.  I'm getting whiplash from these split-second cuts.  The occupant (maybe Harry Greenwood of Charmed) recognizes the Ruffian from a sport: he had to drop out because he got his head injured.  Ths does not ingratiate the ruffian, who knocks him out -- but at least gives him a pillow


The Ruffian is played by Willie Mason, a former  soccer player for the Sydney Roosters with a long list of troubles, including assaulting another player, failed businesses, drunk driving, and urinating in public, though he didn't mind the widely-publicized crotch grab by a rival player.   This is his first acting role.

Down in the siblings' room, they discuss their back story. The brother's girlfriend or wife broke up with him, so he's come to Australia in a grand scheme to win her back.  Grrr...hetero identity established at Minute 6.  He calls and tells her that he happens to be in the country on business, so could they get together?

Scene 3: Meanwhile, the sister Vickie goes to the beauty convention, and tells her entire life story to the clerk.  It includes a "gorgeous but mean hula-hooper," so maybe she's a lesbian.  She doesn't like her booth -- too small, and right by the bathroom. So she spends all of their money for a bigger one.

Cut to dinner with the Brother and his ex.  She is suspicious: "So you quit your job, started a tanning company, and came to Australia to sell it -- as a purely business decision? Not to try to win me back?"

"Well, it may have crossed my mind as a side benefit of becoming wildly successful."  She explains why she left him (doesn't he already know?): the usual vague reason wives give when they are broken up just so they can get back together again.  

Scene 4: At the bar at the Beauty Convention, Brother wails that the attempt to win her back didn't work. That was your grant scheme?  Just dinner?  

Sister Vickie tells him to man up and start networking.   She acquires an A$750 bottle of wine and heads off to pretend that they're successful.  Susi, a tarted up woman at the bar, is impressed, and starts flirting with Brother.  She guesses right off that he's in tanning, because she goes to a lot of beauty conventions (then why is your makeup so hideous?).  

Brother gives his back story again (omitting the grand scheme to win back the ex)  Susi invites him to the wine bar down the street, but he refuses: big presentation tomorrow.  This devastates her: "Oh, God, I came on too strong!  I always do this!"  So Brother agrees.  Sneaky move, lady!  

Meanwhile, Sister Vickie is sharing her expensive bottle of wine with a tableful of attractive ladies.  You trying to get customers or get laid?


Scene 5:
 The wine bar interspliced with energetic bedroom activity, and the next morning, waking up in her fancy hotel room.  During pillow talk, he gets a text from the ex: she wants to try that reconciliation thing, tonight.  Uh-oh, torn between two girlfriends!

At breakfast, Susi admits that she filmed their sexual encounter, so now Brother has to do what "he" says: the sleazy-looking Kash (Miritana Hughes), who wants A$10,000, or the video goes on the internet.  But the activity is legal.  Brother wasn't cheating.  Why should he care?  

He cares because if his ex-wife sees the video, she won't want to get back together.  Why not?  Did she expect him to not see anyone else for the rest of his life?

After they leave, Sister Vickie comes in to announce that she found a model for the presentation.  She wants to show him the nude photos she took.  Wrong time, girl.



Scene 6:
 Family Fun Time, a deserted amusement park. Sleazy Kash is holding down a new guy while his goons play miniature golf at his mouth.  They miss, so Kash pulls out a tooth. The Ruffian appears and announces that he couldn't get the money from the Hotel Room Guy earlier, so he punched him and gave him two extra days.  Kash doesn't like this, and hits him in the head. He blacks out.

Left: Aaron Glenane, who plays goon Blondy.

Scene 7: Brother and Sister Vickie in a bar.  The Model, wearing a bikini, approaches to show Vickie her stuff.  Brother is not impressed: she already has a tan, so how can they demonstrate a tanning product on her?   Nope, she's hot, and Vickie wants her...um...as an employee.  "She can model a darker shade."

Meanwhile, the Ruffian is examined by a mob physician.  Headaches, vision problems, mood swings, erectile dysfunction...before he can diagnose, Ruffian says "Just give me my pills."  

More after the break