This week’s Ask Billy question comes from Jeremy in Arizona.  “You mentioned the Cannes Film Festival recently.  I heard Rami Malek was a big hit playing someone with AIDS.  And there was also controversy.  What do you know about it?”

The film The Man I Love is about a performance artist in 1980s New York who gets HIV.  When offered the leading role, Malek expressed concern about playing another singer with AIDS since he had already won the Oscar for playing Freddie Mercury.  “When I read the script, I said, ‘I can’t do this, there’s too many similarities.  It could be problematic.’”  But that didn’t completely deter him.  “There was a certain sense of fear.  And I started to really think about what I was afraid of.  Was it the similarities?  Was it the singing?  Was it obviously what was going on in the period?  And the fear was, I knew I had to address the fear.”   While he’s been applauded for his portrayal, members of the gay community are not quite so thrilled.  Johnny Sibilly from Hacks posted this: “I’m sorry if this sounds bitchy but something will never sit right in my spirit about straight actors playing gay men dying of aids.”  Wilson Cruz saw this headline: “Rami Malek feared once again playing a gay singer with AIDS”.  He responded, “Some of us would have been HONORED to bring our history ALIVE, because it’s OURS.”

When I’m not sharing my two cents on a subject, it’s time for me to end yet another column.  I’ll only point out that sometimes it takes an Oscar winner to get a film made.  Now let’s get back to the important issue – what was that boom in Boston?  It was…a meteor!  According to reports, when a meteor passes through the atmosphere, it breaks up and creates a sonic boom.  Perhaps, but I still need Stevie to weigh in.  While waiting, I’ll be updating BillyMasters.com – the site that’s being written from inside a bad Ben Affleck movie (as if there’s any other kind).  If you have an opinion or a comment, send it to Billy@BillyMasters.com and I promise to get back to you before Pintauro reunites with Milano!  So, until next time, remember, one man’s filth is another man’s bible.